18 "O king , the Most High God granted sovereignty , grandeur , glory and majesty to Nebuchadnezzar your father . 19 "Because of the grandeur which He bestowed on him, all the peoples , nations and men of every language feared and trembled before him; whomever he wished he killed and whomever he wished he spared alive ; and whomever he wished he elevated and whomever he wished he humbled . 20 "But when his heart was lifted up and his spirit became so proud that he behaved arrogantly , he was deposed from his royal throne and his glory was taken away from him. 21 "He was also driven away from mankind , and his heart was made like that of beasts , and his dwelling place was with the wild donkeys . He was given grass to eat like cattle , and his body was drenched with the dew of heaven until e he recognized that the Most High God is ruler over the realm of mankind and that He sets over it whomever e He wishes . 22 "Yet you, his son , Belshazzar , have not humbled your heart , even though you knew all this , 23 but you have exalted yourself against the Lord of heaven ; and they have brought the vessels of His house before you, and you and your nobles , your wives and your concubines have been drinking wine from them; and you have praised the gods of silver and gold , of bronze , iron , wood and stone , which do not see , hear or understand . But the God in whose hand are your life-breath and all your ways , you have not glorified . 24 "Then the hand was sent from Him and this inscription was written out. 25 "Now this is the inscription that was written out: 'MENE , MENE , TEKEL , UPHARSIN .' 26 "This is the interpretation of the message : 'MENE '-God has numbered your kingdom and put an end to it. 27 " 'TEKEL '-you have been weighed on the scales and found deficient . 28 " 'PERES '-your kingdom has been divided and given over to the Medes and Persians ." 29 Then Belshazzar gave orders , and they clothed Daniel with purple and put a necklace of gold around his neck , and issued a proclamation concerning him that he now had authority as the third ruler in the kingdom .
30 That same night Belshazzar the Chaldean king was slain . 31 So Darius the Mede received the kingdom at about the age e of sixty-two e .
Matthew Henry's Commentary on Daniel 5:18-31
Commentary on Daniel 5:18-31
(Read Daniel 5:18-31)
Daniel reads Belshazzar's doom. He had not taken warning by the judgments upon Nebuchadnezzar. And he had insulted God. Sinners are pleased with gods that neither see, nor hear, nor know; but they will be judged by One to whom all things are open. Daniel reads the sentence written on the wall. All this may well be applied to the doom of every sinner. At death, the sinner's days are numbered and finished; after death is the judgment, when he will be weighed in the balance, and found wanting; and after judgment the sinner will be cut asunder, and given as a prey to the devil and his angels. While these things were passing in the palace, it is considered that the army of Cyrus entered the city; and when Belshazzar was slain, a general submission followed. Soon will every impenitent sinner find the writing of God's word brought to pass upon him, whether he is weighed in the balance of the law as a self-righteous Pharisee, or in that of the gospel as a painted hypocrite.