Daniel 5:9
Then King Belshazzar became even more terrified, his face grew even more pale, and his nobles were bewildered.
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
- Daniel 5:6 his face grew pale and his thoughts so alarmed him that his hips gave way and his knees knocked together.
- Daniel 2:1 In the second year of his reign, Nebuchadnezzar had dreams that troubled his spirit, and sleep escaped him.
- Isaiah 13:6-8 Wail, for the Day of the LORD is near; it will come as destruction from the Almighty. …
- Isaiah 21:2-4 A dire vision is declared to me: “The traitor still betrays, and the destroyer still destroys. Go up, O Elam! Lay siege, O Media! I will put an end to all her groaning.” …
- Jeremiah 6:24 We have heard the report; our hands hang limp. Anguish has gripped us, pain like that of a woman in labor.
Cross-references: OpenBible.info, CC BY 4.0
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