Daniel 4:8

8 Daniel, who is called Belteshazzar after the name of my god, was the last to come before me. In him is the breath of the holy gods! I told Daniel the dream:

Daniel 4:8 Meaning and Commentary

Daniel 4:8

But at the last Daniel came in before me
Whether sent for or no is not clear; the reason why he came not with the rest might be because he did not associate with them; nor did they care he should be among them, and present at this time; and it may be the king had forgot the knowledge he had of dreams; or, however, did not choose to send for him until he had tried all his wise men; and so it was ordered by the providence of God, and which is the chief reason of all, that he should come last, that the skill of the magicians might appear first to be baffled, and that Daniel, or rather Daniel's God, might be more known, and might be glorified: whose name was Belteshazzar, according to the name of my god;
so called by him and his courtiers, after the name of his god Bel, with which this name of Daniel begins; (See Gill on Daniel 1:7): and in whom is the spirit of the holy gods:
meaning either the holy angels, as Saadiah or speaking in his Heathenish manner, having imbibed the notion of many gods, some holy, and some impure; or it may be, speaking in the dialect of the Jews, he may mean the one true God who is holy, and from whom alone is the spirit of prophecy or of foretelling things to come; which he knew by former experience Daniel had: and before him I told the dream, saying;
as follows:

Daniel 4:8 In-Context

6 I ordered all Babylon's sages to come before me, so they might tell me the dream's meaning.

7 So the dream interpreters, enchanters, Chaldeans, and diviners came. I told them the dream, but they couldn't interpret it for me.

8 Daniel, who is called Belteshazzar after the name of my god, was the last to come before me. In him is the breath of the holy gods! I told Daniel the dream:

9 “Belteshazzar, chief of the dream interpreters, I know the breath of the holy gods is in you, and no mystery is too difficult for you. Tell me the meaning of the visions I had in my dream.

10 In my mind, as I lay in bed, I saw a vision: At the center of the earth was a towering tree.

Footnotes

• [a]. Or spirit; also in 4:9, 18