Daniel 5:5

3 Then they brought the gold ^avessels that had been taken from the temple of the house of God which had been in Jerusalem; and the king and his lords, his wives, and his concubines drank from them.

4 They drank wine, ^aand praised the gods of gold and silver, bronze and iron, wood and stone.

5 ^aIn the same hour the fingers of a man’s hand appeared and wrote opposite the lampstand on the plaster of the wall of the king’s palace; and the king saw the part of the hand that wrote.

6 Then the king’s countenance changed, and his thoughts troubled him, so that the joints of his hips were loosened and his ^aknees knocked against each other.

7 ^aThe king cried¹ aloud to bring in ^bthe astrologers, the Chaldeans, and the soothsayers. The king spoke, saying to the wise men of Babylon, “Whoever reads this writing, and tells me its interpretation, shall be clothed with purple and have a chain of gold around his neck; ^cand he shall be the third ruler in the kingdom.”

8 Now all the king’s wise men came, ^abut they could not read the writing, or make known to the king its interpretation.

Commentaries:

Forerunner Commentary
What is the Forerunner Commentary?

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What Does Daniel 5:5 Mean?

Daniel 5:5-6

The phrase, "the handwriting is on the wall," has become a cliché in Israelite cultures, instructing us in retrospect that, an event having concluded with bad results, we should have known better. Being forewarned, we should have foreseen the result. We should have recognized that warning signs were everywhere and taken different steps to provide a more positive solution.

John W. Ritenbaugh
Power Belongs to God (Part One)

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What Does Daniel 5:5 Mean?

Daniel 5:5-6

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