Daniel 5:26
New International Version
“Here is what these words mean: Mene: God has numbered the days of your reign and brought it to an end.

New Living Translation
This is what these words mean: Mene means ‘numbered’—God has numbered the days of your reign and has brought it to an end.

English Standard Version
This is the interpretation of the matter: Mene, God has numbered the days of your kingdom and brought it to an end;

Berean Standard Bible
And this is the interpretation of the message: MENE means that God has numbered the days of your reign and brought it to an end.

King James Bible
This is the interpretation of the thing: MENE; God hath numbered thy kingdom, and finished it.

New King James Version
This is the interpretation of each word. MENE: God has numbered your kingdom, and finished it;

New American Standard Bible
This is the interpretation of the message: ‘MENE’—God has numbered your kingdom and put an end to it.

NASB 1995
“This is the interpretation of the message: ‘MENE ‘— God has numbered your kingdom and put an end to it.

NASB 1977
“This is the interpretation of the message: ‘MENE’ —God has numbered your kingdom and put an end to it.

Legacy Standard Bible
This is the interpretation of the message: ‘MENE’—God has numbered your kingdom and put an end to it.

Amplified Bible
This is the interpretation of the message: ‘MENE’—God has numbered the days of your kingdom and put an end to it;

Christian Standard Bible
This is the interpretation of the message: ‘Mene’ means that God has numbered the days of your kingdom and brought it to an end.

Holman Christian Standard Bible
This is the interpretation of the message: MENE means that God has numbered the days of your kingdom and brought it to an end.

American Standard Version
This is the interpretation of the thing: MENE; God hath numbered thy kingdom, and brought it to an end;

English Revised Version
This is the interpretation of the thing: MENE; God hath numbered thy kingdom, and brought it to an end.

GOD'S WORD® Translation
This is its meaning: Numbered-God has numbered the days of your kingdom and will bring it to an end.

Good News Translation
And this is what it means: number, God has numbered the days of your kingdom and brought it to an end;

International Standard Version
These are the meanings of the words: MENE: God has audited your kingdom—and has ended it.

Majority Standard Bible
And this is the interpretation of the message: MENE means that God has numbered the days of your reign and brought it to an end.

NET Bible
This is the interpretation of the words: As for mene--God has numbered your kingdom's days and brought it to an end.

New Heart English Bible
This is the interpretation of the thing: MENE; God has numbered your kingdom, and brought it to an end;

Webster's Bible Translation
This is the interpretation of the thing: MENE; God hath numbered thy kingdom, and finished it.

World English Bible
“This is the interpretation of the thing: MENE: God has counted your kingdom, and brought it to an end.
Literal Translations
Literal Standard Version
This [is] the interpretation of the thing: Numbered—God has numbered your kingdom, and has finished it.

Young's Literal Translation
This is the interpretation of the thing: Numbered -- God hath numbered thy kingdom, and hath finished it.

Smith's Literal Translation
This the interpretation of the word: Mene; God numbered thy kingdom and completed it.
Catholic Translations
Douay-Rheims Bible
And this is the interpretation of the word. MANE: God hath numbered thy kingdom, and hath finished it.

Catholic Public Domain Version
And this is the interpretation of the words. MANE: God has numbered your kingdom and has finished it.

New American Bible
, God has numbered your kingdom and put an end to it;

New Revised Standard Version
This is the interpretation of the matter: mene , God has numbered the days of your kingdom and brought it to an end;
Translations from Aramaic
Lamsa Bible
This is the interpretation of the words: MENE, God has numbered your kingdom and brought it to an end.

Peshitta Holy Bible Translated
This is the interpretation of the word : ‘Meneh’ ‘God has assessed your kingdom and has finished it’
OT Translations
JPS Tanakh 1917
This is the interpretation of the thing: MENE, God hath numbered thy kingdom, and brought it to an end.

Brenton Septuagint Translation
This is the interpretation of the sentence: Mane; God has measured thy kingdom, and finished it.

