John Calvin Commentary Daniel 5:10-11

"[Now] the queen by reason of the words of the king and his lords came into the banquet house: the queen spake and said, O king, live forever; let not thy thoughts trouble thee, nor let thy countenance be changed. 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, were found in him; and the king Nebuchadnezzar thy father, the king, [I say], thy father, made him master of the magicians, enchanters, Chaldeans, and soothsayers;" — Daniel 5:10-11 (ASV)

Here Daniel relates the occasion of his being brought before the king, as the reader and interpreter of the writing. The queen, he says, did this. It is doubtful whether it was the wife of King Belshazzar or his grandmother. She was probably an old woman, as she refers to events in the time of King Nebuchadnezzar. This conjecture has no sufficient foundation, and therefore it is better to suspend our judgment than to assert anything rashly, unless, as we previously saw, his wife was at table with him.

As far as we can gather the words of the Prophet with certainty, we must diligently notice them. This convicts the king of ingratitude because he did not include Daniel among the magi, Chaldeans, and astrologers. The holy man had no wish to be counted in that company; he would have deserved to lose God’s prophetic spirit if he had thus mingled with impostors, and he is clearly to be distinguished from them.

King Nebuchadnezzar had set him over all the magi. He had no wish to exercise this honor, unless, as I have just said, he would deprive himself of the unique gift of prophecy, for we must always be careful how far we can go. We know how very prone we are to be enticed by the allurements of the world, especially when ambition blinds us and disturbs all our senses.

No plague is worse than this, because when anyone sees a prospect of acquiring either profit or honor, he disregards what he ought to do or what God permits, but is hurried on by a blind fury. This would have happened to Daniel, unless he had been restrained by a sense of true piety, and therefore he repudiated the honor offered him by King Nebuchadnezzar.

He never wished to be counted among soothsayers, astrologers, and impostors of this kind, who deluded that nation with deceptive wonders. Here the queen enters and mentions Daniel, but this does not leave the king without excuse. For, as we have already said, Daniel had acquired a name of renown among men of all ages, and God wished to mark him out clearly, to fix the minds of all upon him, as if he were an angel from heaven.

Since King Belshazzar was ignorant of the existence of such a Prophet in his kingdom, this was the result of his gross and brutish indifference. God, therefore, wished King Belshazzar to be reproved by a woman, who said, Let not thy thoughts disturb thee! She calms him quietly, because she saw how frightened he was; but, meanwhile, she shows him the grossness of his error in wandering about in uncertainty, when the way was clear before him.

God had put his torch in the Prophet’s hand for the very purpose of lighting the king, unless he willfully desired to wander in darkness, as all the wicked do. Therefore, we may learn from the example of this king, the common fault of our nature; for no one runs out of the right way, unless he indulges in his own ignorance, and desires all light to be extinguished within him.

As to the language of the queen, The spirit of the holy gods is in Daniel! we have elsewhere explained its meaning. It is not surprising that profane people use this language, since they cannot discern between the one God and angels. Therefore they indiscriminately call anything divine and celestial, a god. Thus also the queen calls angels, holy gods, and places the true God among them.

But it is our privilege to acknowledge the true God as shining forth alone, and the angels as all taking their own ranks, without any excellence in heaven or earth obscuring the glory of the only God. The writing has this aim: the exaltation of God in the highest degree, and the magnifying of his excellency and his majestic supremacy.

We see here how necessary it is for us to be instructed in the essential unity of God. For, from the very beginning of the world, people have always been persuaded of the existence of some Supreme Deity; but after they became vain in their imaginations, this idea entirely escaped them, and they confused God and angels completely. Whenever we perceive this, let us recognize our need for Scripture as a guide and instructor which shines on our path, urging us to think of God as inviting us to himself and willingly revealing himself to us.

Prayer:

Grant, Almighty God, since You constantly address us by Your Prophets and do not permit us to wander in the darkness of error—Grant us, I say, to be attentive to Your voice, and make us docile and tractable towards You, especially when You set before us a Master in whom are included all treasures of wisdom and knowledge. Grant us further, I pray You, to be subject to Your only-begotten Son, to hold on in the right course of our holy calling, and to be always pressing onward to that goal to which You call us, until we are successful in all our contests with this world, and at length arrive at that blessed rest which You have obtained for us through the blood of the same Your Son. Amen.

[Exposition continues from previous day's lecture]

We began yesterday to explain the passage where Daniel relates how the queen advised King Belshazzar to send for the Prophet. We showed how the king was here convicted of ingratitude, in allowing such a Prophet of God to remain in obscurity so long, because that memorable prophecy, already discussed, ought to have been well known and on everybody’s lips, as it conferred permanent authority on the holy man.

Now, when Daniel says, the queen entered the banqueting-room, it is very probable she was not the king’s wife, but his grandmother. I have expressed my intention not to contend this point, since in doubtful cases everyone ought to enjoy their own unbiased judgment.

But it is incongruous to say the king was feasting with his wife and concubines, and then to add, “the queen entered the banqueting-room.” Therefore, we suppose her to be called Queen due to the honor, rank, and respect she still enjoyed, despite having no power. The testimony of Herodotus confirms this view, for he praises the queen of King Nebuchadnezzar for her singular prudence, calling him Labynetus and her Nitocris.

It is far more probable that this matron was absent from a banquet unsuitable to her age and dignity, since she would hardly have been feasting with those who were thus devoting themselves to luxury. When she enters the room, she reminds the king of Daniel, and she now gives the reason why he surpasses all the magi, soothsayers, diviners, and Chaldeans.