Daniel 5:5
New International Version
Suddenly the fingers of a human hand appeared and wrote on the plaster of the wall, near the lampstand in the royal palace. The king watched the hand as it wrote.

New Living Translation
Suddenly, they saw the fingers of a human hand writing on the plaster wall of the king’s palace, near the lampstand. The king himself saw the hand as it wrote,

English Standard Version
Immediately the fingers of a human hand appeared and wrote on the plaster of the wall of the king’s palace, opposite the lampstand. And the king saw the hand as it wrote.

Berean Standard Bible
At that moment the fingers of a human hand appeared and wrote on the plaster of the wall, near the lampstand in the royal palace. As the king watched the hand that was writing,

King James Bible
In the same hour came forth fingers of a man's hand, and wrote over against the candlestick upon the plaister of the wall of the king's palace: and the king saw the part of the hand that wrote.

New King James Version
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.

New American Standard Bible
Suddenly the fingers of a human hand emerged and began writing opposite the lampstand on the plaster of the wall of the king’s palace, and the king saw the back of the hand that did the writing.

NASB 1995
Suddenly the fingers of a man’s hand emerged and began writing opposite the lampstand on the plaster of the wall of the king’s palace, and the king saw the back of the hand that did the writing.

NASB 1977
Suddenly the fingers of a man’s hand emerged and began writing opposite the lampstand on the plaster of the wall of the king’s palace, and the king saw the back of the hand that did the writing.

Legacy Standard Bible
Suddenly the fingers of a man’s hand came out and began writing opposite the lampstand on the plaster of the wall of the king’s palace, and the king saw the back of the hand that did the writing.

Amplified Bible
Suddenly the fingers of a man’s hand appeared and began writing opposite the lampstand on [a well-lit area of] the plaster of the wall of the king’s palace, and the king saw the part of the hand that did the writing.

Christian Standard Bible
At that moment the fingers of a man’s hand appeared and began writing on the plaster of the king’s palace wall next to the lampstand. As the king watched the hand that was writing,

Holman Christian Standard Bible
At that moment the fingers of a man’s hand appeared and began writing on the plaster of the king’s palace wall next to the lampstand. As the king watched the hand that was writing,

American Standard Version
In the same hour came forth the fingers of a man's hand, and wrote over against the candlestick upon the plaster of the wall of the king's palace: and the king saw the part of the hand that wrote.

Aramaic Bible in Plain English
And at that moment, the fingers of the hand of a man came out and they wrote next to a lamp on the plaster of the wall in the palace of the King, and the King saw the palm of the hand of the man who wrote

Brenton Septuagint Translation
In the same hour came forth fingers of a man's hand, and wrote in front of the lamp on the plaster of the wall of the king's house: and the king saw the knuckles of the hand that wrote.

Contemporary English Version
Suddenly a human hand was seen writing on the plaster wall of the palace. The hand was just behind the lampstand, and the king could see it writing.

Douay-Rheims Bible
In the same hour there appeared fingers, as it were of the hand of a man, writing over against the candlestick upon the surface of the wall of the king's palace: and the king beheld the joints of the hand that wrote.

English Revised Version
In the same hour came forth the fingers of a man's hand, and wrote over against the candlestick upon the plaister of the wall of the king's palace: and the king saw the part of the hand that wrote.

GOD'S WORD® Translation
Suddenly, the fingers of a person's hand appeared and wrote on the plaster wall opposite the lamp stand of the royal palace. The king watched as the hand wrote.

Good News Translation
Suddenly a human hand appeared and began writing on the plaster wall of the palace, where the light from the lamps was shining most brightly. And the king saw the hand as it was writing.

International Standard Version
At that moment, humanlike fingers of a hand appeared near the lamp stand of the royal palace and wrote on the plaster of the wall.

JPS Tanakh 1917
In the same hour came forth fingers of a man's hand, and wrote over against the candlestick upon the plaster of the wall of the king's palace; and the king saw the palm of the hand that wrote.

Literal Standard Version
In that hour fingers of a man’s hand have come forth, and they are writing in front of the lampstand, on the plaster of the wall of the king’s palace: and the king is seeing the extremity of the hand that is writing;

Majority Standard Bible
At that moment the fingers of a human hand appeared and wrote on the plaster of the wall, near the lampstand in the royal palace. As the king watched the hand that was writing,

New American Bible
Suddenly, opposite the lampstand, the fingers of a human hand appeared, writing on the plaster of the wall in the king’s palace. When the king saw the hand that wrote,

NET Bible
At that very moment the fingers of a human hand appeared and wrote on the plaster of the royal palace wall, opposite the lampstand. The king was watching the back of the hand that was writing.

