[Instead of providing an article for this section, Dr. Siegfried H. Horn, who is head of this department in the Seminary, has written an interesting article about the most recent of the Seminary Extension Schools. See page 24, and also photographs on pages 26 and 27.]
More than a hundred years before Belshazzar's riotous feast and the fall of Babylon, Inspiration had foretold that "the night of . . . pleasure"' would suddenly be turned into a time of fear. Even casual readers of the Scriptures are usually acquainted with the Bible record of Belshazzar's last great feast. However, Bible students and commentators have long puzzled over the recorded fact that neither the king nor the wise men of Babylon could "read the writing" 2 on the wall.
The Bible states clearly that the drunken king and his lords could see the mysterious handwriting upon the wall, but there is no reason given in the Scriptures as to why they could not read what they saw. Any explanation, therefore, must be to a certain extent only conjecture.
It does seem, however, highly improbable that God would choose to employ some type of script never before seen upon the earth and known only to Daniel, by which to write this important message. It is even more improbable that the script used could be that of some language known upon earth but unknown to all the wise men of Babylon, for it must be remembered that these men had received the best education available in their day, and, without question, one or more of them could have read any script then extant.
From the Biblical record of the words themselves, as recorded in Daniel 5:25-28, it seems probable if not almost certain that these words were written in the lingua franca of that day, the Aramaic language (as indeed the whole of chapter 5 was written in Aramaic).
The solution to the problem of the nature of the handwriting on the wall seems to be found in verse 12 of this chapter. It is stated that "knowledge, and understanding, interpreting of dreams, and shewing of hard sentences, and dissolving of doubts, were found in the same Daniel." The expression rendered in the K.J.V. "shewing of hard sentences," reads in Aramaic, "interpreting of riddles," and the phrase translated in the K.J.V. "dissolving of doubts," is in Aramaic, "loosening [or "dissolving"] of difficult tasks [literally, "knots" or "joints"]." Evidently that mysterious hand wrote a divine riddle on the wall in the presence of the doomed king. The fear-stricken feasters could not read any meaning into the riddle set before their eyes.
Keeping in mind that the written Aramaic language of that time (as well as the Hebrew) used only the consonants and no vowels,' the writing on the wall as recorded in Daniel 5:25 would be MN', MN', TQL, WPHRSYN (with vowels, upharsin). Though the letters and the words were visible, the hurriedly summoned wise men of Babylon, with all their fund of human wisdom, were also unable to read into them any meaning. These four fiery words remained visible for some time, for we read in Prophets and Kings, page 530, "The hand that had traced the characters was no longer visible, but these four words were still gleaming forth with terrible distinctness; and now with bated breath the people listened"—waiting for Daniel to interpret them.
Undoubtedly the reason that these four words could be seen, and yet not be read, was the fact that each of the words could be combined with different vowels to have at least two or even more possible naeanings. As the vast throng milled about not knowing what the words meant, the most likely reading to occur to the mind of all would be to read them as three common weights employed in Babylon at that time. Thus, reading the words with these commonly used vowels, MN' would be read mene'—a mina; TQL would be teqel—a shekel," and PRS would be peres—a half shekel.' However, natural and logical as such a reading might be, it would not make any sense to the bewildered throng. It would be as though, in modern times, the hand would write a message using modern weights, saying, "A pound, a pound, an ounce, and drams."
If the handwriting on the wall would make no sense when read as common weights, then what could it mean? The riddle written by the Divine Watcher could only be interpreted by insight given from Heaven, and indeed that was just what was given to the prophet Daniel. After first rebuking Belshazzar for opportunities wasted, the aged prophet easily and without any hesitation read the riddle to the throng and then interpreted it.
The word mene' besides meaning a weight-- a mina—also meant "numbered," from the Aramaic verb menah or mena', and Daniel read the word that way, and added in interpretation, "God hath numbered thy kingdom, and finished it." Teqel besides being read teqela shekel—could also be read as the passive participle tegi/—"weighed," and the prophet of God so read it and interpreted it to mean, "Thou are weighed in the balances, and art found wanting."'
The third word upharsin is in the plural, IN being the Aramaic plural ending. The U is simply the Aramaic word for and, and following a vowel sound, P in that language becomes PH. This accounts for the difference between the UPHARSIN of Daniel 5:25 and the PERES of verse 28." The word PRS besides meaning peres—a half shekel—could also be read peris—"divided"--and strangely enough has the additional meaning, when read paras, of "Persia," or "the Persians." Daniel used both of these latter meanings in interpreting the message to the king. He said, "Thy kingdom is divided, and given to the Medes and Persians.""
Thus we see in this story of divine providence that the fiery riddle on the wall, though unintelligible gibberish to the drunken throng, was, under divine interpretation, a clear message to the debauched king and his lords that Babylon had come to her end and was immediately to be succeeded by the next great world empire on the stage of history.
REFERENCES
1 Isa. 21:4.
2 Dan. 5:8.
3 See SDA Bible Commentary, on Daniel 5:12.
4 The SDA Bible Commentary, vol. 1, pp. 25, 26.
5 The transliteration for Aramaic here employed is the same as that used for Hebrew in the SDA Bible Commentary.
6 The same proto-Semitic sound that became t in Hebrew had the possibility of becoming sh in Aramaic.
7 For the value of these weights see SDA Bible Commentary, vol. 1, p. 164.
8 Dan. 5:26.
9 Dan. 5:27.
10 See also SDA Bible Commentary, on Daniel 5:28.
11 Dan. 5:28.