Additional Translations ...
Audio Bible



Context
Daniel Interprets the Handwriting
25Now this is the inscription that was written: MENE, MENE, TEKEL, PARSIN. 26And this is the interpretation of the message: MENE means that God has numbered the days of your reign and brought it to an end. 27TEKEL means that you have been weighed on the scales and found deficient.…

Cross References
Daniel 2:21
He changes the times and seasons; He removes kings and establishes them. He gives wisdom to the wise and knowledge to the discerning.

Job 14:5
Since his days are determined and the number of his months is with You, and since You have set limits that he cannot exceed,

Psalm 75:7
but it is God who judges; He brings down one and exalts another.

Isaiah 13:6-11
Wail, for the Day of the LORD is near; it will come as destruction from the Almighty. / Therefore all hands will fall limp, and every man’s heart will melt. / Terror, pain, and anguish will seize them; they will writhe like a woman in labor. They will look at one another, their faces flushed with fear. ...

Jeremiah 27:7
All nations will serve him and his son and grandson, until the time of his own land comes; then many nations and great kings will enslave him.

Jeremiah 50:17-18
Israel is a scattered flock, chased away by lions. The first to devour him was the king of Assyria; the last to crush his bones was Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon.” / Therefore this is what the LORD of Hosts, the God of Israel, says: “I will punish the king of Babylon and his land as I punished the king of Assyria.

Ezekiel 21:25-27
And you, O profane and wicked prince of Israel, the day has come for your final punishment.’ / This is what the Lord GOD says: ‘Remove the turban, and take off the crown. Things will not remain as they are: Exalt the lowly and bring low the exalted. / A ruin, a ruin, I will make it a ruin! And it will not be restored until the arrival of Him to whom it belongs, to whom I have assigned the right of judgment.’

Habakkuk 2:3
For the vision awaits an appointed time; it testifies of the end and does not lie. Though it lingers, wait for it, since it will surely come and will not delay.

1 Samuel 13:14
But now your kingdom will not endure; the LORD has sought a man after His own heart and appointed him ruler over His people, because you have not kept the command of the LORD.”

1 Kings 14:7-10
Go, tell Jeroboam that this is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: ‘I raised you up from among the people and appointed you ruler over My people Israel. / I tore the kingdom away from the house of David and gave it to you. But you have not been like My servant David, who kept My commandments and followed Me with all his heart, doing only what was right in My eyes. / You have done more evil than all who came before you. You have proceeded to make for yourself other gods and molten images to provoke Me, and you have flung Me behind your back. ...

2 Kings 25:1-7
So in the ninth year of Zedekiah’s reign, on the tenth day of the tenth month, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon marched against Jerusalem with his entire army. They encamped outside the city and built a siege wall all around it. / And the city was kept under siege until King Zedekiah’s eleventh year. / By the ninth day of the fourth month, the famine in the city was so severe that the people of the land had no food. ...

2 Chronicles 36:17-20
So He brought up against them the king of the Chaldeans, who put their young men to the sword in the sanctuary, sparing neither young men nor young women, neither elderly nor infirm. God gave them all into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar, / who carried off everything to Babylon—all the articles of the house of God, both large and small, and the treasures of the house of the LORD and of the king and his officials. / Then the Chaldeans set fire to the house of God and broke down the wall of Jerusalem. They burned down all the palaces and destroyed every article of value. ...

Matthew 24:36
No one knows about that day or hour, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father.

Luke 12:20
But God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night your life will be required of you. Then who will own what you have accumulated?’

Acts 17:26
From one man He made every nation of men, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and He determined their appointed times and the boundaries of their lands.


Treasury of Scripture

This is the interpretation of the thing: MENE; God has numbered your kingdom, and finished it.

God.

Daniel 9:2
In the first year of his reign I Daniel understood by books the number of the years, whereof the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah the prophet, that he would accomplish seventy years in the desolations of Jerusalem.

Job 14:14
If a man die, shall he live again? all the days of my appointed time will I wait, till my change come.

