English Standard Version
Daniel 5:6
6Then the king's color changed, and his thoughts alarmed him; his limbs gave way, and his knees knocked together.
Daniel 5:6 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)Then the king’s countenance was changed, and his thoughts troubled him, so that the joints of his loins were loosed, and his knees smote one against another.
- New International Version (NIV)His face turned pale and he was so frightened that his legs became weak and his knees were knocking.
- New King James Version (NKJV)Then the king’s countenance changed, and his thoughts troubled him, so that the joints of his hips were loosened and his knees knocked against each other.
- New Living Translation (NLT)and his face turned pale with fright. His knees knocked together in fear and his legs gave way beneath him.
Context of Daniel 5:6
4They drank wine and praised the gods of gold and silver, bronze, iron, wood, and stone. 5Immediately the fingers of a human hand appeared and wrote on the plaster of the wall of the king's palace, opposite the lampstand. And the king saw the hand as it wrote. Then the king's color changed, and his thoughts alarmed him; his limbs gave way, and his knees knocked together. 7The king called loudly to bring in the enchanters, the Chaldeans, and the astrologers. The king declared to the wise men of Babylon, "Whoever reads this writing, and shows me its interpretation, shall be clothed with purple and have a chain of gold around his neck and shall be the third ruler in the kingdom." 8Then all the king's wise men came in, but they could not read the writing or make known to the king the interpretation.
Read all of Daniel 5Daniel 5:6 word by word
אֱדַ֤יִן מַלְכָּא֙ זִיוֹ֣הִי שְׁנ֔וֹהִי וְרַעיֹנֹ֖הִי יְבַהֲלוּנֵּ֑הּ וְקִטְרֵ֤י חַרְצֵהּ֙ מִשְׁתָּרַ֔יִן וְאַ֨רְכֻבָּתֵ֔הּ דָּ֥א לְדָ֖א נָֽקְשָֽׁן׃Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
- Thenאֱדַ֫יִן'ĕdayin · thenH116
- the king’sמֶ֫לֶךְmelek · kingH4430
- countenanceזִיוzîyv · splendorH2122
- was changedשְׁנָאshenâ' · to changeH8133
- and his thoughtsרַעְיוֹןra‛yôn · thoughtH7476
- troubledבְּהַלbehal · to dismayH927
- him, so that the jointsקְטַרqeţar · jointH7001
- of his loinsחֲרַץchărats · loinH2783
- were loosedשְׁרָאsherê' · to looseH8271
- and his kneesאַרְכֻבָּה'arkûbâh · kneeH755
- smoteנְקַשׁneqash · to knockH5368
- oneדָּאdâ' · thisH1668
Cross-references for Daniel 5:6
- Daniel 5:9Then King Belshazzar was greatly alarmed, and his color changed, and his lords were perplexed.
- Daniel 2:1In the second year of the reign of Nebuchadnezzar, Nebuchadnezzar had dreams; his spirit was troubled, and his sleep left him.
- Daniel 3:19Then Nebuchadnezzar was filled with fury, and the expression of his face was changed against Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. He ordered the furnace heated seven times more than it was usually heated.
- Job 15:20The wicked man writhes in pain all his days, through all the years that are laid up for the ruthless.
- Job 20:19For he has crushed and abandoned the poor; he has seized a house that he did not build.
- Psalms 73:18Truly you set them in slippery places; you make them fall to ruin.
- Isaiah 21:2A stern vision is told to me; the traitor betrays, and the destroyer destroys. Go up, O Elam; lay siege, O Media; all the sighing she has caused I bring to an end.
- Daniel 5:10The queen, because of the words of the king and his lords, came into the banqueting hall, and the queen declared, "O king, live forever! Let not your thoughts alarm you or your color change.
- Daniel 4:5I saw a dream that made me afraid. As I lay in bed the fancies and the visions of my head alarmed me.
- Daniel 7:28"Here is the end of the matter. As for me, Daniel, my thoughts greatly alarmed me, and my color changed, but I kept the matter in my heart."
- Psalms 69:23Let their eyes be darkened, so that they cannot see, and make their loins tremble continually.
- Isaiah 13:7Therefore all hands will be feeble, and every human heart will melt.
- Isaiah 21:3Therefore my loins are filled with anguish; pangs have seized me, like the pangs of a woman in labor; I am bowed down so that I cannot hear; I am dismayed so that I cannot see.
- Isaiah 5:27None is weary, none stumbles, none slumbers or sleeps, not a waistband is loose, not a sandal strap broken;
- Isaiah 35:3Strengthen the weak hands, and make firm the feeble knees.
- Ezekiel 7:17All hands are feeble, and all knees turn to water.
Commentaries on Daniel 5:6
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 6The king's countenance was changed - Here is a very natural description of fear and terror. The face grows pale; The mind becomes greatly agitated; Pains seize on the lower part of the back and kidneys; A universal tremor takes place, so that the knees smite against each other; 5. And lastly, either a syncope takes place, or the cry of distress is uttered, Daniel 5:7; : "The king cried."Read the comment
- Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 5-6The supernatural hand shocked and terrified the people at the feast. Yet Belshazzar still did not repent (Daniel 5:29; compare Jeremiah 38:19–24; Acts 24:25).Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 66. countenance--literally, "brightness," that is, his bright look. joints of his loins--"the vertebræ of his back" [Gesenius].Read the comment
Topics related to Daniel 5:6
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