Mene (Tekel and Parsin)
Aramaic inscription traced by mysterious fingers on the wall during Belshazzar’s last banquet (Dan. 5:25):
MENE, MENE, TEKEL, UPARSIN,
that is: “counted, counted, weighed and divided.”
U is the copulative conjunction that joins “Parsin”, the plural of “Peres”, to the rest of the terms (play on words, and allusion to the Persians, Paras).
These letters written on the wall, not being vocalized, could be pronounced in different ways.
If any of the wise men had been able to deduce the correct pronunciation, he would not have been able to prove that he was right or interpret the meaning of these terms. Daniel was the one who revealed the riddle to the king (Dan. 5:25-28).