Read the passage and its setting
Daniel 5:29-31, King James Version
Italic words were supplied in the English translation for clarity.
Daniel 5:29-31
Honor and Immediate Regime Transition
The Main Point
Belshazzar honors Daniel as promised, dies that night, and the narrative passes the kingdom to the historically disputed Darius the Mede.
Context That Shapes This Passage
How does this passage relate?
Daniel 5:29-31In “Honor and Immediate Regime Transition,” the complete unit develops this passage-specific claim: Belshazzar honors Daniel as promised, dies that night, and the narrative passes the kingdom to the historically disputed Darius the Mede.
Why this relationship fits: The reviewed boundary states: 5:29-31 is one natural movement because belshazzar honors Daniel as promised, dies that night, and the narrative passes the kingdom to the historically disputed Darius the Mede. The boundary changes after verse 31.
What following material clarifies it?
Daniel 6:1-5The disputed regime transition introduces Darius and the administrative setting of chapter 6.
Why this relationship fits: Daniel 5:31 is the reviewed hinge that connects this unit with Daniel 6:1-5.
Where does this sit in the whole book?
Daniel as a wholeThe compressed ending makes royal reward irrelevant to survival and stresses that a kingdom is received rather than ultimately possessed. “Honor and Immediate Regime Transition” opens that larger movement. This completes the present movement before the next larger development: Chapter 6 places Daniel under Darius, whose administrative decree will trap him.
Why this relationship fits: 5:29-31 is one natural movement because belshazzar honors Daniel as promised, dies that night, and the narrative passes the kingdom to the historically disputed Darius the Mede. The boundary changes after verse 31. The unit's reviewed main point is: Belshazzar honors Daniel as promised, dies that night, and the narrative passes the kingdom to the historically disputed Darius the Mede.
Follow the Tales and Visions
See why this section appears here and how the author's movement leads to its meaning.
Why Is This Passage Here?
The compressed ending makes royal reward irrelevant to survival and stresses that a kingdom is received rather than ultimately possessed. “Honor and Immediate Regime Transition” opens that larger movement. This completes the present movement before the next larger development: Chapter 6 places Daniel under Darius, whose administrative decree will trap him.
Follow the Movement
Belshazzar honors Daniel as promised, dies that night, and the narrative passes the kingdom to the historically disputed Darius the Mede.
Why This Interpretation Fits
Third ruler
The rank makes sense if Belshazzar stands second under Nabonidus, though the tale does not name Nabonidus.
Killed
The text does not name the killer, battle, or mechanism.
Darius the Mede
No securely identified Median ruler fits every detail; proposals and literary explanations remain contested.
Understand the Meaning and Its Boundaries
Clarify the words that matter and keep the conclusion no broader than the passage allows.
What the Passage Is Not Saying
Reading Daniel 5:29-31 inside Daniel's complete literary and historical movement rules out these uses:
The brief death notice does not authorize filling the gap with violent detail.
Darius the Mede cannot be identified with certainty from the supplied evidence.
The succession does not stigmatize modern Medes, Persians, Iranians, or Iraqis.
Daniel's rank does not prove that integrity always wins political office.
Context check: Belshazzar honors Daniel as promised, dies that night, and the narrative passes the kingdom to the historically disputed Darius the Mede.
What Remains True Today
Titles and rewards can arrive at the very moment the system granting them collapses. Daniel 5:29-31 keeps that truth tied to this claim: Belshazzar honors Daniel as promised, dies that night, and the narrative passes the kingdom to the historically disputed Darius the Mede.
Respond and Remember
Let the meaning shape life carefully, then practice explaining the section in context.
How This Should Shape Us
Why these applications follow
Belshazzar honors Daniel as promised, dies that night, and the narrative passes the kingdom to the historically disputed Darius the Mede.
Belshazzar honors Daniel as promised, dies that night, and the narrative passes the kingdom to the historically disputed Darius the Mede.
Titles and rewards can arrive at the very moment the system granting them collapses. Daniel 5:29-31 keeps that truth tied to this claim: Belshazzar honors Daniel as promised, dies that night, and the narrative passes the kingdom to the historically disputed Darius the Mede.
How should this shape us today?
Do not confuse proximity to power with durable security, and state historical uncertainty when records do not support a neat identification. In Daniel 5:29-31, respond specifically to this movement: Belshazzar honors Daniel as promised, dies that night, and the narrative passes the kingdom to the historically disputed Darius the Mede.
Teach It Back
Explain Daniel 5:29-31 in your own words. Include its movement, ancient horizon, one material uncertainty, and one use the context rules out.
Your explanation stays in this browser. It is not sent or saved.
Go Deeper
The main explanation above stands on its own. Open these optional sections for fuller language, history, disagreements, and source locations.
Read it sentence by sentenceEach line inside the larger movement
Third ruler
The rank makes sense if Belshazzar stands second under Nabonidus, though the tale does not name Nabonidus.
Killed
The text does not name the killer, battle, or mechanism.
Darius the Mede
No securely identified Median ruler fits every detail; proposals and literary explanations remain contested.
Original-language wording and grammarTechnical detail appears only where it helps
third
The promised rank is historically suggestive but not a complete proof of the tale's chronology.
How certain? probablewas killed
The passive reports the death without identifying an agent.
How certain? probablereceived
The verb fits Daniel's theology of transferred rule and does not narrate the actual conquest of Babylon.
How certain? probableWhat the first readers would have understoodRelevant history and culture
Imperial setting and limits of reconstruction
Babylon fell to Cyrus's Persian forces; Belshazzar's role under Nabonidus is historically attested, but Darius the Mede remains difficult and the Medes did not independently take Babylon after Belshazzar.
How certain? probableWhy translations sometimes differMaterial translation choices
KJV wording and material Hebrew-Aramaic alternatives
KJV wording is retained from the pinned corpus; material Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek-edition differences are identified without replacing the displayed text.
How certain? probableEarlier Scripture and inherited backgroundSupported quotations, allusions, and inherited ideas
Daniel in Jewish Scripture and ancient textual traditions
Read this unit inside Daniel's exilic court setting and scriptural world before importing later apocalyptic systems.
How certain? strongHow this connects with the rest of ScriptureThe passage's own meaning remains primary
Later reception with first-horizon controls
Later Jewish and Christian reception may illuminate the unit, but it does not erase its ancient Judean horizon or settle disputed symbols.
How certain? probableTextual variantsManuscript differences only when they affect meaning
Masoretic, Old Greek, Theodotion, and composition care
The Masoretic Hebrew-Aramaic text controls the pinned KJV coverage, while Old Greek and Theodotion remain material witnesses whose agreements and differences require passage-specific care.
How certain? probableWhere careful interpreters disagreeThe strongest options and their difficulties
Where do careful interpreters disagree?
Best judgment: Darius has been identified with several known figures, understood as a title, or treated as a literary-historical error. The package calls the identification uncertain and refuses false harmonization.
How certain? probableTheology that emerges from this passageConclusions drawn after reading the complete section
Theological contribution
The unit places human power under divine judgment and care without licensing readers to claim Daniel's revelatory authority for themselves.
How certain? strongTheological contribution
This unit contributes to Daniel's movement from exile and court service through beastly empire, suffering, judgment, resurrection hope, and promised rest: Belshazzar honors Daniel as promised, dies that night, and the narrative passes the kingdom to the historically disputed Darius the Mede.
How certain? strongCommon ways this passage gets misusedFair explanation, context check, and stronger reading
The brief death notice does not authorize filling the gap with violent detail.
Daniel's memorable stories, numbers, and symbols can feel easier to imitate or decode than to interpret within their literary, historical, and ethical setting.
Belshazzar honors Daniel as promised, dies that night, and the narrative passes the kingdom to the historically disputed Darius the Mede.
Titles and rewards can arrive at the very moment the system granting them collapses. Daniel 5:29-31 keeps that truth tied to this claim: Belshazzar honors Daniel as promised, dies that night, and the narrative passes the kingdom to the historically disputed Darius the Mede.
Belshazzar honors Daniel as promised, dies that night, and the narrative passes the kingdom to the historically disputed Darius the Mede.
Darius the Mede cannot be identified with certainty from the supplied evidence.
Daniel's memorable stories, numbers, and symbols can feel easier to imitate or decode than to interpret within their literary, historical, and ethical setting.
Belshazzar honors Daniel as promised, dies that night, and the narrative passes the kingdom to the historically disputed Darius the Mede.
Titles and rewards can arrive at the very moment the system granting them collapses. Daniel 5:29-31 keeps that truth tied to this claim: Belshazzar honors Daniel as promised, dies that night, and the narrative passes the kingdom to the historically disputed Darius the Mede.
Belshazzar honors Daniel as promised, dies that night, and the narrative passes the kingdom to the historically disputed Darius the Mede.
The succession does not stigmatize modern Medes, Persians, Iranians, or Iraqis.
Daniel's memorable stories, numbers, and symbols can feel easier to imitate or decode than to interpret within their literary, historical, and ethical setting.
Belshazzar honors Daniel as promised, dies that night, and the narrative passes the kingdom to the historically disputed Darius the Mede.
Titles and rewards can arrive at the very moment the system granting them collapses. Daniel 5:29-31 keeps that truth tied to this claim: Belshazzar honors Daniel as promised, dies that night, and the narrative passes the kingdom to the historically disputed Darius the Mede.
Belshazzar honors Daniel as promised, dies that night, and the narrative passes the kingdom to the historically disputed Darius the Mede.
Daniel's rank does not prove that integrity always wins political office.
Daniel's memorable stories, numbers, and symbols can feel easier to imitate or decode than to interpret within their literary, historical, and ethical setting.
Belshazzar honors Daniel as promised, dies that night, and the narrative passes the kingdom to the historically disputed Darius the Mede.
Titles and rewards can arrive at the very moment the system granting them collapses. Daniel 5:29-31 keeps that truth tied to this claim: Belshazzar honors Daniel as promised, dies that night, and the narrative passes the kingdom to the historically disputed Darius the Mede.
