Daniel 5:4

Daniel 5:4 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)They drank wine, and praised the gods of gold, and of silver, of brass, of iron, of wood, and of stone.
• New International Version (NIV)As they drank the wine, they praised the gods of gold and silver, of bronze, iron, wood and stone.
• English Standard Version (ESV)They drank wine and praised the gods of gold and silver, bronze, iron, wood, and stone.
• New King James Version (NKJV)They drank wine, and praised the gods of gold and silver, bronze and iron, wood and stone.

Context of Daniel 5:4

2Belshazzar, as he tasted the wine, gave a command to bring in the gold and silver vessels which his father Nebuchadnezzar had taken out of the temple which was in Jerusalem, so that the king and his nobles, his wives and his concubines might drink from them. 3Then they brought in the gold and silver vessels that had been taken out of the temple, the house of God which was in Jerusalem; and the king and his nobles, his wives and his concubines drank from them. They drank the wine and praised the gods of gold and silver, of bronze, iron, wood and stone. 5Suddenly the fingers of a man’s hand appeared and began writing opposite the lampstand on [a well-lit area of] the plaster of the wall of the king’s palace, and the king saw the part of the hand that did the writing. 6Then the king’s face grew pale, and his thoughts alarmed him; the joints and muscles of his hips and back weakened and his knees began knocking together.

Daniel 5:4 word by word

אִשְׁתִּ֖יו חַמְרָ֑א וְ֠שַׁבַּחוּ לֵֽאלָהֵ֞י דַּהֲבָ֧א וְכַסְפָּ֛א נְחָשָׁ֥א פַרְזְלָ֖א אָעָ֥א וְאַבְנָֽא׃Read the interlinear

Words taken from the KJV.

• They drankשְׁתָהshethâh · to drinkH8355
• wineחֲמַרchămar · wineH2562
• and praisedשְׁבַחshebach · to praiseH7624
• the godsאֱלָהּ'ĕlâhh · godH426
• of goldדְּהַבdehab · goldH1722
• and of silverכְּסַףkesaph · silverH3702
• of brassנְחָשׁnechâsh · bronzeH5174
• of ironפַּרְזֶלparzel · ironH6523
• of woodאָע'â‛ · woodH636
• and of stoneאֶ֫בֶן'eben · stoneH69

Cross-references for Daniel 5:4

• Daniel 5:23And you have exalted yourself against the Lord of heaven, and the vessels of His house have been brought before you, and you and your nobles, your wives and your concubines have been drinking wine from them; and you have praised the gods of silver and gold, of bronze, iron, wood and stone, which do not see or hear or understand. But the God who holds in His hand your breath of life and your ways you have not honored and glorified [but have dishonored and defied].
• Daniel 4:37Now I, Nebuchadnezzar, praise and exalt and honor the King of heaven, for all His works are true and faithful and His ways are just, and He is able to humiliate and humble those who walk in [self-centered, self-righteous] pride.”
• Judges 16:23Now the Philistine lords gathered together to offer a great sacrifice to Dagon their god, and to celebrate, for they said, “Our god has given Samson our enemy into our hands!”
• Isaiah 42:8I am the Lord, that is My Name; My glory I will not give to another, Nor My praise to carved idols.
• Hosea 2:8“For she (Israel) has not noticed nor understood nor realized that it was I [the Lord God] who gave her the grain and the new wine and the oil, And lavished on her silver and gold, Which they used for Baal and made into his image.
• Revelation 9:20The rest of mankind, who were not killed by these plagues, did not repent even then of the works of their hands, so as to cease worshiping and paying homage to the demons and the idols of gold and of silver and of bronze and of stone and of wood, which can neither see nor hear nor walk;
• Daniel 3:1Nebuchadnezzar the king made a gold [-plated] image, whose height [including the pedestal] was sixty cubits (ninety feet) and its width six cubits (nine feet). He set it up on the plain of Dura in the province of Babylon.
• Psalms 115:4The idols [of the nations] are silver and gold, The work of man’s hands.
• Psalms 135:15The idols of the nations are silver and gold, The work of men’s hands.
• Isaiah 40:19As for the cast image (idol), a metalworker casts it, A goldsmith overlays it with gold And a silversmith casts its silver chains.
• Isaiah 42:17Those who trust in carved idols will be turned back, And utterly put to shame, Who say to cast images, “You are our gods.”
• Isaiah 46:6Those who lavish gold from the bag And weigh out silver on the scales Hire a goldsmith, and he makes it into a god; They bow down, indeed they worship it.
• Jeremiah 10:4They adorn the idol with silver and with gold; They fasten it with hammers and nails So that it will not fall apart.
• Habakkuk 2:19Woe (judgment is coming) to him who says to the wooden image, ‘Awake!’ And to the speechless stone, ‘Arise!’ And that is your teacher? Look, it is overlaid with gold and silver, And there is no breath at all inside it.
• Acts 17:29So then, being God’s children, we should not think that the Divine Nature (deity) is like gold or silver or stone, an image formed by the art and imagination or skill of man.
• Acts 19:24Now a man named Demetrius, a silversmith, who made silver shrines of [the goddess] Artemis (Diana), was bringing no small profit to the craftsmen.

Commentaries on Daniel 5:4

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 4And praised the gods of gold - They had gods of all sorts, and of all metals; with wooden gods, and stone gods, beside!Read the comment
• Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 2-4The gold and silver cups from the temple in Jerusalem were taken along with the people (Daniel 1:2), but earlier Babylonian kings did not misuse them. They were eventually returned to Jerusalem (Ezra 1:7–11). father: Belshazzar was Nabonidus's oldest son; his connection to Nebuchadnezzar is unclear. As they drank the wine, they praised their gods: If Belshazzar ever knew about the respect Nebuchadnezzar showed the Most High God decades earlier (Daniuel…Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 44. praised--sang and shouted praises to "gods," which being of gold, "are their own witnesses" (Is 44:9), confuting the folly of those who fancy such to be gods.Read the comment

Topics related to Daniel 5:4

• Belshazzar
• Brass
• Drunkenness
• Feasts
• Idolatry
• Iron
• King
• Wicked (People)
• Women

In the dictionaries

• Gift
• Light
• Loose
• Wine
• Aramaic; Aramaic Language
• Baruch, Book of
• Bible, the
• Daniel, Book of
• Gods
• Iron (1)

Commentaries on Daniel 5

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
• Tyndale Open Study Notes
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
• Rashi on Tanakh
• Calvin’s Commentaries
• Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
• John Wesley’s Notes
• Darby Translation Notes
• Geneva Bible Translation Notes
• Kingcomments
• Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
• Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
• Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
• Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
• EGW Writings