Bible Strands
Daniel 5:30
That very night Belshazzar king of the Chaldeans was slain,
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — The narrator records the immediate death of Belshazzar right after Daniel interprets the divine writing and receives royal honors. The event closes the palace scene and precedes the transfer of power to Darius the Mede.
The words — The text uses בְּלֵילְיָא (beleiya) for "that very night" and קְטִיל (qəṭîl) for "he was slain," anchoring the judgment to a specific time and stating the king's death as a completed fact.
The thread — The abrupt fall of the Babylonian ruler aligns with the prophetic announcements of Jeremiah 51:31, 51:39, and 51:57 regarding the overthrow of Babylon's leadership.
Why it lands — The verse requires the reader to acknowledge that political power terminates instantly when divine judgment executes, with no provision for human intervention or delay.
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
In that night was Belshazzar the king of the Chaldeans slain.
Cross-references
- Jeremiah 51:31 One courier races to meet another, and messenger follows messenger, to announce to the king of Babylon that his city has been captured from end to end.
- 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.
- Isaiah 21:4 My heart falters; fear makes me tremble. The twilight I desired has turned to horror.
- Isaiah 47:9 These two things will overtake you in a moment, in a single day: loss of children, and widowhood. They will come upon you in full measure, in spite of your many sorceries and the potency of your spells.
- Jeremiah 51:11 Sharpen the arrows! Fill the quivers! The LORD has aroused the spirit of the kings of the Medes, because His plan is aimed at Babylon to destroy her, for it is the vengeance of the LORD—vengeance for His temple.
- Daniel 5:1 Later, King Belshazzar held a great feast for a thousand of his nobles, and he drank wine with them.