Mene
Summary
Mene is the first word of the mysterious inscription written on the wall of Belshazzar's palace, meaning 'numbered' and signifying that God had numbered the days of Babylon's kingdom.
☩The Inscription
The complete inscription 'Mene, Mene, Tekel, Upharsin' appeared supernaturally written on the plaster of the wall during Belshazzar's impious feast, where he had used the sacred vessels from Jerusalem's temple for drinking wine. The Babylonian wise men—astrologers, Chaldeans, and soothsayers—could neither read nor interpret the words, though they were pure Chaldee. Only Daniel, with divine enablement, could decipher and explain the message.
☩Interpretation
Daniel interpreted 'Mene' from the verb meaning 'to number,' declaring 'God hath numbered thy kingdom, and finished it.' The doubling of the word—'Mene, Mene'—emphasized the awful certainty of the divine decree. The message combined a play on words: mene (numbered), tekel (weighed and found wanting), and peres (divided, with a pun on 'Persia'). That very night Belshazzar was slain and Darius the Mede received the kingdom, confirming Daniel's interpretation with remarkable exactness.
References
- 1.John McClintock and James Strong, "Mene," in Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature, vol. VI (Harper & Brothers, 1867–1887).
- 2.Andrew Robert Fausset, "Mene," in The Englishman's Critical and Expository Bible Cyclopædia (Hodder & Stoughton, 1878).