Although the author of the Book of Daniel describes Belshazzar as the son and successor of Nebuchadnezzar as king of Babylon, Belshazzar was, in fact, neither. Neolithic Stone Balls: The Northern Rosetta Stone? Belshazzar's starting-point was the accession of Nebuchadnezzar, who reigned forty-five years. [23] Regent in Babylon [ edit] And no city is impenetrable. The only focus should be on living a life that consistently turns away from sin, honors God, and shows kindness to others. Since the discovery and decipherment of the cuneiform inscriptions, however, "Belshazzar" is now generally admitted to be the Hebrew-Aramaic equivalent of the Babylonian form "Belsharuur" (Bel preserve the king), which has been found in the cuneiform documents as the name of the eldest son of Nabonidus (Nabuna'id), the last native king of Babylon (555-538 B.C.). His father joins his name with his own in some of his prayers to the gods, and apparently appointed him commander of the army of Accad, whose especial duty it was to defend the city of Babylon against the attacks of the armies of Media and Persia. Get our Question of the Week delivered right to your inbox! 5:1 Belshazzar the king made a great feast to a thousand of his lords, and drank wine before the thousand. Oaths were taken in Belshazzar's name and jointly in his name and his father's name, which fact indicates Belshazzar's importance, but They did not rely on anyone or anything but worshipped their own greatness. LIVE AN HONORABLE LIFE. It is stated in Dan. They knew that every king had to prove themselves, and Belshazzar had not yet done so. In the last verse we are told that Belshazzar was slain in that same night, and that his power passed to Darius the Mede. We forget that through Him we have everything we need, and Gods hand is over our lives. There can be no doubt that the son of Nabonidus was the prototype of the Biblical Belshazzar. 5:28 PERES; Thy kingdom is divided, and given to the Medes and Persians. The exiles were treated poorly after their city and temple had been destroyed. Besides this, had the author regarded his Belshazzar as Evil-merodach, he would have deliberately passed over in silence the reigns of several Babylonian kings between the death of Evil-merodach and the foreign supremacy. But many of the people in the Bible serve as cautionary tales. Cyrus the Great is said, in the Bible, to have liberated the Jews from theBabylonian captivity. As Greek mythology goes, the universe was once a big soup of nothingness. Yet more gold: the author of Daniel is hammering home the fact that Belshazzars kingdom is one that prizes material riches over religious observance. This was a ziggurat dedicated to Marduk, the patron god of Babylon. How Can I Recognize and Understand the Holy Spirit Better? This ruler set the groundwork for the impressive Neo-Babylonian Empire, leaving his son Nebuchadnezzar II with the ideal circumstances to bring Babylonia to the forefront of ancient society. The verse in Isa. He was the son of Nabonidus, who wasnt a relative of Nebuchadnezzar either, but who seized control of Babylon when Nebuchadnezzars actual son, Labashi-Marduk, proved himself not up to the job of king. This same son of the king is most probably mentioned again in the same chronicle as having died in the night in which Babylon was captured by Gobryas of Gutium. Belshazzar, therefore, stands as a warning to the destructive nature of pride. So he sends for his magicians in the hope that they can divine the meaning of the writing: 5:7 The king cried aloud to bring in the astrologers, the Chaldeans, and the soothsayers. Leg's of Iron He will be richly rewarded: 5:16 And I have heard of thee, that thou canst make interpretations, and dissolve doubts: now if thou canst read the writing, and make known to me the interpretation thereof, thou shalt be clothed with scarlet, and have a chain of gold about thy neck, and shalt be the third ruler in the kingdom.
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