Daniel 5:25

King James Version

And this is the writing that was written, Mene, Mene, Tekel, Upharsin .

Parallel Translations

Christian Standard Bible®
“This is the writing that was inscribed: Mene

Hebrew Names Version
This is the writing that was inscribed: MENE, MENE, TEKEL, UFARSIN.

English Standard Version
And this is the writing that was inscribed: Mene , Mene , Tekel , and Parsin .

New American Standard Bible
"Now this is the inscription that was written: 'MENE, MENE, TEKEL, UPHARSIN.'

New Century Version
"These are the words that were written on the wall: ‘Mene, mene, tekel, and parsin.'

Amplified Bible
"This is the inscription that was written, 'MENE, MENE, TEKEL, UPHARSIN [numbered, numbered, weighed, and divided].'

Geneva Bible (1587)
And this is the writing that he hath written, Mene, Mene, Tekel Vpharsin.

New American Standard Bible (1995)
"Now this is the inscription that was written out: 'MENE, MENE, TEKEL, UPHARSIN.'

Berean Standard Bible
Now this is the inscription that was written: MENE, MENE, TEKEL, PARSIN.

Contemporary English Version
The words written there are mene, which means "numbered," tekel, which means "weighed," and parsin, which means "divided." God has numbered the days of your kingdom and has brought it to an end. He has weighed you on his balance scales, and you fall short of what it takes to be king. So God has divided your kingdom between the Medes and the Persians.

Complete Jewish Bible
and the inscription says, ‘M'ne! M'ne! T'kel ufarsin.'

Darby Translation
And this is the writing that is written: MENE, MENE, TEKEL, UPHARSIN.

Easy-to-Read Version
These are the words that were written on the wall: mene, mene, tekel, uparsin .

George Lamsa Translation
And this is the writing that was written: MENE, MENE, TEKEL, UPHARSIN.

Good News Translation
"This is what was written: ‘Number, number, weight, divisions.'

Lexham English Bible
"Now this was the writing that was inscribed: ‘Mene, Mene, Tekel and Parsin.'

Literal Translation
And this is the writing that was written: A MINA, A MINA, A SHEKEL, AND HALF MINAS.

Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
And this is the scripture, that is written vp: Mane, Thetel, Phares.

American Standard Version
And this is the writing that was inscribed: mene, mene, tekel, upharsin .

Bible in Basic English
And this is the writing which was recorded, Mene, tekel, peres.

JPS Old Testament (1917)
And this is the writing that was inscribed: MENE MENE, TEKEL UPHARSIN.

King James Version (1611)
And this is the writing that was written, MENE, MENE, TEKEL VPHARSIN.

Bishop's Bible (1568)
And this the writing that he hath writte: MENE MENE, THECEL, VPHARSIN.

Brenton's Septuagint (LXX)
And this is the ordered writing, Mane, Thekel, Phares.

English Revised Version
And this is the writing that was inscribed, MENE, MENE, TEKEL, UPHARSIN.

World English Bible
This is the writing that was inscribed: MENE, MENE, TEKEL, UPHARSIN.

Wycliffe Bible (1395)
Sotheli this is the scripture which is discryued, Mane, Techel, Phares.

Update Bible Version
And this is the writing that was inscribed: MENE, MENE, TEKEL, UPHARSIN.

Webster's Bible Translation
And this [is] the writing that was written, MENE, MENE, TEKEL, UPHARSIN.

New English Translation
"This is the writing that was inscribed: Mene , Mene , Teqel , and Pharsin .

New King James Version
"And this is the inscription that was written: MENE, [fn] MENE, TEKEL, [fn] UPHARSIN. [fn]

New Living Translation
"This is the message that was written: Mene, mene, tekel , and Parsin .

New Life Bible
"This is what was written: ‘MENE, MENE, TEKEL, and PARSIN.'

New Revised Standard
And this is the writing that was inscribed: mene , mene , tekel , and parsin .

J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
And this is the writing which was inscribed, M'ne, M'ne, T'kel, u-Pharsin.

Douay-Rheims Bible
And this is the writing that is written: MANE, THECEL, PHARES.

Revised Standard Version
And this is the writing that was inscribed: MENE, MENE, TEKEL, and PARSIN.

Young's Literal Translation
and this [is] the writing that is noted down: Numbered, Numbered, Weighed, and Divided.

Contextual Overview

¹⁰ Now the queen by reason of the words of the king and his lords came into the banquet house: and the queen spake and said, O king, live for ever: let not thy thoughts trouble thee, nor let thy countenance be changed: ¹¹ There is a man in thy kingdom, in whom is the spirit of the holy gods; and in the days of thy father light and understanding and wisdom, like the wisdom of the gods, was found in him; whom the king Nebuchadnezzar thy father, the king, I say, thy father, made master of the magicians, astrologers, Chaldeans, and soothsayers; ¹² Forasmuch as an excellent spirit, and knowledge, and understanding, interpreting of dreams, and shewing of hard sentences, and dissolving of doubts, were found in the same Daniel, whom the king named Belteshazzar: now let Daniel be called, and he will shew the interpretation. ¹³ Then was Daniel brought in before the king. And the king spake and said unto Daniel, Art thou that Daniel, which art of the children of the captivity of Judah, whom the king my father brought out of Jewry? ¹⁴ I have even heard of thee, that the spirit of the gods is in thee, and that light and understanding and excellent wisdom is found in thee. ¹⁵ And now the wise men, the astrologers, have been brought in before me, that they should read this writing, and make known unto me the interpretation thereof: but they could not shew the interpretation of the thing: ¹⁶ And I have heard of thee, that thou canst make interpretations, and dissolve doubts: now if thou canst read the writing, and make known to me the interpretation thereof, thou shalt be clothed with scarlet, and have a chain of gold about thy neck, and shalt be the third ruler in the kingdom. ¹⁷ Then Daniel answered and said before the king, Let thy gifts be to thyself, and give thy rewards to another; yet I will read the writing unto the king, and make known to him the interpretation. ¹⁸ O thou king, the most high God gave Nebuchadnezzar thy father a kingdom, and majesty, and glory, and honour: ¹⁹ And for the majesty that he gave him, all people, nations, and languages, trembled and feared before him: whom he would he slew; and whom he would he kept alive; and whom he would he set up; and whom he would he put down.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

