Daniel 5.2-While Under The Influence Of Wine, Belshazzar Orders Articles From The Temple Be Brought To Banquet To Be Used By Him, His Nobles, Wives And Concubines
`Wenstrom Bible Ministries
Pastor-Teacher Bill Wenstrom
Wednesday November 7, 2012
Daniel: Daniel 5:2-While Under The Influence Of Wine, Belshazzar Orders Articles From The Temple Be Brought To Banquet To Be Used By Him, His Nobles, Wives And Concubines
Lesson # 143
Please turn in your Bibles to Daniel 5:2.
Daniel 5:1 King Belshazzar threw an enormous banquet for a thousand of his nobles. He even drank wine excessively directly in front of the thousand. (Author’s translation)
Daniel 5:2 When Belshazzar tasted the wine, he gave orders to bring the gold and silver vessels which Nebuchadnezzar his father had taken out of the temple which was in Jerusalem, so that the king and his nobles, his wives and his concubines might drink from them. (NASB95)
“He gave orders” is the third person masculine singular peʿal (Hebrew: qal) active perfect form of the verb ʾǎmǎr (אֲמַר) (am-ar´), which means “to issue an order” since the prepositional phrase that follows reveals that Belshazzar did just that.
“When…tasted the wine” is composed of the preposition b- (בְּ־) (beh) “when” and its object is the masculine singular construct form of the noun ṭeʿēm (טְעֵם) (teh-ame´), “tasted” which is followed by the masculine singular noun ḥǎmǎr (חֲמַר) (kham-ar´), “wine.”
The noun ṭeʿēm means “under the influence” in the sense of being in the state of intoxication or inebriated as a result of consuming alcohol excessively.
It does not mean “tasted” (NASB95, ESV, LEB) but rather “intoxicated” since the participle form of the verb šeṯā(h), which appears in Daniel 5:1 with Belshazzar as its subject means “to consume,” is indicating repeated or continuous action.
This indicates that Belshazzar was drinking alcohol excessively in front of his nobles or in other words, he did not have only one drink but many and denotes he was drinking a large amount of wine.
The noun ṭeʿēm is the object of the preposition b-, which marks the point in time when Belshazzar issued an order to have the gold and silver vessels from the temple in Jerusalem brought to the banquet in order that he and his wives and concubines and nobles could drink from them.
This indicates that “while” Belshazzar was under the influence of the wine, he issued an order to bring the gold and silver vessels which his great-grandfather Nebuchadnezzar had confiscated from the temple in Jerusalem in order that he and his nobles, his wives and concubines could drink from them.
“The gold and silver vessels” refers to the various articles pertaining to the worship of the Lord in Solomon’s temple.
These vessels obviously were cups or bowls because Belshazzar orders them to be brought to the banquet in order that he and his nobles, and his wives and concubines could drink from them.
“Nebuchadnezzar his father” is composed of the masculine singular proper name neḇû∙ḵǎḏ∙ně(ʾ)ṣ∙ṣǎr (נְבוּכַדְנֶאצַּר) (neb-oo-kad-nets-tsar), “Nebuchadnezzar” and then we have the masculine singular construct form of the noun ʾǎḇ (אַב) (ab), “father” which is modified by the third person masculine singular pronominal suffix hû(ʾ) (הוּא) (who), “his.”
The masculine singular construct form of the noun ʾǎḇ means “great-grandfather” which is indicated by the text of Jeremiah 27:7 and what we know from history, which indicates that Nebuchadnezzar was Belshazzar’s great-grandfather and Nabonidus’ grandfather.
Jeremiah 27:7, Daniel 5:11 and history make clear that Nebuchadnezzar was Belshazzar’s great-grandfather and Nabonidus’ grandfather.
In Jeremiah 27:7, the word “son” and “grandson” are translating the Hebrew noun bēn (בֵּן) (bane), which appears three times in this passage describing someone who is biologically related to Nebuchadnezzar.
The text of Jeremiah 27:7 literally reads: “All the nations shall serve him and his son (bēn), and his son’s (bēn) son (bēn), i.e. grandson until the time of his own land comes; then many nations and great kings will make him their servant.”
This passage would indicate that Evil-Merodach was the father of Nabonidus and that Nabonidus was the grandson of Nebuchadnezzar since it says that Nebuchadnezzar’s son and grandson would follow after him before the Neo-Babylonian Empire would come to an end.
Evil-Merodach must have been Nabonidus’ father since Jeremiah 27:7 is saying that Nebuchadnezzar’s son and then grandson would reign and during the reign of his grandson, the kingdom would come to an end.
Now, Nebuchadnezzar died in 562 B.C. after ruling 43 years and when he died, he was succeeded by his son Evil-Merodach who ruled for only two years (562-560 B.C.; see 2 Kings 25:27-30; Jeremiah 52:31-34).
The latter was murdered in August 560 by Neriglissar who was Nebuchadnezzar’s son-in-law and Evil-Merodach’s own brother-in-law.
Neriglissar ruled for a short time with his reign being only four years (560-556 B.C.), which is the same individual mentioned in Jeremiah 39:3, 13.
When he died, he was succeeded by his young son Labashi-Marduk who ruled only two months, May and June of 556 B.C.