New Revised Standard Version
Immediately the fingers of a human hand appeared and began writing on the plaster of the wall of the royal palace, next to the lampstand. The king was watching the hand as it wrote.

New Heart English Bible
In the same hour came forth the fingers of a man's hand, and wrote over against the lampstand on the plaster of the wall of the king's palace: and the king saw the part of the hand that wrote.

Webster's Bible Translation
In the same hour came forth fingers of a man's hand, and wrote over against the candlestick upon the plaster of the wall of the king's palace: and the king saw the part of the hand that wrote.

World English Bible
In the same hour, the fingers of a man’s hand came out and wrote near the lamp stand on the plaster of the wall of the king’s palace. The king saw the part of the hand that wrote.

Young's Literal Translation
In that hour come forth have fingers of a man's hand, and they are writing over-against the candlestick, on the plaster of the wall of the king's palace: and the king is seeing the extremity of the hand that is writing;

Additional Translations ...
Audio Bible



Context
The Handwriting on the Wall
5At that moment the fingers of a human hand appeared and wrote on the plaster of the wall, near the lampstand in the royal palace. As the king watched the hand that was writing, 6his face grew pale and his thoughts so alarmed him that his hips gave way and his knees knocked together.…

Cross References
Daniel 5:4
As they drank the wine, they praised their gods of gold and silver, bronze and iron, wood and stone.

Daniel 5:6
his face grew pale and his thoughts so alarmed him that his hips gave way and his knees knocked together.

Daniel 5:24
Therefore He sent the hand that wrote the inscription.


Treasury of Scripture

In the same hour came forth fingers of a man's hand, and wrote over against the candlestick on the plaster of the wall of the king's palace: and the king saw the part of the hand that wrote.

the same.

Daniel 4:31,33
While the word was in the king's mouth, there fell a voice from heaven, saying, O king Nebuchadnezzar, to thee it is spoken; The kingdom is departed from thee…

Job 20:5
That the triumphing of the wicked is short, and the joy of the hypocrite but for a moment?

Psalm 78:30,31
They were not estranged from their lust. But while their meat was yet in their mouths, …

wrote.

Daniel 5:8,15,24-28
Then came in all the king's wise men: but they could not read the writing, nor make known to the king the interpretation thereof…

Colossians 2:14
Blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to his cross;

Revelation 20:12-15
And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works…

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Appeared Candlestick Fingers Forth Hand Hour Human Immediately King's Lampstand Opposite Palace Palm Part Plaister Plaster Royal Suddenly Wall Writing Wrote
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Appeared Candlestick Fingers Forth Hand Hour Human Immediately King's Lampstand Opposite Palace Palm Part Plaister Plaster Royal Suddenly Wall Writing Wrote
Daniel 5
1. Belshazzar's impious feast.
5. A hand-writing unknown to the magicians, troubles the king.
10. At the commendation of the queen Daniel is brought.
17. He, reproving the king of pride and idolatry,
25. reads and interprets the writing.
30. The monarchy is translated to the Medes














(5) In the same hour--i.e., suddenly and unexpectedly. (Comp. Daniel 3:6.) Observe that it was only a portion of the hand that the king saw (comp. Daniel 5:24), and that we are not told whether the guests saw the hand or not. That the writing was visible to all is plain from Daniel 5:8. We remark here, as in other supernatural manifestations recorded in Scripture, that a portion only has been witnessed by many, while the whole has been seen only by one or by a few. (Comp. John 12:28-29; Acts 9:7.)

Candlestick.--This, of course, would make both the hand and the writing more distinctly visible to the king. . . .

