Daniel 5:1
Later, King Belshazzar held a great feast for a thousand of his nobles, and he drank wine with them.
Scripture: Berean Standard Bible (BSB), public domain
- WHEN
- 539 BC
WHEN
539 BC
counted from the text
The feast and the fall of the city on the same night.
WHO RULED
- Belshazzar king of Babylon 553-539 BC IN THE TEXT
- Cyrus the Great king of Persia 559-530 BC
MEANWHILE
-
539 BC Babylon
Cyrus takes Babylon without a battle
The city surrenders, and a year later comes the decree that allows the Jews to return.
SOURCES
- date — Daniel 5 tells of the night, not the year. The Cyrus Cylinder and the Nabonidus Chronicle date the fall of Babylon to October 539 BC.
- Belshazzar — The Nabonidus Chronicle and the tablets that name Belshazzar as son and co-regent. The co-regency explains why, in Daniel 5:7 and 5:29, the reward is *third* place in the kingdom and not second.
- Cyrus the Great — Cyrus Cylinder (British Museum), which records the policy of sending peoples and their cults back to their own lands; Herodotus I
- Cyrus takes Babylon without a battle — Cyrus Cylinder (British Museum); Nabonidus Chronicle
SEE ALSO
- Esther 1:3 In the third year of his reign, Xerxes held a feast for all his officials and servants. The military leaders of Persia and Media were there, along with the nobles and princes of…
- Genesis 40:20 On the third day, which was Pharaoh’s birthday, he held a feast for all his officials, and in their presence he lifted up the heads of the chief cupbearer and the chief baker.
- Mark 6:21-22 On Herod’s birthday, her opportunity arose. Herod held a banquet for his nobles and military commanders and the leading men of Galilee. …
Cross-references: OpenBible.info, CC BY 4.0
UPDATED