Word Study: The Writing on the Wall
I find the story of Belshazzar very amusing. Similar to the amusements I find in reading of Balaam arguing with his donkey. There is Belshazzar, making merry with the Holy Implements of God plundered in conquest. He's having a grand 'ol time desecrating and defiling, when suddenly God's hand appears, he's "seen the writing on the wall" and the mood of merriment ceases...
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. Dan 5:6
THAT'S HILARIOUS! Lord Love the King James Bible! The joints of his loins were loosed! His knees smote one against another! LOL! So he brings in all his prognosticators et al. and they can't decipher it. Enter Daniel to explain it all - but not before he gives Belshazzar a good tongue lashing to let him know he ain't the king his daddy was.
I'm so excited!
ודנה כתבא די רשים מנא מנא תקל ופרסין׃
דנה פשר־מלתא מנא מנה־אלהא מלכותך והשלמה׃
תקל תקילתה במאזניא והשתכחת חסיר׃
פרס פריסת מלכותך ויהיבת למדי ופרס׃
And this is the writing that was written, Mene, Mene, Tekel, Upharsin.
This is the interpretation of the thing: Mene; God hath numbered thy kingdom, and finished it.
Tekel; Thou art weighed in the balances, and art found wanting.
Peres; Thy kingdom is divided, and given to the Medes and Persians. Dan 5:25-28 (KJV)
Jewish tradition maintains that the letters were written vertically and backwards. As Aramaic is written 'left to right', that makes it backwards to Hebrew, in a sense, as it is written 'right to left'.
Let's dissect this a bit -
What intrigued me and caused me to do the word study was how Daniel knew Balshazar's kingdom would be conquered by the Media-Persians? This is something missing in the translation. You have to look at the Hebrew to see how Daniel connected God's play on words.
PERES - פרס
Persians(ū-p̄ā-rās) - ופרס
The "ו" or "ū" being an additive marker "and".
There are also scholars who believe the letters could have been in Paleo-Hebrew, making it difficult to read at the time. In order to explore this, I removed the vowels to focus on the letters, this is where it got pretty exciting for me -
מנא מנא תקל ופרסין
MNMNTKLPRS (only consonants - vowels implied)
I absolutely love the characters God chose to represent "you are weighed" or TEKEL. It is the sign of The Cross (The Tah), the palm of the hand, and a shepherd's staff. REMIND YOU OF ANYONE? And check out the characters used for PERES - An open mouth which gives the impression of being blown by the wind, the head, and a thorn denoting hatred or being grabbed.
For not even the Father judges anyone, but He has given all judgment to the Son, (John 5:22)
and He gave Him authority to execute judgment, because He is the Son of Man. (John 5:27)
And He ordered us to preach to the people, and solemnly to testify that this is the One who has been appointed by God as Judge of the living and the dead. (Acts 10:42)
Paleo-Hebrew word studies are fascinatingly fun for me.
Then said I, Lo, I come (in the volume of the book it is written of me,) to do thy will, O God. Heb (10:7)
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. Dan 5:6
THAT'S HILARIOUS! Lord Love the King James Bible! The joints of his loins were loosed! His knees smote one against another! LOL! So he brings in all his prognosticators et al. and they can't decipher it. Enter Daniel to explain it all - but not before he gives Belshazzar a good tongue lashing to let him know he ain't the king his daddy was.
I'm so excited!
ודנה כתבא די רשים מנא מנא תקל ופרסין׃
דנה פשר־מלתא מנא מנה־אלהא מלכותך והשלמה׃
תקל תקילתה במאזניא והשתכחת חסיר׃
פרס פריסת מלכותך ויהיבת למדי ופרס׃
And this is the writing that was written, Mene, Mene, Tekel, Upharsin.
This is the interpretation of the thing: Mene; God hath numbered thy kingdom, and finished it.
Tekel; Thou art weighed in the balances, and art found wanting.
Peres; Thy kingdom is divided, and given to the Medes and Persians. Dan 5:25-28 (KJV)
Jewish tradition maintains that the letters were written vertically and backwards. As Aramaic is written 'left to right', that makes it backwards to Hebrew, in a sense, as it is written 'right to left'.
Let's dissect this a bit -
What intrigued me and caused me to do the word study was how Daniel knew Balshazar's kingdom would be conquered by the Media-Persians? This is something missing in the translation. You have to look at the Hebrew to see how Daniel connected God's play on words.
PERES - פרס
Persians(ū-p̄ā-rās) - ופרס
The "ו" or "ū" being an additive marker "and".
There are also scholars who believe the letters could have been in Paleo-Hebrew, making it difficult to read at the time. In order to explore this, I removed the vowels to focus on the letters, this is where it got pretty exciting for me -
מנא מנא תקל ופרסין
MNMNTKLPRS (only consonants - vowels implied)
I absolutely love the characters God chose to represent "you are weighed" or TEKEL. It is the sign of The Cross (The Tah), the palm of the hand, and a shepherd's staff. REMIND YOU OF ANYONE? And check out the characters used for PERES - An open mouth which gives the impression of being blown by the wind, the head, and a thorn denoting hatred or being grabbed.
For not even the Father judges anyone, but He has given all judgment to the Son, (John 5:22)
and He gave Him authority to execute judgment, because He is the Son of Man. (John 5:27)
And He ordered us to preach to the people, and solemnly to testify that this is the One who has been appointed by God as Judge of the living and the dead. (Acts 10:42)
Paleo-Hebrew word studies are fascinatingly fun for me.
Then said I, Lo, I come (in the volume of the book it is written of me,) to do thy will, O God. Heb (10:7)