Belshazzar in Literature
The name Belshazzar, (Heb: Belshatztzar) occurs in the Book of Daniel, Chapter 5. In verses 1–4, Nebuchadnezzar is referred to as the father of Belshazzar. The same claim is made in the deuterocanonical Book of Baruch, which may have been written in the 2nd century BC. This may simply have been a mistake on the part of the authors. Some Biblical commentators argue that the statement can be reconciled with extra-Biblical sources by interpreting the term to mean forefather or predecessor, as used elsewhere in Biblical texts, notably referring to the Patriarch Abraham as the father of King David. (The Hebrew word for father, av, is nonspecific as to immediacy of relation, and as such can often mean forefather.)
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