Belshazzar honors Daniel as promised, dies that night, and the narrative passes the kingdom to the historically disputed Darius the Mede.
Research trail and exact locationsThe source record behind this section
Supports: Exact reader-facing KJV wording, paragraph markers, supplied-word markup, and complete verse coverage.
Daniel 5:29-31, pinned eng-kjv2006 USFM corpus
Supports: Masoretic Hebrew-Aramaic wording, morphology, language boundary, names, repeated roots, clauses, and lexical controls.
Open Scriptures MorphHB v.2.2, commit 6a5db284c715c18b239422e57bb89684e6a19f00, wlc/Dan.xml, 5:29-31; Hebrew 1:1–2:4a and 8:1–12:13, Aramaic 2:4b–7:28
Supports: Verse-level Hebrew-Aramaic, textual, historical, translation, chronology, angelic-language, and duration notes.
NET Bible Daniel PDF, printed pp. 1653–1655, translation and translator notes on 5:29-31
Supports: Bilingual form, genres, composition, imperial settings, Antiochus IV, four kingdoms, seventy weeks, resurrection, and major critical alternatives.
P. R. Davies, 'Daniel,' Oxford Bible Commentary, printed pp. 563–571; chapter-level discussion applied to 5:29-31
Supports: Masoretic, Old Greek, and Theodotion comparison; philology; court-tale and Daniel 7 textual stages; and formation arguments.
Suchard, Aramaic Daniel, pp. 71–83; textual reconstruction and formation discussion applied to 5:29-31
Supports: Two major Greek editions, substantial chapters 4–6 differences, numbering, wording, order, and additions outside the pinned KJV mapping.
McLay, NETS Daniel, introduction printed pp. 991–994 and parallel Old Greek/Theodotion translation pp. 995–1025; 5:29-31
Sources for This Section
These records identify the source, the claim it supports, and the exact location used. A source remains evidence to evaluate; it does not replace the biblical text.
Biblical text
King James (Authorized) Version — eng-kjv2006
eBible.org and CrossWire Bible Society
USFM archive eng-kjv2006_usfm.zip; source files dated 2026-08-19; downloaded 2026-08-24; archive SHA-256 aec1b3b26c622fd3d963d2bbac963016b9513246ffbfa20da00bb100372ea007; normalized corpus SHA-256 09aef51d90488aa7b9722b3fd9a93f4b25f6bf2064c5fd798fb39673c300ddf2.
Supports: Exact reader-facing KJV wording, paragraph markers, supplied-word markup, and complete verse coverage.
Exact location: Daniel 5:29-31, pinned eng-kjv2006 USFM corpus
Open source ↗hebrew aramaic text and morphology
Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible: Daniel
Open Scriptures
Open Scriptures, release 2.2
Supports: Masoretic Hebrew-Aramaic wording, morphology, language boundary, names, repeated roots, clauses, and lexical controls.
Exact location: Open Scriptures MorphHB v.2.2, commit 6a5db284c715c18b239422e57bb89684e6a19f00, wlc/Dan.xml, 5:29-31; Hebrew 1:1–2:4a and 8:1–12:13, Aramaic 2:4b–7:28
Open source ↗translation and translator notes
NET Bible: Daniel with translators' notes
Biblical Studies Press
Biblical Studies Press, 2006
Supports: Verse-level Hebrew-Aramaic, textual, historical, translation, chronology, angelic-language, and duration notes.
Exact location: NET Bible Daniel PDF, printed pp. 1653–1655, translation and translator notes on 5:29-31
Open source ↗scholarly commentary article
Daniel
Philip R. Davies
Oxford University Press, in The Oxford Bible Commentary, edited by John Barton and John Muddiman, 2001
Supports: Bilingual form, genres, composition, imperial settings, Antiochus IV, four kingdoms, seventy weeks, resurrection, and major critical alternatives.
Exact location: P. R. Davies, 'Daniel,' Oxford Bible Commentary, printed pp. 563–571; chapter-level discussion applied to 5:29-31
Open source ↗open access scholarly monograph
Aramaic Daniel: A Textual Reconstruction of Chapters 1-7
Benjamin D. Suchard
Brill, Studia Semitica Neerlandica 73, 2022
Supports: Masoretic, Old Greek, and Theodotion comparison; philology; court-tale and Daniel 7 textual stages; and formation arguments.
Exact location: Suchard, Aramaic Daniel, pp. 71–83; textual reconstruction and formation discussion applied to 5:29-31
Open source ↗greek text translation and introduction
A New English Translation of the Septuagint: Daniel
R. Timothy McLay
Oxford University Press for the International Organization for Septuagint and Cognate Studies, 2009, electronic corrections through 2014
Supports: Two major Greek editions, substantial chapters 4–6 differences, numbering, wording, order, and additions outside the pinned KJV mapping.
Exact location: McLay, NETS Daniel, introduction printed pp. 991–994 and parallel Old Greek/Theodotion translation pp. 995–1025; 5:29-31
Open source ↗