Is it in the Bible?
Is “The writing on the wall” in the Bible?
Yes. “The writing on the wall” comes from the Bible, from Daniel 5:5. It is a scene, not a line: a hand appears and writes on the wall at King Belshazzar’s feast.
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The answer
Where it is, and what it means there.
From the Bible
Yes. It comes from the Bible.
The verse is Daniel 5:5.
It is a scene, not a line: a hand appears and writes on the wall at King Belshazzar’s feast.
The verse
At that very moment the fingers of a human hand appeared and wrote on the plaster of the wall of the king’s palace, opposite the lampstand. The king watched the hand as it wrote.
Daniel 5:5 · open the chapter →
What it means there
Daniel reads the words to the king: his kingdom has been numbered and ended, he has been weighed and found lacking, and his kingdom is divided (Daniel 5:25-28). He is killed that night. Today the phrase means a clear sign that the end is coming.
Also in the Bible
This is the writing that was inscribed: Mene, Mene, Tekel, and Parsin.
Daniel 5:25 · open the chapter →
This is the interpretation of the words: Mene: God has numbered your kingdom and brought it to an end.
Daniel 5:26 · open the chapter →
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Plain answers.
Is “The writing on the wall” in the Bible?
Yes. “The writing on the wall” comes from the Bible, from Daniel 5:5. The saying is not word for word. It shortens or reshapes the verse. It is a scene, not a line: a hand appears and writes on the wall at King Belshazzar’s feast.
Where in the Bible is “The writing on the wall”?
In Daniel 5:5, and also Daniel 5:25 and Daniel 5:26. In the Lumin Translation, Daniel 5:5 reads: “At that very moment the fingers of a human hand appeared and wrote on the plaster of the wall of the king’s palace, opposite the lampstand. The king watched the hand as it wrote.”
Who said “The writing on the wall”?
It is a scene, not a line: a hand appears and writes on the wall at King Belshazzar’s feast.
What does “The writing on the wall” mean in the Bible?
Daniel reads the words to the king: his kingdom has been numbered and ended, he has been weighed and found lacking, and his kingdom is divided (Daniel 5:25-28). He is killed that night. Today the phrase means a clear sign that the end is coming.
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