Daniel 5:10

“Now the queen, by reason of the words of the king and his lords, came into the banquet house, etc.] Not the wife of Belshazzar, as Porphyry would have it; but rather the queen mother, as Jacchiades, the widow of Evilmerodach his father, whose name was Nitocris; and is spoken of, by Herodotusf208, as a very prudent woman; and as this seems to be by her words and conduct: though Josephusf209 says it was his grandmother, she who had been the wife of Nebuchadnezzar; and of this opinion were some mentioned by Aben Ezra; whose name was Amyitis; and it appears, by what she says afterwards, that she was well acquainted with affairs in his time; and, being an ancient woman, might be the reason why…”

“queen--the queen mother, or grandmother, Nitocris, had not been present till now. She was wife either of Nebuchadnezzar or of Evil merodach; hence her acquaintance with the services of Daniel. She completed the great works which the former had begun. Hence HERODOTUS attributes them to her alone. This accounts for the deference paid to her by Belshazzar. (See on Dan 4:36). Compare similar rank given to the queen mother among the Hebrews (Kg1 15:13).”

“Now the queen - “Probably the queen-mother, the Nitocris of Herodotus, as the king’s wives were at the entertainment.” - Wintle. Compare Daniel 5:2-3. So Prof. Stuart. The editor of the “Pictorial Bible” also supposes that this was the queen-mother, and thinks that this circumstance will explain her familiarity with the occurrences in the reign of Nebuchadnezzar. He says, “We are informed above, that the ‘wives and concubines’ of the king were present at the banquet. It therefore seems probable that the ‘queen’ who now first appears was the queen-mother; and this probability is strengthened by the intimate acquaintance which she exhibits with the affairs of Nebuchadnezzars reign; at the…”

“The queen came - The women in those courts had an apartment by themselves, and this being the queen - mother, and aged, did not mingle herself with the king's wives and concubines, yet she broke the rule in coming in now, upon this solemn occasion. Daniel 5:24”

“5:10 the queen mother (literally the queen): She was probably Belshazzar’s mother, not his wife. • Long live the king! was the standard greeting (also in 2:4); ironically, Belshazzar would die that night (5:30). • Don’t be so pale and frightened: Cp. 1 Sam 28:20-25.”

“the queen: This was probably Nitocris, the queen-mother, widow of Evil-merodach, son of Nebuchadnezzar, and father of Belshazzar. O king: Dan 2:4, Dan 3:9, Dan 6:6, Dan 6:21; Kg1 1:31 let not: Gen 35:17, Gen 35:18; Sa1 4:20-22; Job 13:4, Job 21:34 Daniel 5:11”

“By מלכּתא interpreters rightly understand the mother of the reigning king, the widow of his father Nebuchadnezzar, since according to Dan 5:2. The wives of the king were present at the festival, and the queen came before the king as only a mother could do. Among the Israelites also the mother of the reigning king was held in high respect; cf. Kg1 15:13; Kg2 24:12, Kg2 24:15; Jer 13:18; Jer 29:2. מלּין לקבל, by reason of the words, not: because of the affair, to which neither the plur. מלּי nor the gen. רברבנוהי agrees. Instead of the Kethiv עללת the Keri has עלּת, the later form. The queen-mother begins in an assuring manner, since she can give an advice which is fitted to allay the…”