Daniel 5:23
Instead, you have exalted yourself against the Lord of heaven. The vessels from His house were brought to you, and as you drank wine from them with your nobles, wives, and concubines, you praised your gods of silver and gold, bronze and iron, wood and stone, which cannot see or hear or understand. But you have failed to glorify the God who holds in His hand your very breath and all your ways.
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
- Job 12:10 The life of every living thing is in His hand, as well as the breath of all mankind.
- Daniel 4:37 Now I, Nebuchadnezzar, praise and exalt and glorify the King of heaven, for all His works are true and all His ways are just. And He is able to humble those who walk in pride.
- Isaiah 2:12 For the Day of the LORD of Hosts will come against all the proud and lofty, against all that is exalted— it will be humbled—
- Isaiah 37:23 Whom have you taunted and blasphemed? Against whom have you raised your voice and lifted your eyes in pride? Against the Holy One of Israel!
- Jeremiah 10:23 I know, O LORD, that a man’s way is not his own; no one who walks directs his own steps.
- Job 31:4 Does He not see my ways and count my every step?
- Psalms 115:4-8 Their idols are silver and gold, made by the hands of men. …
- Proverbs 20:24 A man’s steps are from the LORD, so how can anyone understand his own way?
Cross-references: OpenBible.info, CC BY 4.0
UPDATED