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

2While Belshazzar was drinking the wine, he gave orders to bring in the gold and silver cups that his predecessor, Nebuchadnezzar, had taken from the Temple in Jerusalem. He wanted to drink from them with his nobles, his wives, and his concubines. 3So they brought these gold cups taken from the Temple, the house of God in Jerusalem, and the king and his nobles, his wives, and his concubines drank from them. While they drank from them they praised their idols made of gold, silver, bronze, iron, wood, and stone. 5Suddenly, they saw the fingers of a human hand writing on the plaster wall of the king’s palace, near the lampstand. The king himself saw the hand as it wrote, 6and his face turned pale with fright. His knees knocked together in fear and his legs gave way beneath him.

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 5:23For you have proudly defied the Lord of heaven and have had these cups from his Temple brought before you. You and your nobles and your wives and concubines have been drinking wine from them while praising gods of silver, gold, bronze, iron, wood, and stone—gods that neither see nor hear nor know anything at all. But you have not honored the God who gives you the breath of life and controls your destiny!
• Daniel 4:37“Now I, Nebuchadnezzar, praise and glorify and honor the King of heaven. All his acts are just and true, and he is able to humble the proud.”
• Judges 16:23The Philistine rulers held a great festival, offering sacrifices and praising their god, Dagon. They said, “Our god has given us victory over our enemy Samson!”
• Isaiah 42:8“I am the Lord; that is my name! I will not give my glory to anyone else, nor share my praise with carved idols.
• Hosea 2:8She doesn’t realize it was I who gave her everything she has— the grain, the new wine, the olive oil; I even gave her silver and gold. But she gave all my gifts to Baal.
• Revelation 9:20But the people who did not die in these plagues still refused to repent of their evil deeds and turn to God. They continued to worship demons and idols made of gold, silver, bronze, stone, and wood—idols that can neither see nor hear nor walk!
• Daniel 3:1King Nebuchadnezzar made a gold statue ninety feet tall and nine feet wide and set it up on the plain of Dura in the province of Babylon.
• Psalms 115:4Their idols are merely things of silver and gold, shaped by human hands.
• Psalms 135:15The idols of the nations are merely things of silver and gold, shaped by human hands.
• Isaiah 40:19Can he be compared to an idol formed in a mold, overlaid with gold, and decorated with silver chains?
• Isaiah 42:17But those who trust in idols, who say, ‘You are our gods,’ will be turned away in shame.
• Isaiah 46:6Some people pour out their silver and gold and hire a craftsman to make a god from it. Then they bow down and worship it!
• Jeremiah 10:4They decorate it with gold and silver and then fasten it securely with hammer and nails so it won’t fall over.
• Habakkuk 2:19What sorrow awaits you who say to wooden idols, ‘Wake up and save us!’ To speechless stone images you say, ‘Rise up and teach us!’ Can an idol tell you what to do? They may be overlaid with gold and silver, but they are lifeless inside.
• Acts 17:29And since this is true, we shouldn’t think of God as an idol designed by craftsmen from gold or silver or stone.
• Acts 19:24It began with Demetrius, a silversmith who had a large business manufacturing silver shrines of the Greek goddess Artemis. He kept many craftsmen busy.

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