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Saturday, December 20th, 2025
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Easy-to-Read Version

Daniel 5:28

Uparsin: Your kingdom is being taken from you. It will be divided among the Medes and Persians."

Bible Study Resources

Concordances:

- Nave's Topical Bible - Babylon;   Belshazzar;   Government;   Heathen;   Medes;   Persia;   Symbols and Similitudes;   Upharsin;   Wicked (People);   Thompson Chain Reference - Abasement;   Exaltation-Abasement;   The Topic Concordance - Glory;   Government;   Pride/arrogance;   Torrey's Topical Textbook - Medo-Persian Kingdom;   Walls;  

Dictionaries:

- American Tract Society Bible Dictionary - Babylon;   Mene;   Upharsin;   Bridgeway Bible Dictionary - Government;   Easton Bible Dictionary - Peres;   Fausset Bible Dictionary - Cyrus;   Ezra, the Book of;   Holman Bible Dictionary - Belshazzar;   Daniel, Book of;   Medes, Media;   Mene, Mene, Tekel, Upharsin;   Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible - Baltasar;   Mene Mene Tekel Upharsin;   Morrish Bible Dictionary - Belshazzar ;   Medes, Media ;   The Hawker's Poor Man's Concordance And Dictionary - Belshazzar;   Medes;   People's Dictionary of the Bible - Belshazzar;   Daniel;   Medes;   Smith Bible Dictionary - Dan'iel;   Medes, Me'dia;   Watson's Biblical & Theological Dictionary - Belshazzar;   Cyrus;   Division of the Earth;  

Encyclopedias:

- Condensed Biblical Cyclopedia - Babylonish Captivity, the;   International Standard Bible Encyclopedia - Medes;   Mene, Mene, Tekel, Upharsin;   Persians;   The Jewish Encyclopedia - Darius I;   Media;   Mene, Mene, Tekel, Upharsin;  

Parallel Translations

Christian Standard Bible®
‘Peres’ means that your kingdom has been divided and given to the Medes and Persians.”
Hebrew Names Version
PERES; your kingdom is divided, and given to the Madai and Paras.
King James Version
Peres ; Thy kingdom is divided, and given to the Medes and Persians.
English Standard Version
Peres , your kingdom is divided and given to the Medes and Persians."
New American Standard Bible
"'PERES'—your kingdom has been divided and given to the Medes and Persians."
New Century Version
Parsin: Your kingdom is being divided and will be given to the Medes and the Persians."
Amplified Bible
'PERES'—your kingdom has been divided and given over to the Medes and Persians."
Geneva Bible (1587)
Peres, thy kingdome is deuided, and giuen to the Medes and Persians.
New American Standard Bible (1995)
" 'PERES'—your kingdom has been divided and given over to the Medes and Persians."
Berean Standard Bible
PERES means that your kingdom has been divided and given over to the Medes and Persians."
Complete Jewish Bible
‘P'res' — your kingdom has been divided and given to the Medes and Persians."
Darby Translation
PERES, Thy kingdom is divided, and given to the Medes and Persians.
George Lamsa Translation
PERES, Your kingdom is divided and given to the Medes and Persians.
Good News Translation
divisions, your kingdom is divided up and given to the Medes and Persians."
Lexham English Bible
"‘Peres'—your kingdom has been divided and given to the Medes and Persians.'"
Literal Translation
HALF MINAS: Your kingdom is divided and given to the Medes and Persians.
Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
Phares, Thy kyngdome is delt in partes, and geuen to the Medes and Perses.
American Standard Version
peres ; thy kingdom is divided, and given to the Medes and Persians.
Bible in Basic English
Peres; your kingdom has been cut up and given to the Medes and Persians.
JPS Old Testament (1917)
PERES, thy kingdom is divided, and given to the Medes and Persians.'
King James Version (1611)
PERES, thy kingdome is diuided, and giuen to the Medes and Persians.
Bishop's Bible (1568)
PHERES, thy kingdome is deuided, and geuen to the Medes, and Perses.
Brenton's Septuagint (LXX)
Phares; thy kingdom is divided, and given to the Medes and Persians.
English Revised Version
PERES; thy kingdom is divided, and given to the Medes and Persians.
World English Bible
PERES; your kingdom is divided, and given to the Medes and Persians.
Wycliffe Bible (1395)
Phares, thi rewme is departid, and is youun to Medeis and Perseis.
Update Bible Version
PERES; your kingdom is divided, and given to the Medes and Persians.
Webster's Bible Translation
PERES; Thy kingdom is divided, and given to the Medes and Persians.
New English Translation
As for peres—your kingdom is divided and given over to the Medes and Persians."
New King James Version
Peres: Your kingdom has been divided, and given to the Medes and Persians." [fn]
New Living Translation
Parsin means ‘divided'—your kingdom has been divided and given to the Medes and Persians."
New Life Bible
‘PERES' means that your nation has been divided and given to the Medes and Persians."
New Revised Standard
peres , your kingdom is divided and given to the Medes and Persians."
J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
P'res, - snatched away is thy kingdom, and given to the Medes and Persians.
Douay-Rheims Bible
PHARES: thy kingdom is divided, and is given to the Medes and Persians.
Revised Standard Version
PERES, your kingdom is divided and given to the Medes and Persians."
Young's Literal Translation
Divided -- Divided is thy kingdom, and it hath been given to the Medes and Persians.'
THE MESSAGE
"Peres: Your kingdom has been divided up and handed over to the Medes and Persians."

