Aramaic word · H1113

בֵּֽלְאשַׁצַּר, בֵּלְשַׁאצַּר

beleshatzar

Belshazzar

A personal name. It comes from the Akkadian Bēl-šarra-uṣur, 'Bel (that is, Marduk, the god of Babylon), protect the king!' In Daniel it is spelled בֵּלְשַׁאצַּר here and בֵּלְאשַׁצַּר in 8:1.

A Biblical Aramaic word, from the parts of the Old Testament written in Aramaic. Why Aramaic?

Appears 7 times in 7 verses of the Aramaic of the Old Testament. ·

What it means

A man living at the time of Exile and Return, first mentioned at Dan.5.1;

son of: Nebuchadnezzar (H5019)

Aramaic of be.le.shats.tsar (בֵּֽלְאשַׁצַּר, בֵּלְשַׁאצַּר "Belshazzar" H1112)

§ Belshazzar = "Bel protect the king"

king of Babylon at the time of its fall; he to whom Daniel interpreted the writing on the wall

Abridged from Brown, Driver and Briggs, A Hebrew and English Lexicon of the Old Testament (1906), via STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0).

In depth

From the study of Daniel 5:1

Range of meaning

A personal name. It comes from the Akkadian Bēl-šarra-uṣur, 'Bel (that is, Marduk, the god of Babylon), protect the king!' In Daniel it is spelled בֵּלְשַׁאצַּר here and בֵּלְאשַׁצַּר in 8:1. It must be kept separate from בֵּלְטְשַׁאצַּר (Belteshazzar), the name given to Daniel in 1:7, which is probably a shortened form of a name like Balāṭ-šarri-uṣur, '(god) protect the life of the king.'

Against the English

All English versions give 'Belshazzar.' The danger is mixing him up with 'Belteshazzar,' Daniel's own name, since the two look almost the same in English.

Used elsewhere in the period

Babylonian cuneiform texts name Bēl-šarra-uṣur as the eldest son of Nabonidus, the last Neo-Babylonian king (556–539 BC). On the Nabonidus Cylinder from Ur, Nabonidus prays for 'Belshazzar, the first-born son, the offspring of my heart.' The Verse Account of Nabonidus says that when Nabonidus left for Tema in Arabia, he 'entrusted the kingship' to his eldest son. The Nabonidus Chronicle records the crown prince staying in Babylon (Akkad) with the army for years while the king was away. Greek historians (Herodotus, Xenophon) and the Babylonian priest Berossus do not name him. Before these cuneiform texts came to light in the mid-1800s, his existence was widely doubted.

From the study of Daniel 5:30

Range of meaning

A personal name from Akkadian Bēl-šarra-uṣur, 'Bel (Marduk), protect the king!'. It belonged to the eldest son of Nabonidus, the last Neo-Babylonian king (reigned 556–539 BC).

Against the English

English versions simply carry the name over. What gets lost is that the name is a prayer for the king's protection.

Used elsewhere in the period

Greek historians knew nothing of him. Herodotus and Berossus name Nabonidus (Labynetus) as Babylon's last king, so nineteenth-century critics doubted Belshazzar ever existed. Cuneiform texts later settled the matter. The Nabonidus Cylinders from Ur name 'Bēl-šarra-uṣur, my firstborn son'. The Verse Account of Nabonidus says that when Nabonidus left for Tayma in Arabia (about 553–543 BC), he 'entrusted the kingship' to his son. Contract tablets record oaths sworn by king and crown prince together.

From the study of Daniel 7:1

Range of meaning

A personal name: Babylonian Bēl-šarra-uṣur, 'Bel, protect the king'. Bel ('Lord') is the title of Marduk, Babylon's chief god.

Against the English

All versions transliterate it 'Belshazzar'. BSB and NIV add 'reign ... over Babylon', which spells out the ruling role the Aramaic gives simply as 'king'.

Used elsewhere in the period

Cuneiform sources (the Nabonidus Chronicle, the 'Verse Account of Nabonidus', and contract texts dated by oaths in the names of Nabonidus and Belshazzar) show Belshazzar as eldest son of Nabonidus. He governed Babylon for about ten years while Nabonidus stayed at Tayma in Arabia. The Verse Account says Nabonidus 'entrusted the kingship' to him.

Where it appears

Daniel · 7

  1. Daniel 5:1 בֵּלְשַׁאצַּ֣ר Belshazzar

    Later, King Belshazzar held a great feast for a thousand of his nobles, and he drank wine with them.

    Here: An Aramaic spelling of the Babylonian name Bēl-šarra-uṣur, 'Bel, protect the king!' Coming first in the sentence, the name puts a new ruler on stage right after Nebuchadnezzar's praise of God at the end of chapter 4. He is not the same person as Belteshazzar, the Babylonian name given to Daniel.

  2. Daniel 5:2 בֵּלְשַׁאצַּ֞ר Belshazzar

    Under the influence of the wine, Belshazzar gave orders to bring in the gold and silver vessels that Nebuchadnezzar his father had taken from the temple in Jerusalem, so that the king could drink from them, along with his nobles, his wives, and his concubines.

    Here: From Babylonian Bēl-šarra-uṣur, "Bel (Marduk), protect the king." He was the son of Nabonidus, the last Babylonian king, and ruled in Babylon on his father's behalf. Putting his name first puts the spotlight on him: this is his decision.

  3. Daniel 5:9 בֵלְשַׁאצַּר֙ Belshazzar

    Then King Belshazzar became even more terrified, his face grew even more pale, and his nobles were bewildered.

  4. Daniel 5:22 בֵּלְשַׁאצַּ֔ר O Belshazzar

    But you his son, O Belshazzar, have not humbled your heart, even though you knew all this.

    Here: This is the Babylonian name Bēl-šarra-uṣur, 'Bel, protect the king!' Daniel addresses him by name, which makes the accusation personal. It is ironic: the name prays for divine protection, but the king has offended the God who actually protects or removes kings.

  5. Daniel 5:29 בֵּלְשַׁאצַּ֗ר Belshazzar

    Then Belshazzar gave the command, and they clothed Daniel in purple, placed a gold chain around his neck, and proclaimed him the third highest ruler in the kingdom.

  6. Daniel 5:30 בֵּלְאשַׁצַּ֖ר Belshazzar

    That very night Belshazzar king of the Chaldeans was slain,

    Here: From Akkadian Bēl-šarra-uṣur, 'Bel, protect the king!' His own name was a prayer to Babylon's chief god to guard the king. That night the god did not.

  7. Daniel 7:1 לְבֵלְאשַׁצַּר֙ of Belshazzar

    In the first year of the reign of Belshazzar over Babylon, Daniel had a dream, and visions passed through his mind as he lay on his bed. He wrote down the dream, and this is the summary of his account.

    Here: 'Belonging to Belshazzar', i.e. counted by his reign. The name is Babylonian Bēl-šarra-uṣur, 'Bel, protect the king'. It is a different name from Daniel's own Babylonian name, Belteshazzar.

Word data: STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0), main text only.