Aramaic Word Study – The Party’s Over  Mene Mene Tekel Upharsin  מנא מנא תקל ופרסין

Mem Nun Aleph  Mem Nun Aleph Taw Qop Lamed  Vav Pei Resh Samek Yod Nun

Daniel 5:25: “And this is the writing that was written; ‘Mene Mene Tekel Upharsin.’”

You remember this story about Belshazzar who was having a big party when all of a sudden a hand appears and starts writing something on the palace wall.  It shook the old boy up so bad that as the KJV says: “His knees smote one another.”  In other words, he wet… well we don’t have to go into that. If this was truly written in Aramaic then the message probably caused Belshazzar more fear than the phantom hand.  Aramaic was the common language, but it is unlikely Belshazzar or those of his royal court really took time to learn to read it, they had scribes and magicians to do that. But he did probably recognize the letters and knew it meant something. All the wise men were called but they could not read it and/or interpret it.  This is a little odd for if it was really in Aramaic the wise could read it.  Perhaps they just did not want to admit it because if they did they might have gotten their heads lopped off.  You see as an Aramaic word the mem in front of  “mene” would be a preposition and the nun, aleph that follows would mean “now.”   So in Aramaic, the phrase starts off as “From now, from now.”   We would say; “Right now at this moment.”  Tekel in the Aramaic would mean to weigh.  But this weighing is the weighing that is used in the marketplace when a merchant divides a piece of meat and weighs it to distribute it in portions.  This is not the weighing just to find out how much something weighs. The u  in the last word is a conjunction for the word pharsin. In Aramaic, this is the word for Persian.  In Aramaic, the literal interpretation of the four words would be: “At this moment the Persians are dividing you up.” Or as we would say: “The party’s over.” 

Now keep in mind, that Belshazzar was fully aware that the Medes and Persians were ready to invade. In fact, he was well aware of the prophecy his father received of the rise of the Medes and the Persian empire which was the reason for the party, to call on the gods to reverse the order of events. This is why he desecrated the holy vessels in the party, to declare God Jehovah as no threat. This is also why God had to step in and say: “Sorry Bunkie, but I am a threat and once more I am in control here and what I have decreed, will happen.” 

Any wonder no wise man stepped forward to read the words?  They were wise men, not fools.  Maybe Belshazzar had an idea of what it said and he was only hoping that some wise guy could translate it into something good.  Such a person would be deserving to be made a prime minister, if it proved false then the Persians would lop his head off as a government official.  There was the belief that a true prophet did more than just predict the future.  By his very prediction, he was making the event take place.  Hence you have the account in II Chronicles 18:12 when Ahaz’s servant asked Micaiah to speak a good word.  If all the prophets got together and spoke a good thing perhaps that might build enough karma to make it happen.  In the case here in Daniel the wise men knew if the prophecy on the wall were true, which they were sure it was, then if they gave an accurate interpretation they would be promoted to the prime minister and the Persians would lop their head off before the sun came up. If they put a positive spin on the interpretation then the king’s last words and the command would be ordered to lop their heads off. A real no-win situation, sort of a Catch-22.  Their best plan of action would be to play stupid and say: “No speak um that dialect of Aramaic.” 

These wise men suffered from the same problem many Christian teachers suffer from today.  They can read what the text says, but they cannot see the deeper meaning behind the words. Daniel could and did.  You see the phrase can also be read in Hebrew with some minor adjustments, which is perfectly acceptable within the Semitic languages. There was a good chance the wise men could not read Hebrew. 

The first word in the Hebrew would be meneh which is a unit of measure. It represents 100 shekels. The word also is used to express the idea of counting or numbering. A shekel was about ½ ounce. There is some debate over a meneh being 50 shekels rather than 100 shekels, but that comes from some confusion with one shekel being ½ ounce and hence a meneh being 50 ounces, but not 50 shekels.  Meneh is expressed two times which means 200 shekels. Daniel was most likely well versed in the Gematria for as all my Hebrew students should know, the number 200 represents falling short.  The word tekel in Hebrew would be the word shekel. It means both shekel in weight as well as to weigh. So you have 200 shekels and then one shekel. Are you following this?  One represents God.  Thus God has numbered your kingdom and found you falling short. The word pharisin in Hebrew is the same as the Aramaic. It means Persians and also means to divide.  

We read that Daniel was promptly made prime minister and should have had his head lopped off when the Medes and Persians invaded that evening but instead he was given favor with Darius, probably because he predicted the victory of Darius.  The point is, that the odds of Daniel living through the night were slim to non-existent.  Yet, he not only survived but was made a prime minister in the kingdom of the enemy.  You see Daniel owed no allegiance to any kingdom, except the Kingdom of God, and was faithful to speak the Word of God where others would not save their own gizzard.

Today many churches and I mean evangelical churches are bowing to the woke culture of the day lest they be accused of being insensitive and of course, Christians do not want to be accused of being insensitive and uncaring so they bow to the culture of the world. But who am I to judge, I only want to point out that we should not lose sight of what Daniel knew and practiced.  His first allegiance was to God, even if it meant he would end up with a congregation of one, he would not bow or compromise to the demands of the world system to save his own reputation, good standing in the community, or even his own gizzard. 

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