Belshatzar

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1. The Vision of the Four Beasts

   Rabbi Yaakov Medan

   The Sages and many commentators are in agreement that the four beasts in Daniel’s dream parallel the four kingdoms described in Nevukhadnetzar’s dream. An alternative interpretation suggest that that the first three beasts are parables for Nevukhadnetzar - the lion, his son Evil Merodakh - the bear, and his son Belshatzar – the final king of Babylon - represented by the leopard. The fourth beast represents the kingdom of Persia and the ten horns of the beast represent the ten successive rulers of Persia. The new horn that sprouts and uproots the existing one represents Alexander the Great and the Greek Empire.

2. The Writing on the Wall

   Rabbi Yaakov Medan

   Opinions vary regarding the precise chronology of the Babylonian dynasty. The kingdom of Babylon is limited to seventy years when no such limitation existed with any previous empire. Belshatzar’s pride and confidence leads him to drink out of the vessels of the Beit HaMikdash. This is similar to the Sages’s description of Ahashverosh’s behavior. Koresh’s desire to send the vessels of the Beit HaMikdash with the Jews back to Israel may have stemmed from a desire to remove the vessels that brought about Belshatzar’s downfall. Daryavesh’s age of sixty two when he assumes the throne of the empire means his birth corresponds with the first time Nevukhadnetzar first entered the Beit HaMikdash.