English Standard Version
Daniel 5:27
27Tekel, you have been weighed in the balances and found wanting;
Daniel 5:27 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)TEKEL; Thou art weighed in the balances, and art found wanting.
- New International Version (NIV)Tekel : You have been weighed on the scales and found wanting.
- New King James Version (NKJV)TEKEL: You have been weighed in the balances, and found wanting;
- New Living Translation (NLT)Tekel means ‘weighed’—you have been weighed on the balances and have not measured up.
Context of Daniel 5:27
25And this is the writing that was inscribed: Mene, Mene, Tekel, and Parsin. 26This is the interpretation of the matter: Mene, God has numbered the days of your kingdom and brought it to an end; Tekel, you have been weighed in the balances and found wanting; 28Peres, your kingdom is divided and given to the Medes and Persians." 29Then Belshazzar gave the command, and Daniel was clothed with purple, a chain of gold was put around his neck, and a proclamation was made about him, that he should be the third ruler in the kingdom.
Read all of Daniel 5Daniel 5:27 word by word
תְּקֵ֑ל תְּקִ֥ילְתָּה בְמֹֽאזַנְיָ֖א וְהִשְׁתְּכַ֥חַתְּ חַסִּֽיר׃Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
Cross-references for Daniel 5:27
- Job 31:6(Let me be weighed in a just balance, and let God know my integrity!)
- Psalms 62:9Those of low estate are but a breath; those of high estate are a delusion; in the balances they go up; they are together lighter than a breath.
- Jeremiah 6:30Rejected silver they are called, for the Lord has rejected them."
- Ezekiel 22:18"Son of man, the house of Israel has become dross to me; all of them are bronze and tin and iron and lead in the furnace; they are dross of silver.
- Matthew 22:11"But when the king came in to look at the guests, he saw there a man who had no wedding garment.
- 1 Corinthians 3:13each one's work will become manifest, for the Day will disclose it, because it will be revealed by fire, and the fire will test what sort of work each one has done.
Commentaries on Daniel 5:27
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 18-31Verses 18-31 Daniel reads Belshazzar's doom. He had not taken warning by the judgments upon Nebuchadnezzar. And he had insulted God. Sinners are pleased with gods that neither see, nor hear, nor know; but they will be judged by One to whom all things are open. Daniel reads the sentence written on the wall. All this may well be applied to the doom of every sinner. At death, the sinner's days are numbered and finished; after death is the judgment, when he…Read the comment
- Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 27TEKEL means that you have been weighed … and found deficient: Babylon's king would face destruction because he did not meet God's demand for righteousness and mercy (see Daniel 4:27; 5:22–24).Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 2727. weighed in the balances--The Egyptians thought that Osiris weighed the actions of the dead in a literal balance. The Babylonians may have had the same notion, which would give a peculiar appropriateness to the image here used. found wanting--too light before God, the weigher of actions (1Sa 2:3; Psa 62:9). Like spurious gold or silver (Jr 6:30).Read the comment
Topics related to Daniel 5:27
In the dictionaries
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
English Standard Version — © 2001 Crossway Bibles
Commentaries