Daniel 5:26-28
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The word "Mene" itself isn't just a random sign; it’s a declaration that God has precisely counted the days of your kingdom. This isn't about a vague feeling of ending, but a divine, exact tally that has now reached its completion.
This is the interpretation of the matter: MENE, God has numbered the days of your kingdom and brought it to an end; TEKEL, you have been weighed in the balances and found wanting; PERES, your kingdom is divided and given to the Medes and Persians.”
English Standard Version (ESV)
King Belshazzar has just hosted a lavish, sacrilegious feast, using sacred vessels from the Jerusalem temple, when a disembodied hand appears and writes mysterious words on the wall. The king is terrified and calls for his wise men, but none can interpret the writing, so Daniel is brought in. Daniel then explains that the words are a divine judgment, and this verse is the first part of that pronouncement.
The mysterious words on the wall spelled doom for Belshazzar. What does it truly mean for a kingdom, or a life, to be 'numbered'?
The word 'Mene' comes from a Hebrew root meaning 'to number' or 'to count.' Daniel explains it as God having 'numbered the days of your kingdom.'
A Divine Count
This isn't just a casual observation; it signifies a divine, precise count. God, in His sovereignty, had determined the exact duration of Babylon's reign. The days weren't randomly running out; they were being tallied by the ultimate authority. When God numbers something, it means its time is fixed and its end is determined.
More Than Just Time
This concept extends beyond just the lifespan of a kingdom. It speaks to the profound truth that every aspect of our lives, our opportunities, and even our moments are known and accounted for by God. The phrase 'his days are numbered' is a common idiom even today, carrying the same weight of impending finality and divine decree.
Belshazzar's kingdom wasn't just numbered; it was brought to its end. What does this finality reveal about God's justice?
The interpretation of 'Mene' is expanded by Daniel to mean not only 'numbered' but also 'finished' or 'completed.' The repetition of 'Mene' emphasizes this finality.
Reaching Full Measure
This signifies that the kingdom had reached its allotted time and its full measure of iniquity. God's justice involves patience, but it also involves a point where judgment is fully deserved and enacted. The kingdom had accumulated its share of sins and transgressions, and the divine tally was complete.
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Divine Completion
Just as a task is finished when its requirements are met, so too was the Babylonian kingdom's time 'finished' by God. It implies a completeness, a fullness of time that triggers divine judgment. This is a sobering reminder that while God is merciful, His justice is also absolute and final when the appointed time arrives.
Understand the original words
menaʾ · Aramaic Verb
The divine sovereign action of determining, counting, or decreeing the duration or limits of something, often used in relation to time, life, or nations. It implies that God holds ultimate control over the boundaries of human history and individual existence.
sĕlam · Aramaic Verb
The state of human history or existence reaching its divinely appointed conclusion or cessation. It signifies the point where divine patience or predetermined temporal limits are exhausted, leading to judgment or transition.
tĕqil · Aramaic Verb/Noun
A divine judicial process where human character, deeds, or morality are measured against God’s standard of holiness and justice. It signifies accountability before the Creator, where human pretensions are revealed as insufficient.
ḥasîr · Aramaic Adjective/Participle
Describes a person or thing that fails to meet the required standard or value when measured against divine righteousness. It denotes a deficiency, moral bankruptcy, or the state of being spiritually insufficient to pass God's test.
pĕras · Aramaic Verb/Noun
Refers to the act of partitioning or breaking apart, frequently used in Scripture for the judgment of nations or kingdoms. It symbolizes the removal of divine favor and the subsequent dissolution of authority or unity.
The 'numbered' kingdom wasn't just about Belshazzar's reign, but the full span of Babylonian dominance predicted by prophets like Jeremiah, now reaching its divinely appointed end.
c. 630-605 BC
Jeremiah Prophesies Babylonian Captivity
The prophet Jeremiah foretold that the people of Judah would be exiled to Babylon for seventy years due to their disobedience.
