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That very night Belshazzar king of the Chaldeans was slain,
Daniel 5:30 · Berean Standard Bible
Parallel translations
  • WEB In that night Belshazzar the Chaldean King was slain.
  • KJV In that night was Belshazzar the king of the Chaldeans slain.
  • NKJV That very night Belshazzar, king of the Chaldeans, was slain.
  • NASB That same night Belshazzar the Chaldean king was killed.
  • NLT That very night Belshazzar, the Babylonian king, was killed.

Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org

Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Quick answer

That very night Belshazzar is killed, fulfilling God's word without delay. The judgment announced is swiftly carried out.

Overview

The prophecy is realized the same night it is given, as Babylon falls to the Medo-Persian forces. God's word does not return void, and what He declares comes to pass exactly. The sudden end of the proud king stands as a solemn testimony that the Lord judges in His appointed hour.

Cross-references & the web

Cross-references · 7

  • Jer 51:31One courier races to meet another, and messenger follows messenger, to announce to the king of Babylon that his city has been captured from end to end.
  • Jer 51:39While they are flushed with heat, I will serve them a feast, and I will make them drunk so that they may revel; then they will fall asleep forever and never wake up, declares the LORD.
  • Jer 51:57I will make her princes and wise men drunk, along with her governors, officials, and warriors. Then they will fall asleep forever and not wake up,” declares the King, whose name is the LORD of Hosts.
  • Jer 51:11Sharpen the arrows! Fill the quivers! The LORD has aroused the spirit of the kings of the Medes, because His plan is aimed at Babylon to destroy her, for it is the vengeance of the LORD—vengeance for His temple.
  • Isa 21:4–9My heart falters; fear makes me tremble. The twilight of my desire has turned to horror.
  • Isa 47:9These two things will overtake you in a moment, in a single day: loss of children, and widowhood. They will come upon you in full measure, in spite of your many sorceries and the potency of your spells.
  • Dan 5:1–2Later, King Belshazzar held a great feast for a thousand of his nobles, and he drank wine with them.

Themes, concepts, people & topics

Topics (2)

Resources, by level

Commentaries & study tools

  • VideoBibleProject — Daniel videosBibleProject · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.

  • VideoWatch teaching on Daniel 5:30YouTube · Lay · Free

    Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.

  • CommentaryEnduring Word — verse-by-verseDavid Guzik · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.

  • CommentaryClassic commentaries for this verseBibleHub (20+ works) · Pastoral · Free

    Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.

  • CommentaryMatthew Henry on DanielMatthew Henry · Pastoral · Free · evangelical

    The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).

  • ReferenceInterlinear, lexicon & Strong'sBlue Letter Bible · Seminary · Free

    Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.

Christ at the center

Daniel sees the stone cut without hands that shatters the kingdoms, and 'one like a son of man' given everlasting dominion — titles and visions Jesus claims as his own.

How Daniel 5:30 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.

Original language

Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.