The Aramaic words written on the wall were not foreign to King Belshazzar. They were quite ordinary words. The mystery lay in their brevity and the fact that they could be read either as nouns or as verbs. Consequently, although most English versions transliterate the Aramaic terms, translators are advised to give the meaning following the Good News Translation model. MENE may be translated “number,” “measure,” or “quantity.” TEKEL concerns a “weight” or a “load.” PARSIN has to do with “division,” “split,” “partition,” or “separation.” Note that the first word is repeated while the others occur only once. Although several ancient versions omit the second occurrence of the first word, it is found in the Aramaic text and should be included in the translation.

According to certain commentators the words could have been used to designate three different pieces of money in Aramaic: the mina, the shekel and the half-mina. While this is possible, it plays no role in the narrative and does not even have to be mentioned in a footnote. The meaning of the words is given in detail in the following verses.

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 .