Daniel 5:10 Commentary and Bible Study

At this point the queen enters the banquet house. Word has reached her of the writing on the wall and the terror it has produced. Given her counsel to the king, she has also heard of the failure of the wise men to read the writing. Which queen is this? Very likely she is not the wife of Belshazzar. We have read previously that Belshazzar’s wives and concubines are already present. Nebuchadnezzar had an evil, eldest son, who was the first two-year ruler following him. That son wouldn't have wanted any truck with Daniel. So Daniel has been out of power and influence, out of the reckoning for some time, ever since the death of Nebuchadnezzar. The record of his wonderful prophecies and interpretations has been forgotten, even though he is still alive. We would have to go back to a contemporary of Nebuchadnezzar to find someone who can still remember the exploits of Daniel, so maybe this is Nebuchadnezzar's widow, the queen mother; she has been aloof from the feast. She is the one to introduce Daniel to them. She speaks like someone with considerable understanding, on whom Daniel has made a deep impression.‘And the queen spake and said, O king, live for ever: let not thy thoughts trouble thee, nor let thy countenance be changed’ – this is the customary polite approach to a sovereign, whatever she really thinks of him. Only now Daniel is remembered: always the last to be called. Least of all, men want to hear what God has to say, but ultimately they are forced to admit that only God can answer the most important questions. ‘There is a man in thy kingdom, in whom is the spirit of the holy gods; and in the days of thy father light and understanding and wisdom, like the wisdom of the gods was found in him.’ The Queen knows a lot about Daniel, but it sounds like Belshazzar has never heard of him. Her words are polite and generous, although she will reprove Belshazzar the king. Again, even though this is plural it could refer to the one true God, whose name is plural, and therefore some versions translate this and the same phrase in verse 14 in the singular – ‘in whom is the Spirit of the Holy God’. ‘Forasmuch as an excellent spirit, knowledge, understanding, interpreting of dreams’ – what lengths she has to go to, to convince Belshazzar that it's worth calling on this man. She gives every possible commendation. ‘Showing of hard sentences, dissolving of doubts were found in the same Daniel.’ She uses his name. She even seems to know that he hated being called Belteshazzar, the name assigned to him by Nebuchadnezzar, because that fastened a Chaldean god onto his name. ‘Whom the king Nebuchadnezzar thy father, the king, I say, thy father, made master of the magicians, astrologers, Chaldeans, and soothsayers’ – a post which Daniel had surely never taken up. He would never have associated with these evil workers. Nevertheless he was given the honour, even if the only person who remembers it is Nebuchadnezzar's widow. She almost says, ‘What times we have come to that such a man is not known to you!’ ‘Now let Daniel be called and he will show the interpretation.’