In Aramaic, as in Revised Standard Version, this verse constitutes a single long sentence. It should be broken down into smaller units in most languages.

Lifted up yourself against the Lord of heaven: this can also be understood to mean “you have lifted yourself up above the Lord of heaven.” The whole verbal expression has been variously translated “exalted yourself against” (New Jerusalem Bible), “set yourself up against” (New English Bible), “defied” (New Jerusalem Bible and Bible en français courant), and “rebelled against” (New American Bible). Another possibility is “you have placed yourself above the Lord of heaven.” In languages where the same word is used for “chief” and “Lord,” it may be necessary to make the expression Lord of heaven more precise by saying “the Lord God of heaven.” Bible en français courant has simply “the God of heaven.”

Vessels: see verses 2 and 3.

His house: while verse 3 has the very full expression “the temple, the house of God in Jerusalem,” here the text has only the ordinary word for “house” and the attached third person singular possessive pronoun. The pronoun refers back to the Lord of heaven, which is another way of talking about God. His house clearly refers to the Temple, and it should be made equally clear in the translation.

Silver and gold: the order of the Aramaic text is the reverse of that found in verse 4. But on translation grounds Good News Translation has switched to the more natural English order.

Lords: see 4.36. And compare also verses 1 and 3 above.

Wives … concubines: see verse 2.

Gods: or “idols” as in verse 4. These objects of worship are further defined in the text as things which do not see or hear or know. Since these gods are utterly incapable of seeing, hearing, or knowing anything, Good News Translation and Revised English Bible capture the meaning better by saying “that can not…” instead of “do not….”

The God in whose hand is your breath: as is seen often in the Old Testament, the hand stands for power, and this expression simply means that it is God who has power over whether or not a person breathes, that is, whether he lives or dies. This phrase stands in very close relationship with the one that follows, and the two should be considered together.

And whose are all your ways: God also has power over everything that happens in Belshazzar’s life. Anchor Bible speaks of “the whole course of your life.” New Jerusalem Bible renders the two phrases above as “God who controls your lifebreath and every move you make.”

You have not honored: this returns to the same theme as the first verbal expression in this verse (lifted yourself up against …) but states the same sort of thing in negative form. In rebelling against God, the king had also failed to honor him.

Quoted with permission from Péter-Contesse, René & Ellington, John. A Handbook on Daniel. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 1994. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .