MENE, MENE, TEKEL, UPHARSIN

me'-ne, me'-ne, te'-kel, u-far'-sin, men'-a, men'a, tek'-el, oo-far'-sin (mene' mene' teqel upharcin; Theodotion, Mane, thekel, phares): These are the words that, according to Daniel's reading, were inscribed on the walls of Belshazzar's palace and that caused the great commotion on the occasion of his last feast (Daniel 5:25). As the only authority that we have for the reading is that of Daniel, it seems but fair that the interpretation of the terms be left to the person who gave us the text. According to his interpretation, there is a double sense to be found in the three different words of the inscription (Daniel 5:26-28).

Mene', which, however it is pointed, must be taken from the verb menah (Hebrew manah; Babylonian manu), is said to have indicated that God had numbered (the days of) Belshazzar's kingdom and finished it (or delivered it up). Both of these meanings can be shown to be proper to the menah.

Teqel, on the contrary, is interpreted as coming from two roots: the first, teqal, "to weigh," and the second, qal, "to be light or wanting" (Hebrew qalal; Babylonian qalalu).

Perec (or parcin) also is interpreted as coming from two roots: first, perac, "to divide" (Hebrew paras or parash; Babylonian parasu), and the second as denoting the proper name Parac, "Persia." Thus interpreted, the whole story hangs together, makes good sense, and is fully justified by the context and by the language employed. If the original text was in Babylonian, the signs were ambiguous; if they were in Aramaic, the consonants alone were written, and hence, the reading would be doubtful. In either case, the inscription was apparent but not readable, except by Daniel with the aid of God, through whom also the seer was enabled to give the proper interpretation. That Daniel's interpretation was accepted by Belshazzar and the rest shows that the interpretation of the signs was reasonable and convincing when once it had been made. We see, therefore, no good reason for departing from the interpretation that the Book of Daniel gives as the true one.

As to the interpretation of the inscription, it makes no difference whether the signs represented a mina, a shekel, and two perases, as has been recently suggested by M. Clermont-Ganneau. In this case the meaning was not so apparent, but the puns, the play upon the sounds, were even better. We doubt, however, if it can be shown that teqel means sheqel. On the old Aramaic documents of Egypt and Assyria, it is with one exception spelled sheqel. In the Targum of Onkelos, sheqel is always rendered by cela`; in the Peshitta and Arabic VSS, by mathqal; in the Samaritan Targum, by mathqal (except only perhaps in Genesis 23:16, where we have ethqel). In the Targum of Onkelos, wherever tiqla' occurs, it translates the Hebrew beqa` (Genesis 24:22 and Exodus 38:26 only). Mene', to be sure, may have meant the mina, and perec, the half-mina. The parash is mentioned in the inscription of Panammu and in an Aramaic inscription on an Assyrian weight. Besides this, it is found in the New Hebrew of the Mishna It is not found, however, in the Targum of Onkelos, nor in Syriac, nor in the Old Testament Hebrew; nor in the sense of half-shekel in the Aramaic papyri. While, then, it may be admitted that Daniel may have read, "A mina, a mina, a shekel, and two half-minas," it is altogether unlikely, and there is certainly no proof that he did. Yet, if he did, his punning interpretations were justified by the usage of ancient oracles and interpreters of signs, and also by the event.

R. Dick Wilson

UPHARSIN

u-far'-sin (upharsin).

See MENE, MENE, TEKEL, UPHARSIN.

6537b. peres -- half-mina
... half-mina. Transliteration: peres Short Definition: PERES. Word Origin (Aramaic)
from peras Definition half-mina NASB Word Usage PERES (1), UPHARSIN (1). ...
/hebrew/6537b.htm - 5k

6537. prac -- to break in two
... divide, Upharsin (Aramaic) corresponding to parac; to split up -- divide, (U-)pharsin.
see HEBREW parac. 6536, 6537. prac. 6537a . Strong's Numbers.
/hebrew/6537.htm - 5k

Weighed in the Balances
... So Daniel was sent for. He was very familiar with it. He knew his Father's handwriting.
"This is the writing that was written, Mene, Mene, Tekel, Upharsin. ...
//christianbookshelf.org/moody/weighed and wanting/weighed in the balances.htm

