Tuesday, August 11, 2015

Mene, Mene, Tekel, Parsin!

"Mene, Mene, Tekel, Parson" not the phrase you
want to hear from the Lord.
Description of Photograph:  taken from the old Silent Film, "Intolerance" and paired with the following "Mene, Mene, Tekel, Parsin!" from "And this is the writing that was inscribed: MENE, MENE, TEKEL, and PARSIN. Daniel 5:25 (ESV)

       "The writing on the wall", or "the hand writing on the wall", or "the writing is on the wall" or "Mene Mene", is an idiom implying that there is evidence of an impending disaster. The event may be seen as difficult to avert. The expression refers originally to Chapter 5 of the Book of Daniel, in which a disembodied hand, writes an enigmatic message on the palace wall of Babylon.
       In the Daniel 5, a disembodied hand is witnessed writing on the wall at Belshazzar's feast in the palace of Babylon. The event occurs while those at the feast profane the sacred vessels that were pillaged from the Jerusalem Temple. The words that appear on the palace wall are "Mene, Mene, Tekel, Upharsin." The prophet Daniel is summoned to interpret the message, which, as he explains, means the imminent end of the Babylonian kingdom. That night, Belshazzar is killed and the Medo-Persians sack the capital city.

The Meaning From Daniel 5:26-28
  • "Here is what these words mean: Mene: God has numbered the days of your reign and brought it to an end. 
  • Tekel: You have been weighed on the scales and found wanting. 
  • Peres: Your kingdom is divided and given to the Medes and Persians."
The fact that the phrase "Mene" is written twice means that the event will happen soon.

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"Mene, Mene, Tekel, Parsin!" in four colors:
tan, blue, mauve and grey monochromatic colors.
"Mene, Mene, Tekel, Parsin!" colorized in four
 tones for use on your webpages.
"Mene, Mene, Tekel, Parsin!" in greyscale too.
       "A painter of fantastical and catastrophic events, Martin was a master scenographer and a Victorian celebrity. In this Old Testament episode, set in a dizzy vision of Babylon, a blaspheming king gets some bad news."

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