Later: This chapter begins with events that took place in October 539 BC (see study note on Daniel 5:30).
The name Belshazzar means “Bel Protects [the King].” Bel was a Babylonian god. Nabonidus, who ruled from 556 to 539 BC, placed his son Belshazzar on the Babylonian throne around 553 BC to rule in his place. Nabonidus then moved to Tema in northwest Arabia, where he stayed for ten years. He returned to Babylon only in a failed attempt to resist the Persians (see Daniel 5:30–31).