Daniel 5:17
In response, Daniel said to the king, “You may keep your gifts for yourself and give your rewards to someone else. Nevertheless, I will read the inscription for the king and interpret it for him.
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
- 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
- 2 Kings 5:16 But Elisha replied, “As surely as the LORD lives, before whom I stand, I will not accept it.” And although Naaman urged him to accept it, he refused.
- Genesis 14:23 that I will not accept even a thread, or a strap of a sandal, or anything that belongs to you, lest you should say, ‘I have made Abram rich.’
Cross-references: OpenBible.info, CC BY 4.0
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