Bible Strands
Daniel 5:4
As they drank the wine, they praised their gods of gold and silver, bronze and iron, wood and stone.
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — King Belshazzar, his nobles, wives, and concubines drink from plundered Jerusalem temple vessels during a feast, immediately before a disembodied hand appears to write on the palace wall.
The words — The verb אִשְׁתּוּ ('ish.Tiv) means "they drank," and שַׁבְּחוּ (sha.ba.chu) means "they praised," directed toward idols of gold (דַּהֲבָא, da.ha.Va/), silver, bronze, and iron.
The thread — This act of venerating crafted metal and stone echoes the condemnation of idolatry in Daniel 5:23, Habakkuk 2:19, and Psalms 135:15.
Why it lands — The text records the literal act of drinking and idolatrous praise before any divine response, demanding the reader recognize the immediate contrast between human arrogance and the forthcoming judgment.
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
They drank wine, and praised the gods of gold, and of silver, of brass, of iron, of wood, and of stone.
Cross-references
- 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.
- Habakkuk 2:19 Woe to him who says to wood, ‘Awake!’ or to silent stone, ‘Arise!’ Can it give guidance? Behold, it is overlaid with gold and silver, yet there is no breath in it at all.”
- Psalms 135:15 The idols of the nations are silver and gold, made by the hands of men.
- Revelation 9:20 Now the rest of mankind who were not killed by these plagues still did not repent of the works of their hands. They did not stop worshiping demons and idols of gold, silver, bronze, stone, and wood, which cannot see or hear or walk.
- Psalms 115:4 Their idols are silver and gold, made by the hands of men.
- Isaiah 40:19 To an idol that a craftsman casts and a metalworker overlays with gold and fits with silver chains?
- Isaiah 42:8 I am the LORD; that is My name! I will not yield My glory to another or My praise to idols.
- Isaiah 46:6 They pour out their bags of gold and weigh out silver on scales; they hire a goldsmith to fashion it into a god, so they can bow down and worship.
- Jeremiah 10:4 They adorn it with silver and gold and fasten it with hammer and nails, so that it will not totter.
- Acts 17:29 Therefore, being offspring of God, we should not think that the Divine Being is like gold or silver or stone, an image formed by man’s skill and imagination.