by Wendy Widder | Mar 3, 2013 | Aramaic, Daniel 5, The Book of Daniel
Belshazzar may not have finished swallowing his first sip of wine from God’s goblets when a disembodied hand appeared, writing on the palace wall. The narrator bothers to tell us that the hand was opposite the lampstand. Maybe he wants to explain why the king could...
by Wendy Widder | Feb 25, 2013 | Babylon, Daniel 5, The Book of Daniel
A twisted source of pride for many students at the University of Wisconsin-Madison (and a source of chagrin and consternation for administration) is its ranking as one of America’s top party schools. I can assure you that although I spent six years at this, um,...
by Wendy Widder | Feb 9, 2013 | Babylon, Daniel 5, The Book of Daniel
The villain of Daniel 5 is Belshazzar, who only appears in this chapter. Who is this flash-in-the-pan character, Belshazzar? You might consider this a gimme question since the text says pretty clearly who he is: he’s Nebuchadnezzar’s son. The narrator says as much in...
by Wendy Widder | Jan 19, 2013 | Daniel 5, The Book of Daniel
Bye-bye Babylonian King Nebuchadnezzar. Hello, Belshazzar. Welcome, everyone else, to a new chapter in Daniel! The bad guy of Daniel 5, Belshazzar is just a blip in the Bible. This chapter is the only place he appears (and he’s a pretty hard-to-find guy in the ancient...
by Wendy Widder | Dec 12, 2011 | Aramaic, Christmas, Daniel 2, Daniel 3, Daniel 4, Daniel 5, Daniel 6, Daniel 7, How to read the Bible, The Book of Daniel
’Tis the season for getting upset about people using “X” in place of “Christ” in “Christmas.” I don’t deny that a good number of people do want to take “Christ” out of “Christmas,” but using “Xmas” isn’t really the way to do it; nor should “Xmas” be a huge issue to...
by Wendy Widder | Dec 1, 2011 | Babylon, Daniel 2, Daniel 3, Daniel 4, Daniel 5, Daniel 6, How to read the Bible, The Book of Daniel
Most of the “court tales” we hear these days relate to the NBA and the recent lockout. The book of Daniel certainly features big egos, a bit of sport, and plenty of suspense, but its early chapters tell a completely different kind of court tale than the NBA tells....
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