Mene, Tekel, Peres
... Then was the part of the hand sent from him; and this writing was written.25. And
this is the writing that was written, 'MENE, MENE, TEKEL, UPHARSIN.' 26. ...
/.../maclaren/expositions of holy scripture a/mene tekel peres.htm

The Unseen Watcher
... Turning to the Heaven-sent message on the wall, the prophet read, "Mene, Mene, Tekel,
Upharsin." The hand that had traced the characters was no longer visible ...
/.../white/the story of prophets and kings/chapter 43 the unseen watcher.htm

Fear and Faith
... was captured. When the Finger came out and wrote upon the wall, 'Mene, Mene,
Tekel, Upharsin,' it did not stop the feast. They went ...
/.../maclaren/expositions of holy scripture e/fear and faith.htm

Self-Examination
... at the thought of ever being there, lest we should have to come out of the scale
with this verdict, "Tekel,""("Mene, mene, tekel, upharsin")""thou art ...
/.../spurgeon/spurgeons sermons volume 4 1858/self-examination.htm

Last Things
... In that dreadful day shall I see the handwriting on the wall, "Mene, Tekel,
Upharsin"""Thou art weighed in the balances, and found wanting"? ...
//christianbookshelf.org/spurgeon/sermons on proverbs/last things.htm

Upharsin

divided

Upharsin

And they are dividing, a Chaldee word, an active plural form with the conjunction prefixed; while PERES or PHARES, from the same root, is a passive participle, and means divided, Daniel 5:25,28.

And they divide, one of the words written by the mysterious hand on the wall of Belshazzar's palace (Dan. 5:25). It is a pure Chaldean word. "Peres" is only a simple form of the same word. Upharsin (1 Occurrence)
... "Peres" is only a simple form of the same word. Int. Standard Bible Encyclopedia.
MENE, MENE, TEKEL, UPHARSIN. ... R. Dick Wilson. UPHARSIN. u-far'-sin (upharsin). ...
/u/upharsin.htm - 11k

Tekel (2 Occurrences)
... 5:27). Int. Standard Bible Encyclopedia. MENE, MENE, TEKEL, UPHARSIN. ... TEKEL.
te'-kel (teqel). See MENE, MENE, TEKEL, UPHARSIN. Multi-Version Concordance ...
/t/tekel.htm - 11k

Upharsinupharsin (1 Occurrence)
... Multi-Version Concordance Upharsinupharsin (1 Occurrence). Daniel 5:25 And this
is the writing that was inscribed: MENE MENE, TEKEL UPHARSIN. (See NAS). ...
/u/upharsinupharsin.htm - 6k

Mene (2 Occurrences)
... Standard Bible Encyclopedia. MENE, MENE, TEKEL, UPHARSIN. ... Mene (2 Occurrences). Daniel
5:25 This is the writing that was inscribed: MENE, MENE, TEKEL, UPHARSIN. ...
/m/mene.htm - 11k

Upbuilds (1 Occurrence)

/u/upbuilds.htm - 6k

Inscribed (20 Occurrences)
... inscribed. (WEB JPS ASV RSV). Daniel 5:25 This is the writing that was
inscribed: MENE, MENE, TEKEL, UPHARSIN. (WEB JPS ASV RSV). ...
/i/inscribed.htm - 12k

Parsin (1 Occurrence)
... Multi-Version Concordance Parsin (1 Occurrence). Daniel 5:25 This is the writing
that was inscribed: MENE, MENE, TEKEL, UPHARSIN. (See RSV NIV). ...
/p/parsin.htm - 6k

Inscription (18 Occurrences)
... inscribed. (See NAS NIV). Daniel 5:25 And this is the writing that was inscribed:
MENE MENE, TEKEL UPHARSIN. (See NAS NIV). Zechariah ...
/i/inscription.htm - 12k

Upharsin (1 Occurrence)

Daniel 5:25 This is the writing that was inscribed: MENE, MENE, TEKEL, UPHARSIN.
(WEB KJV JPS ASV DBY WBS NAS)

Upharsin

Upharsin: Divided

Tekel (2 Occurrences)

Upharsinupharsin (1 Occurrence)

Mene (2 Occurrences)

Upbuilds (1 Occurrence)

Inscribed (20 Occurrences)

Parsin (1 Occurrence)

Inscription (18 Occurrences)

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