Reference

Daniel 5:1

Ritual / Sacred Use Permissible Use (Moderation)

“Belshazzar the king made a great feast to a thousand of his lords, and drank wine before the thousand.”

Belshazzar the king made a great feast to a thousand of his lords, and drank wine before the thousand.

Belshazzar, whiles he tasted the wine, commanded to bring the golden and silver vessels which his father Nebuchadnezzar had taken out of the temple which was in Jerusalem; that the king, and his princes, his wives, and his concubines, might drink therein.

Then they brought the golden vessels that were taken out of the temple of the house of God which was at Jerusalem; and the king, and his princes, his wives, and his concubines, drank in them.

Why This Verse Was Tagged

Permissible Use (Moderation)

Multi-Signal Classification

50% relevance

This verse was identified by multiple independent signals: structural patterns, prophetic context, and vocabulary — then validated by a probability model (Snorkel).

Counter-Arguments

The strongest case that this verse does not belong in this theme.

Ritual / Sacred Use

The verse describes a "great feast" and the king drinking "wine before the thousand." While feasts can sometimes have ceremonial aspects, there is no explicit mention of this particular feast being sacred, religious, or an offering. The context appears to be a secular royal banquet. The definition requires "sacred/ceremonial contexts," and this verse does not explicitly provide that.

Permissible Use (Moderation)

The verse simply states that wine was consumed at a feast, which does not inherently imply moderation or proper use, nor does it explicitly endorse wine as a blessing or gift. The context of the larger narrative, which immediately follows this verse, describes a scene of sacrilege and divine judgment, suggesting that the consumption of wine in this instance was part of an impious act rather than a permissible one.

Ritual / Sacred Use

Related Verses

Daniel 5:2

“Belshazzar, whiles he tasted the wine, commanded to bring the golden and silver vessels which his father Nebuchadnezzar had taken out of the temple which was in Jerusalem; that the king, and his princes, his wives, and his concubines, might drink therein.”

Daniel 5:3

“Then they brought the golden vessels that were taken out of the temple of the house of God which was at Jerusalem; and the king, and his princes, his wives, and his concubines, drank in them.”

Esther 1:5

“And when these days were expired, the king made a feast unto all the people that were present in Shushan the palace, both unto great and small, seven days, in the court of the garden of the king’s palace;”

Esther 1:10

“On the seventh day, when the heart of the king was merry with wine, he commanded Mehuman, Biztha, Harbona, Bigtha, and Abagtha, Zethar, and Carcas, the seven chamberlains that served in the presence of Ahasuerus the king,”

Esther 1:7

“And they gave them drink in vessels of gold, (the vessels being diverse one from another,) and royal wine in abundance, according to the state of the king.”

Thematic Connections

Ritual / Sacred Use Permissible Use (Moderation)

Private Study Note

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