New International Version
Daniel 5:27
27Tekel : You have been weighed on the scales and found wanting.
Daniel 5:27 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)TEKEL; Thou art weighed in the balances, and art found wanting.
- English Standard Version (ESV)Tekel, you have been weighed in the balances 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
25“This is the inscription that was written: mene, mene, tekel, parsin 26“Here is what these words mean: Mene : God has numbered the days of your reign and brought it to an end. Tekel : You have been weighed on the scales and found wanting. 28Peres : Your kingdom is divided and given to the Medes and Persians.” 29Then at Belshazzar’s command, Daniel was clothed in purple, a gold chain was placed around his neck, and he was proclaimed the third highest 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 31:6let God weigh me in honest scales and he will know that I am blameless—
- Psalms 62:9Surely the lowborn are but a breath, the highborn are but a lie. If weighed on a balance, they are nothing; together they are only a breath.
- Jeremiah 6:30They are called rejected silver, because the Lord has rejected them.”
- Ezekiel 22:18“Son of man, the people of Israel have become dross to me; all of them are the copper, tin, iron and lead left inside a furnace. They are but the dross of silver.
- Matthew 22:11“But when the king came in to see the guests, he noticed a man there who was not wearing wedding clothes.
- 1 Corinthians 3:13their work will be shown for what it is, because the Day will bring it to light. It will be revealed with fire, and the fire will test the quality of each person’s work.
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
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Commentaries