Abstract
In the book of Daniel there is a famous scene in which the Babylonian king Belshazzar is feasting and drinking from sacred vessels which his father Nebuchadnezzar had plundered from the Holy Jewish Temple in Jerusalem; suddenly a hand unattached to a body appears and writes mysterious words on the wall: "Men?, Men?, Tekel, Upharsin." Neither Belshazzar nor his followers can understand the words which seem to belong to an unknown tongue. So, desperate to know what has been written, Belshazzar summons Daniel, who has a reputation for wisdom. Daniel can read the words, which are in Aramaic. Literally, Daniel explains, the words mean "numbered, numbered, weighed, and divided." But Daniel then offers an ethical interpretation, foretelling the destruction of Belshazzar and his kingdom. Daniel's reading is a prophecy: "God hath numbered thy [Belshazzar's] kingdom, and brought it to an end; thou art weighed in the balances, and found wanting. Thy kingdom is divided, and given to the Medes and the Persians."
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