Daniel 5:4 describes the moment King Belshazzar and his court drank wine from the sacred vessels of the Jerusalem temple and openly praised idols made of gold, silver, bronze, iron, wood, and stone. The verse shows a king and his nobles mocking the living God while giving honor to lifeless objects. It is spoken by the narrator of the book of Daniel and records what Belshazzar’s guests were doing at a great feast in Babylon.
They drank wine, and praised the gods of gold, and of silver, of brass, of iron, of wood, and of stone.
Daniel 5:4 (WEB)
What Daniel 5:4 Means
The phrase “They drank wine” sets the scene as a banquet of excess. The guests were not simply sharing a meal; they were celebrating with drink in a setting that was already turning toward disrespect. The wine itself is not the sin the verse condemns. What matters is the company it was keeping.
The phrase “praised the gods of gold, and of silver, of brass, of iron, of wood, and of stone” lists material after material to show how empty the worship was. The list runs from precious metals down to ordinary wood and stone, which suggests that these gods were made by human hands and could be shaped from anything. Daniel’s readers would recognize this as a deliberate mockery of idolatry.
The verse does not promise anything directly. It is a warning and an observation. It shows what happens when a person forgets the true God and gives honor to things that cannot speak, hear, or act. The lesson is in the contrast that the rest of the chapter makes plain.
The Context of Daniel 5:4
The book of Daniel is traditionally attributed to the prophet Daniel, who was taken from Judah to Babylon as a young man and served in the courts of several kings. It was written to encourage Jewish exiles living under foreign rule and to show that the God of Israel remains sovereign over every empire. Its stories mix court life, dreams, and visions, and they consistently ask who really holds power.
In the verses just before and after Daniel 5:4, Belshazzar uses the golden and silver vessels that Nebuchadnezzar had taken from the Jerusalem temple to drink at his feast. Immediately after the verse, a hand writes on the palace wall and terrifies the king. Read in that setting, the praise of idols is not an isolated detail. It is the act of defiance that brings God’s judgment into the banquet hall.
Key Phrases in Daniel 5:4
Exodus 20:3
“You shall have no other gods before me.
(WEB)
This commandment gives the foundation for the whole warning in Daniel 5:4. Israel was told plainly to have no other gods alongside the Lord, and the feast in Babylon shows what happens when that command is set aside. Reading the two together makes clear that idolatry has always been a matter of loyalty, not only of statues.
Psalm 115:4-8
4 Their idols are silver and gold, the work of men’s hands. 5 They have mouths, but they don’t speak. They have eyes, but they don’t see. 6 They have ears, but they don’t hear. They have noses, but they don’t smell. 7 They have hands, but they don’t feel. They have feet, but they don’t walk, neither do they speak through their throat. 8 Those who make them will be like them; yes, everyone who trusts in them.
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This psalm describes idols made of silver and gold that cannot speak, see, or hear, and it says that those who make and trust them become like them. It deepens the mockery found in Daniel 5:4 and explains why praising lifeless things leaves a person empty. The psalm then calls God’s people to trust the Lord who actually helps.
A Short Prayer From Daniel 5:4
Lord, you see the places in my life where I have given honor to things that cannot save me. Forgive me for the times I have praised success, comfort, approval, or pleasure as though they could hold my hope. Turn my heart back toward you, the living God who made heaven and earth and who is worthy of all praise. Help me to set aside what is empty and to worship you with a whole heart. Amen.
