10. How did the wise men fare in their efforts to interpret the handwriting on the wall?

¹⁰ The wise men filed into the great hall. There was no shortage of them, for Babylon was a city steeped in false religion and abounding with temples. Men who claimed to read omens and decipher cryptic writing were surely in plentiful supply. These wise men must have thrilled at the opportunity before them. Here was their chance to practice their art before a grand audience, win the king’s favor, and ascend to a position of great power. But what a failure they were! “They were not competent enough to read the writing itself or to make known to the king the interpretation.”d—Daniel 5:8.

11. Why might Babylon’s wise men have been unable to read the writing?

¹¹ Whether Babylon’s wise men found the writing itself—the very letters—indecipherable is unsure. If they did, these unscrupulous men would have had free rein to invent any fallacious reading whatever, perhaps even one to flatter the king. Another possibility is that the letters were quite readable. Since such languages as Aramaic and Hebrew were written without vowels, however, each word could have had several possible meanings. If so, the wise men would likely have been unable to decide which words were intended. Even if they could have done that, they still would have been unable to grasp the meaning of the words so as to interpret them. In any event, one thing is sure: Babylon’s wise men failed—dismally!