Hippolytus of Rome : Then at this point, "the queen, having heard what happened, came into the house of the drinking bout and said to the king, 'Let not your thoughts trouble you, and let not your form be changed. There is a man in your kingdom in whom is the Spirit of God, and in the days of your father watchfulness and understanding were found in him. And king Nebuchadnezzar your father set him as chief of the enchanters, magicians, Chaldeans, and soothsayers. Because the Spirit of God abounds in him and thoughts and understanding are his, he interprets dreams and explains difficulties, and solves riddles; his name is Daniel. And the king gave him the name Baltasar. And so now let him be called and he will explain the interpretation to you.'" [Daniel 5:10-12] And so for what reason did the queen enter and call to mind Daniel? For did all the magistrates and friends of the king not know him? Or did they not know the things which occurred to Nebuchadnezzar, as he alone saw the dreams which were meant for him, and he set him as chief of the wise men of Babylon? They themselves also knew, but being destroyed by him, since he was adorned with heavenly wisdom, they did not want to proclaim to the king concerning him, so that he might not come and interpret the writing, and later they would be shamed. This not only happened to Daniel then, but also even now it occurs to many. For when one of the saints acquires grace from God and is found wiser than others, immediately everyone begins coveting, hating, persecuting, insulting, dishonoring, talking down, and setting him at naught, so that by this they imagine him to be nothing. For similarly it also happened upon the prophets and upon the Lord and upon the apostles. In this way also we observe these things coming upon Daniel in Babylon. For Scripture puts forth these things as a proof that they happened in this way. — Commentary on Daniel 3.15.5-16.5 Jerome : Verse 10. "Now the queen, by reason of what had happened to the king and his nobles, entered into the banquet-hall..." Josephus says she was Belshazzar's grandmother, whereas Origen says she was his mother. She therefore knew about previous events of which the king was ignorant. So much for Porphyry's far-fetched objection, who fancies that she was the king's wife, and makes fun of the fact that she knows more than her husband does. — St. Jerome, Commentary on Daniel, CHAPTER FIVE Theodoret of Cyrus : "Amid the king's and his nobles' words the queen entered the banqueting hall," that is, with them pondering what should be done and various people making various suggestions under pressure of fear, the queen entered. Now, in my view, this lady was his mother: the wives were attending the banquet along with the concubines, and drinking from the gold and silver vessels was himself and his nobles, his wives—that is, his spouses—and his concubines, partners of his not by law but in lust. Now, this lady entered after the hubbub, and being old she probably was not a party at that stage to the drunkenness and antics or dancing. — COMMENTARY ON Daniel 5:10 Theodoret of Cyrus : This was probably an introduction offered at that time to kings by their subjects; even to this day this custom prevails. — COMMENTARY ON Daniel 5:10