5:16 have heard of thee. The king had only “heard” of Daniel, who had evidently been more or less ignored during the twenty-two years or so since the death of Nebuchadnezzar.

5:16 third. The king could not have made Daniel the “second ruler,” as Pharaoh had done for Joseph (Genesis 41:40-43), for that was his own position. His absent father, Nabonidus, was first ruler.