What is the meaning of Daniel 5:15?

Now the wise men and enchanters were brought before me

• King Belshazzar gathers the most esteemed members of Babylon’s intellectual elite, just as Nebuchadnezzar had done in earlier crises (Daniel 2:2, 4:7).

• Earthly wisdom, though impressive, stands exposed as powerless when God speaks directly. Compare Isaiah 19:11–13 and 1 Corinthians 1:20.

• God’s pattern of allowing human expertise to exhaust itself before revealing His answer magnifies His sovereignty (Genesis 41:8, Daniel 2:27–28).

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to read this inscription

• The “writing on the wall” (Daniel 5:5–6) is literal: God physically inscribes judgment where every eye can see.

• Reading alone will not suffice; comprehension is required. Habakkuk 2:2 shows God writing plainly so His message can be “read on tablets,” yet still demanding spiritual perception (1 Corinthians 2:14).

• The scene underscores that divine revelation is clear yet closed to the proud (Proverbs 3:34).

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and interpret it for me

• Belshazzar seeks not only the words but their meaning, echoing Pharaoh’s plea to Joseph, “I have heard it said of you that when you hear a dream you can interpret it” (Genesis 41:15–16).

• True interpretation belongs to God alone; His servants merely relay it (Daniel 2:28, Amos 3:7).

• The king’s insistence on an explanation reveals the emptiness of his idols (Isaiah 46:6–7).

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but they could not give its interpretation

• Failure is immediate and complete, repeating earlier episodes where pagan specialists admitted, “There is no one on earth who can do what the king requests” (Daniel 2:10–11).

• God “frustrates the signs of liars and makes fools of diviners” (Isaiah 44:25), proving that every false system collapses before His truth (Jeremiah 10:14).

• The stage is now set for Daniel, whose Spirit-empowered insight will affirm that “the Most High God is ruler over the kingdom of mankind” (Daniel 5:21).

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summary

Human wisdom shines only until God speaks; then its helplessness is exposed. Belshazzar’s experts, like all who rely on human intellect alone, can neither read nor interpret the divine message. Only the Lord’s servant, equipped by His Spirit, can reveal the meaning. Daniel 5:15 therefore highlights God’s supremacy, the insufficiency of worldly wisdom, and the necessity of humble dependence on the one true God who interprets His own words.