Although
Daniel 5:25-28 interprets this legendary handwriting on the wall as, to paraphrase, "
God has numbered (
mene) your kingdom, weighed (
mene) it and found it wanting (
tekel - could be understood in
Hebrew as found to be light-weight), and divided (
u-pharshin) it among the Medians and the Persians," no one can be sure what was originally intended. The
consensus is that both mene and tekel are
Aramaic renderings of the
Hebrew weight units
mina and
shekel; but upharsin could well refer to a yet smaller unit and also serve as a pun on the name "Persia" which to a native at the time was "Parsa."
(courtesy of amug.org)