Daniel 5:1

Some older critical scholars claimed that Belshazzar was never a king of the Neo-Babylonian Empire. [Note: E.g., H. H. Rowley, "The Historicity of the Fifth Chapter of Daniel," Journal of Theological Studies 32 (October 1930):12.] However, modern discoveries have shown that Belshazzar acted as king during his father’s frequent and prolonged absences from Babylon.

"The last actual Chaldean king, Nabonidus, ’entrusted the kingship’ in 539 B.C. to his son Bel-sar-usur during his ten-year absence from Babylon, returning as the threat from Cyrus grew." [Note: Goldingay, p. 106. See also N. W. Porteous, Daniel: A Commentary, p. 76; Young, pp. 115-19; Keil, pp. 162-79; Leupold, pp. 208-13; and Whitcomb, pp. 70-72.]

Banquets the size described in this verse also drew the attack of critics. Yet the ancient historian Ktesias wrote that Persian kings frequently dined daily with 15,000 people (cf. Esther 1). [Note: See Leupold, pp. 214.]

Later we shall read that Belshazzar hosted this banquet on the night the city of Babylon fell (Daniel 5:30-31). The invading Medes and Persians, led by Ugbaru, commander of the Persian army, would have already taken the surrounding countryside, and everyone in the city would have known of their intentions. However, Babylon the city had not fallen to an invading army for 1,000 years because of its strong fortifications. According to the ancient Greek historian Herodotus, Babylon occupied about 14 square miles with a double wall system enclosing a moat between the two walls. The outer wall was 87 feet thick, wide enough for four chariots to drive on side-by-side. It was 350 feet high with 100 gates, plus hundreds more towers that reached another 100 feet above the walls. [Note: Herodotus, 1:178-83.]

Belshazzar’s confidence in the security of his capital is evident in his banqueting and getting drunk while his enemy was at his door. His name, which means "Bel [also known as Marduk] has protected the king," [Note: Pentecost, p. 1344.] may have increased his sense of invulnerability. Herodotus also mentioned that a festival was underway in Babylon when the city fell. [Note: Herodotus, 1:191.]

"With the armies of a conqueror pressing at the capital this deputy ruler took refuge in an orgy of wine." [Note: Baldwin, p. 119.]