John Calvin Commentary Daniel 5:17

"Then Daniel answered and said before the king, Let thy gifts be to thyself, and give thy rewards to another; nevertheless I will read the writing unto the king, and make known to him the interpretation." — Daniel 5:17 (ASV)

First of all, Daniel here rejects the offered gifts. We do not read of his doing so before; he rather seemed to delight in the honors conferred by King Nebuchadnezzar. We may inquire into the reason for this difference. It is not probable that the intention, feeling, or sentiments of the Prophet were different.

What then could be his intention in allowing himself to be previously ennobled by Nebuchadnezzar, and by now rejecting the offered dignity? Another question also arises. At the end of this chapter we shall see how he was clothed in purple, and a herald proclaimed an edict, by which he became third in the kingdom.

The Prophet seems either to have forgotten himself in receiving the purple which he had so magnanimously rejected, or we may ask the reason why he says so, when he did not refuse to be adorned in the royal apparel.

With respect to the first question, I have no doubt of his desire to treat the impious and desperate Belshazzar with greater severity. In the case of King Nebuchadnezzar, there still remained some feelings of honor, and therefore Daniel hoped well of him and treated him more mildly.

But with regard to King Belshazzar, it was necessary to treat him more harshly, because he had now arrived at his last extremity. This, I have no doubt, was the cause of the difference. The Prophet proceeded straightforwardly in his course, yet his duty demanded that he distinguish between different people. As there was greater pertinacity and obstinacy in King Belshazzar, Daniel shows how much less he deferred to him than to his grandfather. Furthermore, the time of Daniel's own subjection was soon to be finished, and with this in mind, he had formerly honored the Chaldean empire.

As for the apparent contrast between his reply and his actions, which we will see later, this should not seem absurd. The Prophet had from the beginning testified against the king’s gifts and utterly rejected them. Yet he does not protest very vehemently, so that he would not be thought to be acting cunningly to escape danger.

In each case, he wished to display unconquered greatness of mind. At the beginning, he asserted the king’s gifts to be valueless to him, for he knew the end of the kingdom to be at hand. Afterwards, he received the purple with other apparel. If he had entirely refused them, it would have been treated as a fault and as a sign of timidity, and would have incurred the suspicion of treason.

The Prophet therefore shows how magnificently he despised all the dignities offered him by King Belshazzar, who was already half dead. At the same time, he shows himself intrepid against all dangers, for the king’s death was at hand and the city was taken in a few hours—even in the very same hour!

Daniel therefore did not reject this purple, showing his resolution not to avoid death if necessary. He would have been safer in his obscurity if he had lived among the citizens at large instead of in the palace; and if he had resided among the captives, he might have been free from all danger.

As he did not hesitate to receive the purple, he displays his perfect freedom from all fear.

Meanwhile he, doubtless, wished to lay prostrate the king’s foolish arrogance, by which he was puffed up, when he says, Let thy gifts remain with thee, and give thy presents to another! I care not for them.

Because he so nobly despises the king’s generosity, there is no doubt of his desire to correct the pride by which the king was puffed up, or at least to wound and arouse his mind to perceive God’s judgment, of which Daniel will soon become both the herald and the witness.