Daniel 5 3

Daniel 5:3 kjv

Then they brought the golden vessels that were taken out of the temple of the house of God which was at Jerusalem; and the king, and his princes, his wives, and his concubines, drank in them.

Daniel 5:3 nkjv

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.

Daniel 5:3 niv

So they brought in the gold goblets that had been taken from the temple of God in Jerusalem, and the king and his nobles, his wives and his concubines drank from them.

Daniel 5:3 esv

Then they brought in the golden vessels that had been taken out of the temple, the house of God in Jerusalem, and the king and his lords, his wives, and his concubines drank from them.

Daniel 5:3 nlt

So they brought these gold cups taken from the Temple, the house of God in Jerusalem, and the king and his nobles, his wives, and his concubines drank from them.

Daniel 5 verses

Daniel 5 3 meaning

Daniel 5:3 describes the specific act of profanity by Belshazzar and his court, using the consecrated golden and silver vessels, originally taken from the Temple of God in Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar, for their drunken feast. This deliberate act of sacrilege, defying the God of Israel, became the direct catalyst for divine judgment upon Babylon.

Daniel 5 3 Context

Daniel chapter 5 opens with King Belshazzar hosting a lavish banquet for a thousand of his lords, wives, and concubines in Babylon. This historical event, likely occurring on the eve of Babylon's fall to the Medo-Persians (539 BC), portrays a kingdom immersed in self-indulgence and hubris. Belshazzar, a descendant of Nebuchadnezzar, knew of the Most High God's power as revealed through his grandfather's humbling experiences (Daniel 4). Yet, instead of revering God, Belshazzar committed an act of audacious sacrilege. Verse 3 immediately follows Belshazzar's command to bring the consecrated Temple vessels, establishing the direct action that provokes God's imminent judgment. These vessels, taken from the Jerusalem Temple when Nebuchadnezzar conquered Judah, represented God's holiness and covenant presence, despite their temporary displacement. Their profaning by unholy hands, used for pagan toasts, directly challenged the God of Israel in the most public and insulting manner.

Daniel 5 3 Word analysis

• Then they brought in (Aramaic: bē’aytîy lə-): This phrase indicates a direct and intentional action. The passive voice ("they brought in") highlights the command being executed, but Belshazzar is the active agent in command (implied from v. 2). It suggests a deliberate desecration, not an accidental one.
• the golden and silver vessels (Aramaic: māʾnêy dī ḏəhaḇāʾ wəḵaspāʾ): These were objects of great value due to their material, but more profoundly, their sacred purpose. "Golden" (dahaḇāʾ) and "silver" (ḵaspāʾ) signify the highest quality materials typically reserved for divine service, distinguishing them from common vessels. Their value underscore the king's opulence and the extreme nature of the sacrilege.
• that had been taken out of the temple (Aramaic: dī hanseqwū min hênkəlāʾ): The verb "taken out" (hanseqwū) implies removal or carrying away. This emphasizes their previous function and sacred origin, forcibly removed but never losing their inherent holiness in God's eyes. It contrasts with a "spoiling" or "plundering" in the normal sense, instead highlighting their sacred theft.
• the house of God in Jerusalem (Aramaic: bēṯ ʾĕlāh̲āʾ dī ḇîrūšlêm): "House of God" (bēṯ ʾĕlāh̲āʾ) is a clear, specific reference to the consecrated sanctuary of Yahweh, emphasizing its holy designation. "Jerusalem" anchors their origin to the covenant people and God's chosen dwelling place, connecting the act of desecration directly to the Lord and His people. This explicitly reminds the audience (and Belshazzar) of their sacred, non-pagan nature.
• and the king and his lords (Aramaic: ūmalkāʾ wəraḇrāḇōhî): The list begins with the highest authority, "the king" (malkāʾ), making him personally responsible. "Lords" (raḇrāḇōhî) represent the Babylonian aristocracy, indicating the widespread participation in and endorsement of this blasphemous act by the ruling elite.
• his wives and his concubines (Aramaic: nəšâšōhî wəlaḥšnāṯōhî): The inclusion of "wives" (nəšâšōhî) and "concubines" (laḥšnāṯōhî) highlights the revelry's depravity and sexual excess, commonly associated with pagan cultic practices. Their presence compounds the moral degradation, contrasting sharply with the vessels' holy origins and making the desecration even more offensive to God.
• drank from them (Aramaic: yištewān bəhên): This is the culminating action. "Drank" (yištewān) refers to a direct, personal act. Using holy vessels for profane drinking (likely wine or stronger beverages) directly mocks God's holiness. It's a defiant inversion of their sacred purpose, intended for consecrated libations or storage, now used for idolatrous carousing.

Daniel 5 3 Bonus section

The profound difference in how Nebuchadnezzar and Belshazzar treated the Temple vessels is a critical point. Nebuchadnezzar, despite being the conqueror and a pagan, simply placed them in his idol's temple (Dan 1:2), an act of claiming victory spoils, but not necessarily a direct personal defilement. Belshazzar, however, knowingly commanded their use for drunken revelry and worship of false gods, directly integrating them into his pagan festivities. This deliberate act of profaning demonstrated a heightened level of arrogant blasphemy and disrespect for the God of Israel, crossing a line that even his conquering predecessor seemed to implicitly recognize. This escalated defiance highlights Belshazzar's willful ignorance of the lessons of his grandfather (as documented in Daniel 4) and solidified his personal guilt before God, leading to the immediate and specific judgment by the mysterious handwriting on the wall. The incident serves as a powerful testament to the severity of spiritual desecration in God's eyes and the imminent consequence for those who choose to insult the divine.

Daniel 5 3 Commentary

Daniel 5:3 narrates Belshazzar's ultimate act of sacrilege, directly provoking divine wrath. These vessels, sacred remnants of the Temple in Jerusalem, held profound significance as dedicated to the one true God. While Nebuchadnezzar had merely taken and stored them in his own idol temple, implicitly acknowledging their distinctness, Belshazzar consciously profaned them. His command to use them for a drunken feast, toasting to his own pagan gods, represented an open declaration of contempt against the God of Israel. This was not a casual act but a defiant challenge to divine sovereignty and an insult to the enslaved Jewish people. The inclusion of his "lords, wives, and concubines" underscores the widespread spiritual and moral decay within the Babylonian court, where sensuality and idolatry intertwined. This audacious profanity, committed in full knowledge of God's prior judgments on proud rulers, served as the immediate trigger for the terrifying "handwriting on the wall" and Babylon's swift and irreversible downfall. It starkly illustrates the principle that those who brazenly defile God's sacred things will face His swift and uncompromising judgment.