Daniel 4:8

8 At last Daniel came in before me--he who was named 1Belteshazzar after the name of my god, and in whom is 2the spirit of the holy gods[a]--and I told him the dream, saying,

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 So I made a decree that all the wise men of Babylon should be brought before me, that they might make known to me the interpretation of the dream.
7 Then the magicians, the enchanters, the Chaldeans, and the astrologers came in, and I told them the dream, but they could not make known to me its interpretation.
8 At last Daniel came in before me--he who was named Belteshazzar after the name of my god, and in whom is the spirit of the holy gods--and I told him the dream, saying,
9 "O Belteshazzar, chief of the magicians, because I know that the spirit of the holy gods is in you and that no mystery is too difficult for you, tell me the visions of my dream that I saw and their interpretation.
10 The visions of my head as I lay in bed were these: I saw, and behold, a tree in the midst of the earth, and its height was great.

Cross References 2

  • 1. See Daniel 1:7
  • 2. ver. 18; Daniel 2:11; Daniel 5:11; Genesis 41:38; [Isaiah 63:14]

Footnotes 1

  • [a]. Or Spirit of the holy God; also verses 9, 18
The English Standard Version is published with the permission of Good News Publishers.