And this is the writing that was written, MENE, MENE, TEKEL, UPHARSIN.
And this is the writing that was inscribed: MENE, MENE, TEKEL, UPHARSIN.
and this is the writing that is noted down: Numbered, Numbered, Weighed, and Divided.
And this is the writing that is written: MENE, MENE, TEKEL, UPHARSIN.
Daniel — A Hebrew exile at Babylonian and Persian courts sees empires rise and fall, a Son of Man coming with clouds, and seventy weeks locating Messiah in time. The canon's densest apocalyptic text — and its most interpretively contested.
Rare words are the text's own signal of a deliberate thread — the fewer the occurrences, the more the places it appears belong together.
The verses this one reaches8
But God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night your life will be required of you. Then who will own what you have accumulated?’
Your pomp has been brought down to Sheol, along with the music of your harps. Maggots are your bed and worms your blanket.
All nations will serve him and his son and grandson, until the time of his own land comes; then many nations and great kings will enslave him.
But disaster will come upon you; you will not know how to charm it away. A calamity will befall you that you will be unable to ward off. Devastation will happen to you suddenly and unexpectedly.
Will not your creditors suddenly arise and those who disturb you awaken? Then you will become their prey.
Then a letter came to Jehoram from Elijah the prophet, which stated: “This is what the LORD, the God of your father David, says: ‘You have not walked in the ways of your father Jehoshaphat or of Asa king of Judah,
Moreover, the LORD will deliver Israel with you into the hand of the Philistines, and tomorrow you and your sons will be with me. And the LORD will deliver the army of Israel into the hand of the Philistines.”
He has performed mighty deeds with His arm; He has scattered those who are proud in the thoughts of their hearts.
Voices3
Verses 25-28. "This is the inscription which has been set up: MANE, THECEL, PHARES. And this is the interpretation of the sentence: 'MANE' means that God has numbered thy kingdom and brought it to an end. 'THECEL' means it has been weighed in the scales and has been found deficient (Vulg.: thou hast been weighed and hast been found...). 'PHARES' means that thy kingdom has been removed and given to the Medes and Persians."
Jerome· St. Jerome, Commentary on Daniel, CHAPTER FIVE, 420patristic
And this is the writing that was written,.... They are such and such letters, and so to be read, as follows: MENE, MENE, TEKEL, UPHARSIN; which are Chaldee words, and may be literally rendered, "he hath numbered, he hath numbered"; that is, God hath certainly, perfectly, and exactly numbered; "he hath weighed", God hath weighed thee, Belshazzar; "and they divide the kingdom"; that is, the Medes and Persians, as appears from the following interpretation:
John Gill· Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763)reformed
And this is the writing that was written - The Babylonians, it would seem, were unacquainted with the characters that were used, and of course unable to understand the meaning. See Dan 5:8. The first thing, therefore, for Daniel to do was to read the writing, and this he was able to do without difficulty, probably, as already remarked, because it was in the ancient Hebrew character - a character quite familiar to him, though not known to the Babylonians, whom Belshazzar consulted.
Albert Barnes· Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)evangelical
