Bible Strands
Daniel 5:1
Later, King Belshazzar held a great feast for a thousand of his nobles, and he drank wine with them.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — King Belshazzar hosts a thousand nobles during a feast where he drinks wine with them. The event occurs immediately before his command to retrieve the sacred vessels from Jerusalem’s temple.
The words — The Hebrew עֲבַד (‘a.Vad) translates literally as “he made,” while לֶחֶם (le.Chem) means “a feast,” describing Belshazzar’s deliberate preparation of the gathering.
The thread — Similar royal banquets appear in Esther 1:3, where Xerxes feasts his officials, and Mark 6:21, where Herod hosts his commanders. These parallels trace a recurring biblical pattern of sovereigns using public feasts to display power and authority.
Why it lands — The verse records a king’s public display of wealth and authority without moral commentary. It asks the reader to observe how earthly rulers establish status through consumption and spectacle, establishing the baseline for the subsequent handling of sacred objects.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
Belshazzar the king made a great feast to a thousand of his lords, and drank wine before the thousand.
Cross-references
- 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 the provinces.
- 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 On Herod’s birthday, her opportunity arose. Herod held a banquet for his nobles and military commanders and the leading men of Galilee.
- Isaiah 21:4 My heart falters; fear makes me tremble. The twilight I desired has turned to horror.
- Isaiah 22:12 On that day the Lord GOD of Hosts called for weeping and wailing, for shaven heads and the wearing of sackcloth.
- Isaiah 22:14 The LORD of Hosts has revealed in my hearing: “Until your dying day, this sin of yours will never be atoned for,” says the Lord GOD of Hosts.
- Jeremiah 51:39 While they are flushed with heat, I will serve them a feast, and I will make them drunk so that they may revel; then they will fall asleep forever and never wake up, declares the LORD.
- Jeremiah 51:57 I will make her princes and wise men drunk, along with her governors, officials, and warriors. Then they will fall asleep forever and not wake up,” declares the King, whose name is the LORD of Hosts.
- Nahum 1:10 For they will be entangled as with thorns and consumed like the drink of a drunkard—like stubble that is fully dry.