Verse 5. - In the same hour oame forth fingers of a man's hand, and wrote over against the candlestick upon the plaster of the wall of the king's palace: and the king saw the part of the hand that wrote. The two versions given in the Septuagint here do not seriously differ from each other or from the Massoretic text, only that they both omit "the part of," and represent the king as seeing the hand. Theodotion has ἀστραγάλους, which maybe rendered "finger-joints;" otherwise this version is very like both the Massoretic and the LXX. The Peshitta presents no point of remark. The word translated "lamp" (nebhrashta) became in Talmudic times the equivalent of menoorah, "the golden candlestick." From this it has been supposed that "the candlestick" was the golden candlestick which later proved the crowining glory of Titus's triumph, and is still to be seen carved on his arch. When the other vessels of the house of the Lord were brought to deck the table of the monarch, it would not be unnatural that the golden candlestick should also be brought. In the great hall in which a thousand guests were accommodated, more lamps than one would be required. The Septuagint (text) adds, "over against the king:" this would individualize the lamp referred to; but there does not seem to be any support for this reading, which may be due to the desire to explain the satatus emphaticus. Gesenius derives the word נֶבְרַשְׁתָּא from נור, "light," and אש, "flame." As ו as a consonant was unused in Assyrian, this derivation is by no means impossible We know that the Ninevite monarchs surrounded the great halls of their palaces with bas-reliefs of their victories. The remains of Babylon have not given us anything like the gypsum slabs of Kouyounjik. Yet the Babylonian monarchs not unlikely followed the same praetices as those of Nineveh. The walls were built and plastered, and then the slabs were moved up to them. In the case of Belshazzar, the palace walls might well be fresh; no gypsum slabs had yet recorded his prowess. As he looks to the white plaster, the fingers of a hand come out of the darkness, and write opposite him. "The king," thus it is in the Massoretic text, saw the "part" of the hand that wrote. Pas is the word. Furst renders it "wrist;" Gesenius, "the extremity;" Winer, vola manus," the hollow of the baud;" with this Buxtorf agrees. The balance of meanings seems to be in favour of "hollow of the hand," only it is difficult to understand the position of the hand relatively to the king when he saw the hollow of the hand. The smoke from the numerous lamps would obscure the roof of the hall of the palace; however numerous the lamps, their light would be unable to pierce the darkness, so out of the darkness came the hand.

Parallel Commentaries ...


Hebrew
At
בַּהּ־ (bah-)
Preposition | third person feminine singular
Strong's Hebrew

that moment
שַׁעֲתָ֗ה (ša·‘ă·ṯāh)
Noun - feminine singular determinate
Strong's 8160: A brief time, moment

the fingers
אֶצְבְּעָן֙ (’eṣ·bə·‘ān)
Noun - feminine plural
Strong's 677: Something to sieze with, a finger, a toe

of
דִּ֣י (dî)
Pronoun - relative
Strong's 1768: Who, which, that, because

a human
אֱנָ֔שׁ (’ĕ·nāš)
Noun - masculine singular
Strong's 606: Man, mankind

hand
יַד־ (yaḏ-)
Noun - feminine singular construct
Strong's 3028: A hand

appeared
נְפַ֙קָה֙ (nə·p̄a·qāh)
Verb - Qal - Perfect - third person feminine plural
Strong's 5312: To go or come out or forth

and wrote
וְכָֽתְבָן֙ (wə·ḵā·ṯə·ḇān)
Conjunctive waw | Verb - Qal - Participle - feminine plural
Strong's 3790: To grave, to write

on
עַל־ (‘al-)
Preposition
Strong's 5922: Above, over, upon, against

the plaster
גִּירָ֕א (gî·rā)
Noun - masculine singular determinate
Strong's 1528: Chalk, plaster

of
דִּֽי־ (dî-)
Pronoun - relative
Strong's 1768: Who, which, that, because

the wall,
כְתַ֥ל (ḵə·ṯal)
Noun - masculine singular construct
Strong's 3797: A wall

near
לָקֳבֵ֣ל (lā·qo·ḇêl)
Preposition-l
Strong's 6903: In front of, before, because of, because that

the lampstand
נֶבְרַשְׁתָּ֔א (neḇ·raš·tā)
Noun - feminine singular determinate
Strong's 5043: A light, plural, a chandelier

in
דִּ֣י (dî)
Pronoun - relative
Strong's 1768: Who, which, that, because

the royal
מַלְכָּ֑א (mal·kā)
Noun - masculine singular determinate
Strong's 4430: A king

palace.
הֵיכְלָ֖א (hê·ḵə·lā)
Noun - masculine singular determinate
Strong's 1965: A large public building, palace, temple

As the king
וּמַלְכָּ֣א (ū·mal·kā)
Conjunctive waw | Noun - masculine singular determinate
Strong's 4430: A king

watched
חָזֵ֔ה (ḥā·zêh)
Verb - Qal - Participle - masculine singular
Strong's 2370: To gaze upon, mentally to dream, be usual

the hand
פַּ֥ס (pas)
Noun - masculine singular construct
Strong's 6447: Palm (of the hand)

that
דִּ֥י (dî)
Pronoun - relative
Strong's 1768: Who, which, that, because

was writing,
כָתְבָֽה׃ (ḵā·ṯə·ḇāh)
Verb - Qal - Participle - feminine singular
Strong's 3790: To grave, to write


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OT Prophets: Daniel 5:5 In the same hour came forth (Dan. Da Dn)
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