Daniel 5:10

Normally we would identify the queen as Belshazzar’s wife. However, there are a number of reasons to prefer the view that she was really the "queen mother." She could even have been the surviving wife of Nebuchadnezzar. [Note: Ibid., p. 122.] Belshazzar’s wives had been participating in this banquet (Daniel 5:2), but this woman now entered it apparently for the first time. She also spoke to the king more as a mother than as a wife. [Note: Arthur Jeffery, "The Book of Daniel, Introduction and Exegesis," in The Interpreter’s Bible, 6:426.] Moreover, she spoke as one who had personal acquaintance with Daniel’s earlier interpretation of Nebuchadnezzar’s second dream (cf. Daniel 4:8-9; Daniel 4:18). Probably this woman was Belshazzar’s mother and the daughter of Nebuchadnezzar. [Note: Archer, "Daniel," p. 72.] The queen mother was often a significant figure who exerted considerable influence in ancient courts (cf. 1 Kings 15:13; 2 Kings 11:1-3; 2 Kings 24:12; Jeremiah 13:18). This woman proceeded to do for Belshazzar what Arioch had done for Nebuchadnezzar, namely: to bring Daniel to the king’s attention (cf. Daniel 2:25).