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

2When Belshazzar tasted the wine, he issued an order to bring in the gold and silver vessels that Nebuchadnezzar his father had taken out of the Temple in Jerusalem, so that the king and his nobles, his consorts and his concubines could drink from them. 3So they brought the gold vessels that were taken out of the Temple of the House of God in Jerusalem, and the king and his nobles, consorts and concubines drank from them. They drank the wine and praised the gods made of gold and silver, bronze, iron, wood and stone. 5At that very moment, the fingers of a human hand emerged and wrote on the plaster of the wall of the king’s palace opposite the lampstand, so that the king could see the back of the hand that was writing. 6The color drained from the king’s face, his thoughts alarmed him, his hips gave way 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 5:23Instead you have exalted yourself against the Lord of heaven. You had the vessels of His House brought before you, and you and your nobles, your consorts and your concubines have been drinking wine in them. You have praised the gods made of silver and gold, of bronze, iron, wood and stone, which cannot see or hear or understand. Yet you did not honor the God who holds in His hand your very breath and all your ways.
• Judges 16:23Now the Philistine lords gathered to offer a great sacrifice to Dagon their god and to celebrate, as they said, “Our god has given our enemy Samson into our hand.”
• Isaiah 42:8“I am Adonai—that is My Name! My glory I will not give to another, Or My praise to graven images.
• Hosea 2:8Therefore see, I will hedge her in with thorns, and I will build a wall around her so she cannot find her paths.
• Revelation 9:20But the rest of mankind, those not killed by these plagues, did not repent and turn away from the works of their hands—they would not stop worshiping demons and the idols of gold and silver and stone and wood, which cannot see or hear or walk.
• Daniel 3:1King Nebuchadnezzar made an image of gold, sixty cubits high and six cubits wide. He set it up on the plain of Dura in the province of Babylon.
• Psalms 115:4Their idols are silver and gold, the work of human hands.
• Psalms 135:15The idols of the nations are silver and gold, the work of human hands.
• Isaiah 40:19To an idol? A craftsman casts it, a goldsmith overlays it with gold and fashions silver chains for it.
• Isaiah 42:17They will be turned back, utterly put to shame— those trusting in idols, who say to molten images, ‘You are our gods.’
• Isaiah 46:6They lavish gold from a purse and weigh out silver on the scales. They hire a goldsmith so he makes a god. They bow down. Yes, they worship it.
• Jeremiah 10:4They decorate it with silver and gold, and fasten it with hammer and nails so it won’t totter.
• Habakkuk 2:19Oy to one who says to wood: “Awake!” To a dumb stone: “Rouse yourself!” Can it teach? Look, it is plated with gold and silver, but it has no spirit within it.
• Acts 17:29Since we are His offspring, we ought not to suppose the Deity is like gold or silver or stone, an engraved image of human art and imagination.
• Acts 19:24For a man named Demetrius—a silversmith, a maker of silver shrines of Artemis—was providing no small amount of business 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