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Selected Verse: Daniel 5:6 - King James
| Verse |
Translation |
Text |
| Da 5:6 |
King James |
Then the king's countenance was changed, and his thoughts troubled him, so that the joints of his loins were loosed, and his knees smote one against another. |
Summary Of Commentaries Associated With The Selected Verse
| A Commentary, Critical, Practical, and Explanatory on the Old and New Testaments, by Robert Jamieson, A.R. Fausset and David Brown [1882] |
countenance--literally, "brightness," that is, his bright look.
joints of his loins--"the vertebrÃ&brvbr; of his back" [GESENIUS]. |
| Notes on the Bible, by Albert Barnes, [1834] |
Then the king's countenance was changed - The word rendered "countenance" is, in the margin, as in Dan 5:9, "brightnesses." The Chaldee word means "brightness, splendor" (זיו zı̂yv), and the meaning here is bright looks, cheerfulness, hilarity. The word rendered was changed, is in the margin changed it; and the meaning is, that it changed itself: probably from a jocund, cheerful, and happy expression, it assumed suddenly a deadly paleness.
And his thoughts troubled him - Whether from the recollection of guilt, or the dread of wrath, is not said. He would, doubtless, regard this as some supernatural intimation, and his soul would be troubled.
So that the joints of his loins were loosed - Margin, "bindings," or "knots," or "girdles." The Chaldee word rendered "joints" (קטר qeṭar) means, properly, "knots;" then joints of the bones, as resembling knots, or apparently answering the purposes of knots in the human frame, as binding it together. The word "loins" in the Scriptures refers to the part of the body around which the girdle was passed, the lower part of the back; and Gesenius supposes that the meaning here is, that the joints of his back, that is, the vertebral are referred to. This part of the body is spoken of as the seat of strength. When this is weak the body has no power to stand, to walk, to labor. The simple idea is, that he was greatly terrified, and that under the influence of fear his strength departed.
And his knees smote one against another - A common effect of fear Nah 2:10. So Horace, "Et corde et genibus tremit." And so Virgil, "Tarda trementi genua labant." "Belshazzar had as much of power, and of drink withal to lead him to bid defiance to God as any ruffian under heaven; and yet when God, as it were, lifted but up his finger against him, how poorly did he crouch and shiver. How did his joints loose, and his knees knock together!" - South's Sermons, vol. iv. p. 60. |
| Commentary on the Old Testament, by Carl Friedrich Keil and Franz Delitzsch [1857-78] |
| מלכּא (the king) stands absolutely, because the impression made by the occurrence on the king is to be depicted. The plur. זיוהי has an intensive signification: the colour of the countenance. Regarding זיו, see under Dan 4:33. The suffix to שׁנוהי is to be taken in the signification of the dative, since שׁנא in the Peal occurs only intransitively. The connection of an intransitive verb with the suff. accus. is an inaccuracy for which שׁוּבני, Eze 47:7, and perhaps also עשׂיתיני, Eze 29:3, afford analogies; cf. Ewald's Lehrb. 315b. In Dan 5:9, where the matter is repeated, the harshness is avoided, and עלוהי is used to express the change of colour yet more strongly. The meaning is: "the king changed colour as to his countenance, became pale from terror, and was so unmanned by fear and alarm, that his body lost its firmness and vigour." The bands or ligaments of his thighs (חרץ, equivalent to the Hebr. חלצים) were loosed, i.e., lost the strength to hold his body, and his knees smote one against another. ארכּוּבא with אprosth., for רכוּבא, in the Targg. means the knee. The alarm was heightened by a bad conscience, which roused itself and filled him with dark forebodings. Immediately the king commanded the magicians to be brought, and promised a great reward to him who would read and interpret the mysterious writing. |
| Explanatory Notes on the Whole Bible, by John Wesley [1754-65] |
| His knees smote - So soon can the terrors of God make the loftiest cedars, the tyrants of the earth. |
| Adam Clarke Commentary on the Whole Bible - Published 1810-1826 |
The king's countenance was changed - Here is a very natural description of fear and terror.
1. The face grows pale;
2. The mind becomes greatly agitated;
3. Pains seize on the lower part of the back and kidneys;
4. A universal tremor takes place, so that the knees smite against each other;
5. And lastly, either a syncope takes place, or the cry of distress is uttered, Dan 5:7 : "The king cried." |
10 She is empty, and void, and waste: and the heart melteth, and the knees smite together, and much pain is in all loins, and the faces of them all gather blackness.
9 Then was king Belshazzar greatly troubled, and his countenance was changed in him, and his lords were astonied.
9 Then was king Belshazzar greatly troubled, and his countenance was changed in him, and his lords were astonied.
3 Speak, and say, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I am against thee, Pharaoh king of Egypt, the great dragon that lieth in the midst of his rivers, which hath said, My river is mine own, and I have made it for myself.
7 Now when I had returned, behold, at the bank of the river were very many trees on the one side and on the other.
33 The same hour was the thing fulfilled upon Nebuchadnezzar: and he was driven from men, and did eat grass as oxen, and his body was wet with the dew of heaven, till his hairs were grown like eagles' feathers, and his nails like birds' claws.
7 The king cried aloud to bring in the astrologers, the Chaldeans, and the soothsayers. And the king spake, and said to the wise men of Babylon, Whosoever shall read this writing, and shew me the interpretation thereof, shall be clothed with scarlet, and have a chain of gold about his neck, and shall be the third ruler in the kingdom.