He was assassinated and succeeded by Nabonidus who reigned 17 years (556-539 B.C.) and made his son Belshazzar co-regent with him.
History tells us as well as Daniel chapter 5 that the Babylonian kingdom ended during the reign of Belshazzar and his father Nabonidus.
It would end when Nebuchadnezzar’s grandson was on the throne who was Nabonidus who as we noted, made his son Belshazzar co-regent.
Therefore, if Nabonidus is the grandson of Nebuchadnezzar and Nebuchadnezzar’s Babylonian empire would come to an end during the reign of his grandson as Jeremiah 27:7 makes clear then Nebuchadnezzar must have been the great-grandfather of Belshazzar.
This would also indicate that the noun ʾǎḇ in Daniel 5:2 is describing Nebuchadnezzar as Belshazzar’s great-grandfather.
Further support is found in Daniel 5:11 which records Belshazzar’s mother consoling her son by telling him that there was a man in his kingdom (Daniel) whom King Nebuchadnezzar, his father, your father the king, appointed as chief of the occult priests, necromancers, astrologers and diviners.
The fact that she cites Nebuchadnezzar and Nabonidus would further suggest that Nabonidus, Belshazzar were all related to Nebuchadnezzar.
Thus, if Nabonidus was Belshazzar’s father and is identified as such by the noun ʾǎḇ in Daniel 5:11, why identify Nebuchadnezzar with the same word if he was merely Belshazzar’s predecessor.
“Had taken” is the third person masculine singular hafʿel (Hebrew: hiphil) active perfect form of the verb nep̄ǎq (נְפַק) (nef-ak´), which means “to confiscate” which means “to seize as forfeited to the public treasury.”
Here it refers to Nebuchadnezzar “confiscating” the gold and silver articles of Solomon’s temple in Jerusalem when he captured Jerusalem in September of 605 B.C.
“So that the king and his nobles, his wives and his concubines might drink from them” presents the purpose of Belshazzar’s order to bring the gold and silver articles from the temple of Solomon which were confiscated by Nebuchadnezzar when he captured Jerusalem in 605 B.C.
Daniel 5:2 Belshazzar issued an order while under the influence of the wine causing the gold and silver articles to be brought in which Nebuchadnezzar, his great-grandfather caused to be confiscated from the temple, which was in Jerusalem, in order that the king, his nobles as well as his wives and in addition his concubines could drink with them. (My translation)
When Belshazzar became intoxicated by the wine he was drinking he became very bold and did something that would be even shocking to any heathen individual, namely, he drank from the vessels that belong to a temple of a god, which happened to be the God of Israel, Yahweh.
The heathen of antiquity were noted for destroying and ransacking the temples of their victims but they always erected new temples for the deities of the conquered nations or placed their sacred things in their own pantheons as Nebuchadnezzar did with the articles of gold and silver from Solomon’s temple.
The gods of peoples were venerated.
In fact, a man respected not only his own god but also the gods of others.
Therefore, the actions of Belshazzar described here in Daniel 5:2 would be shocking to any pagan in that day.
Belshazzar’s actions here in Daniel 5:2 reveal his great pride and arrogance.
There are warnings about pride in the book of Proverbs (Proverbs 16:5, 18; cf. Proverbs 3:7, 34; 6:16-17; 11:2; 25:6-7, 27; 26:12; 27:1; 29:23) as well as elsewhere in Scripture (Psalm 119:21; cf. Leviticus 26:19).
God is said to be opposed to the proud (1 Peter 5:5; James 4:6; Proverbs 3:34).
Arrogance is an attitude of the heart (Mark 7:21-22; cf. Job 35:12; Psalm 10:2-11; 73:3-12; 86:14; 94:3-7; Malachi 3:15; Romans 1:28-31) and arises from self-confidence (Isaiah 9:9-10; Daniel 4:29-30; Revelation 18:7; cf. Exodus 15:9; 1 Kings 20:11; 2 Kings 14:10; 2 Chronicles 25:19; Isaiah 28:15; Ezekiel 16:49; Hosea 12:8; Habakkuk 2:4-5; Luke 18:9; Acts 8:9-10; 2 Peter 2:10-12).
Arrogance expresses itself in words (Psalm 17:10; 119:51; James 3:5; cf. 1 Samuel 2:3; Psalm 31:18; 119:69; 123:4; Proverbs 17:7; 21:24; Jeremiah 43:1-2) and is essentially rebellion against God (Deuteronomy 1:43; 1 Samuel 15:23; cf. Nehemiah 9:16-17,29; Job 36:8-9; Psalm 5:5; 119:85; Hosea 5:4-5; 7:10; Zephaniah 3:1-4).
It may even be found in the church (2 Corinthians 12:20; cf. 1 Corinthians 4:18; 1 Timothy 6:17).
The Christian should reject arrogance (Proverbs 8:13; Jeremiah 9:23-24; cf. Jeremiah 13:15; Romans 11:20; 1 Corinthians 1:28-31; 4:7; 13:4; Ephesians 2:8-9).
God punishes the arrogant whether they are a believer or a non-believer (Isaiah 2:17-18; Exodus 18:11; 1 Samuel 15:23).