Daniel 5:29-31

5:29 Then, on Belshazzar’s orders, ¹  Daniel was clothed in purple, a golden collar was placed around his neck, and he was proclaimed third ruler in the kingdom. 5:30 And in that very night Belshazzar, the Babylonian king, ²  was killed. ³  5:31 (6:1) ⁴  So Darius the Mede took control of the kingdom when he was about sixty-two years old.

[5:29]  ¹ tn Aram “Belshazzar spoke.”

[5:30]  ² tn Aram “king of the Chaldeans.”

[5:30]  ³ sn The year was 539 B.C. At this time Daniel would have been approximately eighty-one years old. The relevant extra-biblical records describing the fall of Babylon include portions of Herodotus, Xenophon, Berossus (cited in Josephus), the Cyrus Cylinder, and the Babylonian Chronicle.

[5:31]  ⁴ sn Beginning with 5:31, the verse numbers through 6:28 in the English Bible differ from the verse numbers in the Aramaic text (BHS), with 5:31 ET = 6:1 AT, 6:1 ET = 6:2 AT, 6:2 ET = 6:3 AT, 6:3 ET = 6:4 AT, etc., through 6:28 ET = 6:29 AT. Beginning with 7:1 the verse numbers in the English Bible and the Aramaic text are again the same.