To Belshazzar

Hello readers! The next mythological tale I will be posting about today is of Belshazzar



I just want to hear the short version...

Belshazzar was a king who made a great feast for all of his lords, and drank wine, commanded his men to bring the gold and silver his father Nebuchadnezzar taken from the temple which had been in Jerusalem. All drank the wine and praised the gods of gold and silver, not the actual God, so clear blasphemy had taken place. At the same time in the feast, a man's hand appeared and wrote on the plaster of the wall of the king's palace, and the writing could not be deciphered by the king. He called for astrologers, Chaldeans and soothsayers. Daniel was eventually called to decipher the message. It read that, due to the king trying to live himself above God and not humbling himself as had been warned before to his father,MENE, TEKEL, UPHARSIN meaning that God had numbered his kingdom and finished it, and consequently it has been divivded and given to the Medes and Persians (men that they were fighting). Belshazzar commanded Daniel to be clothed in purple, a chain of gold placed around his neck, and proclaimed that he should be the third ruler in the kingdom.   

Daniel 5

Belshazzar’s Feast

5 Belshazzar the king made a great feast for a thousand of his lords, and drank wine in the presence of the thousand. 2 While he tasted the wine, Belshazzar gave the command to bring the gold and silver vessels which his father Nebuchadnezzar had taken from the temple which had been in Jerusalem, that the king and his lords, his wives, and his concubines might drink from them. 3 Then they brought the gold vessels that had been taken from the temple of the house of God which had been in Jerusalem; and the king and his lords, his wives, and his concubines drank from them. 4 They drank wine, and praised the gods of gold and silver, bronze and iron, wood and stone.

5 In the same hour the fingers of a man’s hand appeared and wrote opposite the lampstand on the plaster of the wall of the king’s palace; and the king saw the part of the hand that wrote. 6 Then the king’s countenance changed, and his thoughts troubled him, so that the joints of his hips were loosened and his knees knocked against each other. 7 The king cried aloud to bring in the astrologers, the Chaldeans, and the soothsayers. The king spoke, saying to the wise men of Babylon, “Whoever reads this writing, and tells me its interpretation, shall be clothed with purple and have a chain of gold around his neck; and he shall be the third ruler in the kingdom.” 8 Now all the king’s wise mencame, but they could not read the writing, or make known to the king its interpretation. 9 Then King Belshazzar was greatly troubled, his countenance was changed, and his lords were astonished.
10 The queen, because of the words of the king and his lords, came to the banquet hall. The queen spoke, saying, “O king, live forever! Do not let your thoughts trouble you, nor let your countenance change. 11 There is a man in your kingdom in whom is the Spirit of the Holy God. And in the days of your father, light and understanding and wisdom, like the wisdom of the gods, were found in him; and King Nebuchadnezzar your father—your father the king—made him chief of the magicians, astrologers, Chaldeans, and soothsayers. 12 Inasmuch as an excellent spirit, knowledge, understanding, interpreting dreams, solving riddles, and explaining enigmas[a] were found in this Daniel, whom the king named Belteshazzar, now let Daniel be called, and he will give the interpretation.”

The Writing on the Wall Explained

13 Then Daniel was brought in before the king. The king spoke, and said to Daniel, “Are you that Daniel who is one of the captives[b] from Judah, whom my father the king brought from Judah? 14 I have heard of you, that the Spirit of God is in you, and that light and understanding and excellent wisdom are found in you. 15 Now the wise men, the astrologers, have been brought in before me, that they should read this writing and make known to me its interpretation, but they could not give the interpretation of the thing. 16 And I have heard of you, that you can give interpretations and explain enigmas. Now if you can read the writing and make known to me its interpretation, you shall be clothed with purple and have a chain of gold around your neck, and shall be the third ruler in the kingdom.”
17 Then Daniel answered, and said before the king, “Let your gifts be for yourself, and give your rewards to another; yet I will read the writing to the king, and make known to him the interpretation.18 O king, the Most High God gave Nebuchadnezzar your father a kingdom and majesty, glory and honor. 19 And because of the majesty that He gave him, all peoples, nations, and languages trembled and feared before him. Whomever he wished, he executed; whomever he wished, he kept alive; whomever he wished, he set up; and whomever he wished, he put down. 20 But when his heart was lifted up, and his spirit was hardened in pride, he was deposed from his kingly throne, and they took his glory from him. 21 Then he was driven from the sons of men, his heart was made like the beasts, and his dwelling was with the wild donkeys. They fed him with grass like oxen, and his body was wet with the dew of heaven, till he knew that the Most High God rules in the kingdom of men, and appoints over it whomever He chooses.
22 “But you his son, Belshazzar, have not humbled your heart, although you knew all this. 23 And you have lifted yourself up against the Lord of heaven. They have brought the vessels of His house before you, and you and your lords, your wives and your concubines, have drunk wine from them. And you have praised the gods of silver and gold, bronze and iron, wood and stone, which do not see or hear or know; and the God who holds your breath in His hand and owns all your ways, you have not glorified.24 Then the fingers[c] of the hand were sent from Him, and this writing was written.
25 “And this is the inscription that was written:

