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- "Belshazzar the king was presiding over the state banquet for a thousand of his nobles (v.1). The time had come for offering toasts and pouring out libations to the gods of Babylon. In his drunken bravado he thought of a novel way of entertaining his guests. What about those beautiful golden goblets and bowls from Solomon's god named Yahweh, worshiped by the captive people of Judah. No sooner said than it was done (v.3). The sacred vessels, laid away for forty-seven years, were brought to the banquet hall. Belshazzar began to regale his guests by taunting Yahweh, whose reputation Nebuchadnezzar's decrees had established a few decades before, and by praising Marduk, Bel, Nebo, Ishtar, and the other gods (v.4). He drank from the holy vessels and his guests followed suit." (Gleason L. Archer, Jr., THE EXPOSITOR'S BIBLE COMMENTARY, Vol. 7, © 1985 Zondervan, p. 70)