MENE: Had these words been written in the Chaldean character, every one who knew the alphabet of the language could at least have read them: they are pure Chaldee, and literally denote "He is numbered, he is numbered; he is weighed; they are divided." Daniel 5:25

Reciprocal: 1 Samuel 28:19 - and to morrow 2 Chronicles 21:12 - a writing Isaiah 14:11 - pomp Isaiah 47:11 - thou shalt not be Jeremiah 27:7 - until Habakkuk 2:7 - they Luke 1:51 - he hath scattered Luke 12:20 - God

Cross-References

Genesis 4:18
And unto Enoch was born Irad: and Irad begat Mehujael: and Mehujael begat Methusael: and Methusael begat Lamech.

Gill's Notes on the Bible

And this is the writing that was written,.... They are such and such letters, and so to be read, as follows:

MENE, MENE, TEKEL, UPHARSIN; which are Chaldee words, and may be literally rendered, "he hath numbered, he hath numbered"; that is, God hath certainly, perfectly, and exactly numbered; "he hath weighed", God hath weighed thee, Belshazzar; "and they divide the kingdom"; that is, the Medes and Persians, as appears from the following interpretation:

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

And this is the writing that was written - The Babylonians, it would seem, were unacquainted with the “characters” that were used, and of course unable to understand the meaning. See Daniel 5:8. The first thing, therefore, for Daniel to do was to read the writing, and this he was able to do without difficulty, probably, as already remarked, because it was in the ancient Hebrew character - a character quite familiar to him, though not known to the Babylonians, whom Belshazzar consulted. It is every way probable that that character “would” be used on an occasion like this, for

(a) it is manifest that it was intended that the true God, the God of the Hebrews, should be made known, and this was the character in which his communications had been made to men;

(b) it was clearly the design to honor his own religion, and it is morally certain that there would be something which would show the connection between this occurrence and his own agency, and nothing would do this better than to make use of such a character; and

(c) it was the Divine intention to put honor on Daniel, and this would be well done by making use of a character which he understood.

There have been, indeed, many conjectures respecting the characters which were employed on this occasion, and the reasons of the difficulty of interpreting the words used, but it is most probable that the above is the true statement, and this will relieve all the difficulties in regard to the account. Prideaux supposes that the characters employed were the ancient Phoenician characters, that were used by the Hebrews, and that are found now in the Samaritan Pentateuch; and that, as above suggested, these might be unknown to the Babylonians, though familiar to Daniel. Others have supposed that the characters were those in common use in Babylon, and that the reason why the Babylonians could not read them was, that they were smitten with a sudden blindness, like the inhabitants of Sodom, Genesis 19:11. The Talmudists suppose that the words were written in a cabalistic manner, in which certain letters were used to stand for other letters, on the principle referred to by Buxtorf (“Lex. Chal. Rabb. et Talm.” p. 248), and known as אתבשׁ 'âthebbash - that is, where the alphabet is reversed, and the Hebrew letter א (A) is used for the Hebrew letter ת (T), and the Hebrew letter ב (B) for the Hebrew letter ש (S), etc., and that on account of this cabalistic transmutation the Babylonians could not read it, though Daniel might have been familiar with that mode of writing. rabbi Jochanan supposed that there was a change of the order in which the letters of the words were written; other rabbis, that there was a change merely in the order of the first and second letters; others, that the words were written backward; others that the words were written, not in the usual horizontal manner, but perpendicularly; and others, that the words were not written in full, but that only the first letters of each were written. See Bertholdt, pp. 349, 350. All these are mere conjectures, and most of them are childish and improbable suppositions. There is no real difficulty in the case if we suppose that the words were written in a character familiar to Daniel, but not familiar to the Babylonians. Or, if this is not admitted, then we may suppose that some mere marks were employed whose signification was made known to Daniel in a miraculous manner.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse Daniel 5:25. And this is the writing — Had the words been written in the Chaldean character, every wise man there, every one that could read the alphabet of his own language, could have read and interpreted them. Let it be observed, -

1. That the character which we now call Hebrew is the Chaldean character.

2. That the true Hebrew character is that which we call the Samaritan.

3. Daniel could easily read this, for it was the character used by the Jews previously to the Babylonish captivity.

4. It appears that it was simply on account of the strangeness of the character that the Chaldeans could not read it.

I shall set down the words in both characters, by which the least learned reader may see that it was quite possible that one might be well known, while the other might be unintelligible.

Hebrew

מנא מנא תקל ופרסין

Samaritan

[Samaritan]

In ancient times, no doubt, these letters differed more from each other than they appear to do now; for we know that the Samaritan on ancient coins, though radically the same, differs very much from that now used in printing.

It should be observed, that each word stands for a short sentence; מנא mene signifies NUMERATION; תקל tekel, WEIGHING; and פרש peres, DIVISION. And so the Arabic translates them. [Arabic] mokeeson, measured; [Arabic] mewzonon, weighed; [Arabic] mokesoomon, divided. All the ancient Versions, except the Syriac, read the words simply Mene, Tekel, Phares, as they are explained in the following verses; without the repetition of Mene, and without the conjunction ו vau, and plural termination, ין in, in Peres.