Isaiah 13:1-22
The burden of Babylon, which Isaiah the son of Amoz did see…

Jump to Previous
End Ended Finished Interpretation Kingdom Matter Mean MENE Message Numbered Reign Sense Words
Jump to Next
End Ended Finished Interpretation Kingdom Matter Mean MENE Message Numbered Reign Sense Words
Daniel 5
1. Belshazzar's impious feast.
5. A hand-writing unknown to the magicians, troubles the king.
10. At the commendation of the queen Daniel is brought.
17. He, reproving the king of pride and idolatry,
25. reads and interprets the writing.
30. The monarchy is translated to the Medes














This is the interpretation of the message
The phrase introduces the divine revelation given to Daniel, who is interpreting the mysterious writing on the wall. In the context of the Babylonian court, where human wisdom and pagan divination were prevalent, this statement underscores the supremacy of God's wisdom. The Hebrew word for "interpretation" is "peshar," which implies a divinely inspired explanation, setting the stage for a message that transcends human understanding.

MENE
This word is repeated twice in the original text, emphasizing its importance. "Mene" comes from the Aramaic root "menah," meaning "to number" or "to reckon." In the historical context, this reflects the ancient Near Eastern practice of accounting and measuring, which was crucial for governance and administration. Spiritually, it signifies God's sovereign control over time and kingdoms, reminding us that all earthly powers are subject to His divine timetable.

God has numbered the days of your reign
This phrase highlights the divine authority over human affairs. The use of "God" (Aramaic "Elah") emphasizes the monotheistic belief in the one true God, contrasting with the polytheistic beliefs of Babylon. The "numbering" of days signifies a predetermined limit set by God, reflecting the biblical theme that human life and power are finite and accountable to the Creator. Historically, this was a direct message to King Belshazzar, whose reign was being weighed and found wanting.

and brought it to an end
The conclusion of the message is both a declaration and a fulfillment of divine judgment. The phrase "brought it to an end" (Aramaic "shelem") conveys the idea of completion or fulfillment. In the historical context, this prophecy was fulfilled that very night with the fall of Babylon to the Medes and Persians. Theologically, it serves as a sobering reminder of the certainty of God's judgments and the ultimate accountability of all rulers and nations before Him.

Parallel Commentaries ...


Hebrew
[And] this
דְּנָ֖ה (də·nāh)
Pronoun - masculine singular
Strong's 1836: This

is the interpretation
פְּשַֽׁר־ (pə·šar-)
Noun - masculine singular construct
Strong's 6591: An interpretation

of the message:
מִלְּתָ֑א (mil·lə·ṯā)
Noun - feminine singular determinate
Strong's 4406: A word, command, discourse, subject

MENE
מְנֵ֕א (mə·nê)
Noun - masculine singular
Strong's 4484: Maneh, mina (a measure of weight)

means that God
אֱלָהָ֥א (’ĕ·lā·hā)
Noun - masculine singular determinate
Strong's 426: God

has numbered
מְנָֽה־ (mə·nāh-)
Verb - Qal - Perfect - third person masculine singular
Strong's 4483: To count, appoint

the days of your reign
מַלְכוּתָ֖ךְ (mal·ḵū·ṯāḵ)
Noun - feminine singular construct | second person masculine singular
Strong's 4437: Royalty, reign, kingdom

and brought it to an end.
וְהַשְׁלְמַֽהּ׃ (wə·haš·lə·mah)
Conjunctive waw | Verb - Hifil - Conjunctive perfect - third person masculine singular | third person feminine singular
Strong's 8000: To complete, to restore


Links
Daniel 5:26 NIV
Daniel 5:26 NLT
Daniel 5:26 ESV
Daniel 5:26 NASB
Daniel 5:26 KJV

Daniel 5:26 BibleApps.com
Daniel 5:26 Biblia Paralela
Daniel 5:26 Chinese Bible
Daniel 5:26 French Bible
Daniel 5:26 Catholic Bible

OT Prophets: Daniel 5:26 This is the interpretation of the thing: (Dan. Da Dn)
Daniel 5:25
Top of Page
Top of Page