Bible Strands
Daniel 5:19
Because of the greatness that He bestowed on him, the people of every nation and language trembled in fear before him. He killed whom he wished and kept alive whom he wished; he exalted whom he wished and humbled whom he wished.
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — Daniel addresses King Belshazzar during the royal banquet, recounting the past reign of Nebuchadnezzar to explain the current divine judgment. The speech occurs mid-banquet as the writing appears on the wall.
The words — The Hebrew רְבוּתָא (re.vu.Ta') means "greatness," and יְהַב (ye.hav) means "he gave." These terms establish the king's power as a delegated divine grant rather than an autonomous possession.
The thread — The motif of universal submission to divinely appointed authority appears in Daniel 3:4, where a herald commands every nation and language to respond to the king's decree. Daniel 3:6 and Daniel 2:12 further illustrate the absolute reach of royal authority, though Daniel 2:12 specifically records an order to execute wise men rather than a command for universal response.
Why it lands — The text states that all peoples trembled before the king and that he held absolute power over life, death, and status. Readers must recognize that such authority originates from God and remains conditional upon the ruler's posture toward Him.
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
And for the majesty that he gave him, all people, nations, and languages, trembled and feared before him: whom he would he slew; and whom he would he kept alive; and whom he would he set up; and whom he would he put down.
Cross-references
- Daniel 2:12 This response made the king so angry and furious that he gave orders to destroy all the wise men of Babylon.
- Daniel 3:6 And whoever does not fall down and worship will immediately be thrown into the blazing fiery furnace.”
- Daniel 3:4 Then the herald loudly proclaimed, “O people of every nation and language, this is what you are commanded:
- Proverbs 16:14 The wrath of a king is a messenger of death, but a wise man will pacify it.
- Jeremiah 25:9 behold, I will summon all the families of the north, declares the LORD, and I will send for My servant Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, whom I will bring against this land, against its residents, and against all the surrounding nations. So I will devote them to destruction and make them an object of horror and contempt, an everlasting desolation.
- Jeremiah 27:5 By My great power and outstretched arm, I made the earth and the men and beasts on the face of it, and I give it to whom I please.
- Daniel 3:20 and he commanded some mighty men of valor in his army to tie up Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego and throw them into the blazing fiery furnace.
- Daniel 3:29 Therefore I decree that the people of any nation or language who say anything offensive against the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego will be cut into pieces and their houses reduced to rubble. For there is no other god who can deliver in this way.”
- Daniel 4:22 you, O king, are that tree! For you have become great and strong; your greatness has grown to reach the sky, and your dominion extends to the ends of the earth.
- Habakkuk 2:5 and wealth indeed betrays him. He is an arrogant man never at rest. He enlarges his appetite like Sheol, and like Death, he is never satisfied. He gathers all the nations to himself and collects all the peoples as his own.