605 BC
First Deportation to Babylon
King Nebuchadnezzar, father of Belshazzar, begins the Babylonian exile by deporting skilled Israelites, including Daniel, to Babylon.
586 BC
Fall of Jerusalem and Destruction of Temple
Nebuchadnezzar destroys Jerusalem and its Temple, marking a pivotal moment in the exile and the end of the Davidic monarchy.
c. 550 BC
Rise of Cyrus the Great
Cyrus the Great begins his conquest of the Median Empire, setting the stage for the eventual fall of Babylon.
c. 539 BC— this verse
Belshazzar's Feast and Writing on the Wall
During a feast celebrating his kingdom, Belshazzar sees a disembodied hand write mysterious words on the wall, leading him to summon Daniel.
The Night of the Feast (539 BC)
Fall of Babylon to the Persians
Babylon is conquered by Cyrus the Great, and Belshazzar is killed, fulfilling the prophecy written on the wall.
This passage speaks of the 'fullness' of time for the Amorites, echoing the sense of a divinely appointed and completed duration for kingdoms, just as Daniel declared Belshazzar's kingdom was 'numbered and finished.'
Jeremiah 25:11-12This prophecy foretold a seventy-year period of Babylonian dominance, directly correlating with the 'numbered' and 'finished' aspect of the kingdom's end, as Daniel revealed.
Daniel 4:17This verse from Daniel's earlier vision reveals that the Most High God 'determines this decree by the word of holy ones, to the intent that the living may know that the Most High rules over the kingdom of men and gives it to whom he will,' underscoring the divine sovereignty in kingdom durations.
Proverbs 16:4This proverb states that 'The Lord has made everything for its purpose, even the wicked for the day of trouble,' aligning with the idea that God ordains the rise and fall of kingdoms, including their appointed end.
barnesDaniel 5:26: "This is the interpretation of the thing: MENE; God hath numbered thy kingdom, and finished it."
This is the interpretation of the thing - It may seem not to have been difficult to interpret the meaning of the communication, when one was able to read the words, or when the sense of the words was understood. But, if the words are placed together, and considered in their abstract form, the whole communication would be so enigmatical that the interpretation would not be likely to occu…
pooleDaniel 5:26: "This is the interpretation of the thing: MENE; God hath numbered thy kingdom, and finished it."
Mene, Mene; He hath numbered, or, It is numbered, it is numbered. These words are doubled for the greater confirmation, to note that the number of his sins and of his days, both of life and reign, are full. It relates to the number of the seventy years’ captivity now completed, or to the seventy years for the overthrow of the Babylonish empire, or the translation of it to the Medes and…
The word "Mene" itself isn't just a random sign; it’s a declaration that God has precisely counted the days of your kingdom. This isn't about a vague feeling of ending, but a divine, exact tally that has now reached its completion.
King Belshazzar has just hosted a lavish, sacrilegious feast, using sacred vessels from the Jerusalem temple, when a disembodied hand appears and writes mysterious words on the wall. The king is terrified and calls for his wise men, but none can interpret the writing, so Daniel is brought in. Daniel then explains that the words are a divine judgment, and this verse is the first part of that pronouncement.
King Belshazzar has just hosted a lavish, sacrilegious feast, using sacred vessels from the Jerusalem temple, when a disembodied hand appears and writes mysterious words on the wall. The king is terrified and calls for his wise men, but none can interpret the writing, so Daniel is brought in. Daniel then explains that the words are a divine judgment, and this verse is the first part of that pronouncement.
"This is the interpretation of the matter: MENE, God has numbered the days of your kingdom and brought it to an end; TEKEL, you have been weighed in the balances and found wanting; PERES, your kingdom is divided and given to the Medes and P…" — The word "Mene" itself isn't just a random sign; it’s a declaration that God has precisely counted the days of your kingdom. This isn't about a vague feeling of ending, but a divine, exact tally that…
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Last reviewed October 2026
