John Gill Commentary Daniel 5:8

"Then came in all the king`s wise men; but they could not read the writing, nor make known to the king the interpretation." — Daniel 5:8 (ASV)

Then came in all the king's wise men
The whole college of them, the persons before described; over whom, in Nebuchadnezzar's time, Daniel was the chief of the governors, (Daniel 2:48), these came in readily, in hope of getting both riches and honour: but they could not read the writing, nor make known to the king the
interpretation thereof; for if they could not do the former, it must be impossible to do the latter; there are various conjectures about the reason ^F16: as that, though these words were written in Chaldee, they used characters like Samaritan or Phoenician that they did not understand; or they were written without points, so they did not know which were the proper ones to use; or they were written according to the position of the letters of the alphabet, called "athbash" (See Gill on Jeremiah 25:26); or the words were placed to be read backward or downward, not straightforward; or they were all in one word; or only the initial letters of words;

but the true reason was, that it was so ordained by the Lord, that they should not be able to read and interpret them; this being reserved for another man, Daniel, that he might have the honour, and God the glory.

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FOOTNOTES:

• F16: Vid. Jac. de Clerice Dissertat. de Epulo Belshazzar, in Thesaur. Theolog. Philol. vol. 1. p. 885.