Contextual Overview

10 Then the king's mother came into the place where the party was. She had heard the voices of the king and his royal officials. She said, "King, may you live forever! Don't be afraid! Don't let your face be so white with fear! 11 There is a man in your kingdom who has the spirit of the holy gods in him. In the days of your father, this man showed that he could understand secrets. He showed that he was very smart and very wise. He showed that he was like the gods in these things. Your grandfather, King Nebuchadnezzar, put this man in charge of all the wise men. He ruled over all the men of magic and the Chaldeans. 12 The man I am talking about is named Daniel. The king gave him the name Belteshazzar. He is very smart and he knows many things. He could interpret dreams, explain secrets, and find the answer to very hard problems. Call for Daniel, he will tell you what the writing on the wall means." 13 So they brought Daniel to the king and he asked, "Is your name Daniel, one of the captives my father the king brought here from Judah? 14 I have heard that the spirit of the gods is in you and that you understand secrets and are very smart and very wise. 15 The wise men and the men of magic were brought to me to read this writing on the wall. I wanted them to explain to me what it means, but they could not explain it. 16 I have heard that you are able to explain what things mean, and that you can find the answer to very hard problems. If you can read this writing on the wall and explain to me what it means, this is what I will do for you: I will give you purple robes to wear and will put a gold chain around your neck. Then you will become the third highest ruler in the kingdom." 17 Then Daniel answered the king, "King Belshazzar, you can keep your gifts for yourself, or you can give them to someone else. But I will still read the writing on the wall for you and explain what it means. 18 "King, God Most High made your grandfather Nebuchadnezzar a very great and powerful king and gave him great wealth. 19 People from many nations and language groups were very afraid of Nebuchadnezzar because God made him a very powerful king. Nebuchadnezzar killed whoever he wanted and let those who pleased him live. If he wanted to make people important, he made them important. If he wanted to bring them down, he brought them down.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

PERES: Peres,"he was divided," pronounced paras, denoted Persians, who seem evidently referred to.

Thy: Daniel 5:31, Daniel 6:28, Daniel 8:3, Daniel 8:4, Daniel 8:20, Daniel 9:1, Isaiah 13:17, Isaiah 21:2, Isaiah 45:1, Isaiah 45:2

Reciprocal: 2 Kings 17:6 - the Medes Esther 1:3 - of Persia Job 34:24 - set Jeremiah 25:13 - hath Jeremiah 25:14 - many Jeremiah 25:25 - Medes Jeremiah 51:28 - the kings Ezekiel 27:10 - Persia Daniel 2:9 - the time Daniel 2:39 - another kingdom Daniel 4:31 - The kingdom Daniel 7:5 - itself on one side Luke 12:20 - then

Gill's Notes on the Bible

PERES,.... The singular of "Pharsin", Daniel 5:25. The sense of this word is,

thy kingdom is divided: which, though it consisted of various provinces, united under Belshazzar, now should be broken and separated from him:

and given to the Medes and Persians; to Darius the Mede, and to Cyrus the Persian, who was a partner for a while with his uncle Darius in the government of the empire: there is an elegant play on words in the words "Peres" and "Persians"; and a grievous thing it is to sinners, not only to have body and soul divided at death, but to be divided and separated from God to all eternity; and to hear that sentence, "depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels".

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

Peres - In Daniel 5:25 this is “Upharsin.” These are but different forms of the same word - the word in Daniel 5:25 being in the plural, and here in the singular. The verb (פרס peras) means, to “divide;” and in this form, as in the previous cases, it is, according to Gesenius, participle meaning “divided.” As it stands here, it would be applicable to anything that was “divided” or “sundered” - whether a kingdom, a palace, a house, territory, etc. “What” was divided could be known only by Divine revelation. If the “word” had been understood by Belshazzar, undoubtedly it would have suggested the idea that there was to be some sort of division or sundering, but what that was to be would not be indicated by the mere use of the word. Perhaps to an affrighted imagination there might have been conveyed the idea that there would be a revolt in some of the provinces of the empire, and that a part would be rent away, but it would not have occurred that it would be so rent that the whole would pass under the dominion of a foreign power. Josephus (“Ant.” b. x. ch. xi. Section 3) says, that the word “Phares in the Greek tongue means a “fragment,” κλασμα klasma - God will, therefore, break thy kingdom in pieces, and divide it among the Medes and Persians.”

Thy kingdom is divided - That is, the proper interpretation of this communication is, that the kingdom is about to be rent asunder, or broken into fragments. It is to be separated or torn from the dynasty that has ruled over it, and to be given to another.

And given to the Medes and Persians - On this united kingdom, see the notes at Isaiah 13:17. It was “given” to the Medes and Persians when it was taken by Cyrus, and when the kingdom of Babylon became extinct, and thenceforward became a part of the Medo-Persian empire. See the notes at Isaiah 13:17, Isaiah 13:19.


 
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