Tekel

Tekel (Aramaic תְּקֵל) is the second word of the mysterious inscription "MENE, MENE, TEKEL, UPHARSIN" written by a disembodied hand on the palace wall during Belshazzar's feast (Dan. 5:25). Daniel interpreted it as the Aramaic passive participle teqal, "weighed": "You have been weighed in the balances and found wanting" (Dan. 5:27). The imagery draws on the ancient Near Eastern concept of divine judgment as the weighing of a person's deeds — found also in Egyptian mortuary texts (the weighing of the heart against Ma'at's feather) and in other Mesopotamian traditions. The verdict pronounced Belshazzar's life and reign deficient in the scales of divine justice. He was killed that same night (Dan. 5:30).