MENE,[d] MENE, TEKEL,[e] UPHARSIN.[f]

26 This is the interpretation of each word. MENE: God has numbered your kingdom, and finished it;27 TEKEL: You have been weighed in the balances, and found wanting; 28 PERES: Your kingdom has been divided, and given to the Medes and Persians.”[g] 29 Then Belshazzar gave the command, and they clothed Daniel with purple and put a chain of gold around his neck, and made a proclamation concerning him that he should be the third ruler in the kingdom.

Another version of this tale is in George Gordon Byron's poem, Vision of Belshazzar

The King was on his throne,
    The Satraps thronged the hall:
A thousand bright lamps shone
    O’er that high festival.
A thousand cups of gold,
    In Judah deemed divine --
Jehovah’s vessels hold
    The godless Heathen’s wine!

In that same hour and hall,
    The fingers of a hand
Come forth against the wall
    And wrote as if on sand:
The fingers of a man: --
    A solitary hand
Along the letters ran,
    And traced them like a wand.

The monarch saw, and shook,
    And bade no more rejoice;
All bloodless waxed his look,
    And tremulous his voice.
“Let the men of lore appear,
    The wisest of the earth,
And expound the words of fear,
    Which mar our royal mirth.”

Chaldea’s seers are good,
    But here they have no skill;
And the unknown letters stood
    Untold and awful still.
And Babel’s men of age
    Are wise and deep in lore;
But now they were not sage,
    They saw – but knew not more.

A captive in the land,
    A stranger and a youth,
He heard the King’s command,
    He saw that writing’s truth.
The lamps around were bright,
    The prophecy in view;
He read it on that night, -
    The morrow proved it true.

“Belshazzar’s grave is made,
    His kingdom passed away,
He, in the balance weighed,
    Is light and worthless clay;
The shroud, his robe of state,
    His canopy the stone;
The Mede is at his gate!
    The Persian on his throne!”

Heinrich Heine wrote a short poem entitled "Belsatzar" in his collection "Junge Leiden". 

Midnight drew nearer already;
In mute rest lay Babylon.

Only above, in the king's castle,
lights are flickering and the king's retinue makes noise.

And above, in the king's hall,
Belshazzar holds his royal banquet.

The knights sat in shimmering rows,
emptying goblets of sparkling wine.

The goblets clinked, the knights cheered;
and so they made noise for that headstrong king.

The king's cheeks glowed;
through wine his courage grew bolder.

And blindly, his courage pulled him forward,
and he maligned God with blasphemous words.

And he boasted impertinently and blasphemed wildly
while the crowd of knights bellowed their approval.

The king called with a haughty glance;
the servant hurried off and soon came back.

He brought back on his head many golden treasures
that had been plundered from Jehovah's Temple.

And the king grasped with his criminal hand
a sacred goblet and filled it to the brim.

And he drained it hastily to the bottom,
and then called loudly with foaming mouth:

"Jehovah! I proclaim to you my eternal scorn,
for I am the king of Babylon!"

But hardly had those terrible words died away,
when the king grew secretly fearful in his heart.

The ringing laughter fell silent at once;
the hall grew deathly still.

And behold! behold! on the white wall
there appeared something like a human hand;

and it wrote and wrote on the white wall
letters of fire; it wrote and disappeared.

The king sat staring there,
with knocking knees, pale as death.

The crowd of knights sat cold and filled with horror,
and sat entirely still, without a sound.

Magicians came, but no one could understand
and find the meaning of the flaming script on the wall.

But Belshazzar, that very night,
was murdered by his knights.