There is a man in your kingdom who has the spirit of the holy gods in him. In the days of your father he was found to have insight, intelligence, and wisdom like that of the gods. Your father, King Nebuchadnezzar, appointed him chief of the magicians, enchanters, astrologers, and diviners. Your own father, the king, There is a man in your kingdomThis phrase introduces Daniel as a significant figure within the Babylonian empire. The Hebrew word for "man" here is "אִישׁ" (ish), which can denote not just any man, but a man of importance or distinction. The context suggests that Daniel, though not Babylonian by birth, has become a respected and integral part of the kingdom's intellectual and spiritual life. Historically, this reflects the practice of ancient empires incorporating talented individuals from conquered peoples into their administrations. who has the spirit of the holy gods in him
The phrase "spirit of the holy gods" is intriguing, as it reflects the polytheistic worldview of the Babylonians. The Aramaic word for "spirit" is "רוּחַ" (ruach), which can mean breath, wind, or spirit, indicating a life-giving force. The term "holy gods" suggests a recognition of a divine presence within Daniel, though from a Babylonian perspective, it is plural. From a conservative Christian viewpoint, this is understood as the Spirit of the one true God, Yahweh, dwelling in Daniel, enabling him to exhibit divine wisdom and insight. In the days of your father
This phrase refers to the time of King Nebuchadnezzar, Belshazzar's predecessor. The term "father" here is used in a broader sense, meaning ancestor or predecessor, as Belshazzar was likely the grandson of Nebuchadnezzar. This historical context is crucial, as it situates Daniel's previous service and reputation within the reign of a powerful and influential king, underscoring the continuity of his divine gifting across different reigns. he was found to have insight, intelligence, and wisdom
The triad of "insight, intelligence, and wisdom" highlights Daniel's exceptional abilities. "Insight" (Hebrew: "שֵׂכֶל" - sekel) implies understanding and prudence. "Intelligence" (Hebrew: "מַדָּע" - madda) suggests knowledge and discernment. "Wisdom" (Hebrew: "חָכְמָה" - chokmah) is often associated with a deep, God-given understanding of life and the ability to make sound decisions. These qualities are attributed to Daniel by divine endowment, setting him apart from the other wise men of Babylon. like that of the gods
This phrase again reflects the Babylonian perspective, attributing Daniel's abilities to a divine source. The comparison to "the gods" indicates that Daniel's wisdom was perceived as supernatural, beyond human capability. From a Christian perspective, this underscores the belief that true wisdom and understanding come from God alone, as seen in Daniel's life. Your father, King Nebuchadnezzar, appointed him chief
This statement acknowledges Daniel's high status and the trust placed in him by Nebuchadnezzar. The term "chief" (Aramaic: "רַב" - rav) signifies a position of authority and leadership. Historically, this appointment reflects the practice of elevating those with proven abilities to positions of influence, regardless of their ethnic or cultural background. of the magicians, enchanters, astrologers, and diviners
These groups represent the various classes of wise men and spiritual advisors in Babylon. "Magicians" (Aramaic: "חַרְטֹם" - chartom) were skilled in sacred writings and rituals. "Enchanters" (Aramaic: "אַשָּׁף" - ashshaph) practiced incantations. "Astrologers" (Aramaic: "כַּשְׂדִּים" - kasdim) studied the stars for omens. "Diviners" (Aramaic: "גָּזְרִין" - gazrin) interpreted dreams and signs. Daniel's leadership over these groups highlights his superior wisdom and the recognition of his God-given abilities, even in a pagan context. Persons / Places / Events 1. DanielA Jewish exile in Babylon known for his wisdom and ability to interpret dreams and visions. He is described as having the "spirit of the holy gods." 2. BelshazzarThe king of Babylon during the events of Daniel 5, who is seeking someone to interpret the mysterious writing on the wall. 3. NebuchadnezzarThe former king of Babylon, referred to as Belshazzar's "father" (likely meaning predecessor or ancestor), who recognized Daniel's abilities and appointed him to a high position. 4. BabylonThe setting of the events, a powerful empire known for its wealth and influence, but also for its idolatry and pride. 5. The QueenLikely the queen mother, who advises Belshazzar to seek out Daniel for his wisdom and insight. Teaching Points The Value of Godly WisdomDaniel's wisdom is attributed to the "spirit of the holy gods," indicating divine inspiration. In our lives, seeking wisdom from God through prayer and scripture is crucial. Faithfulness in ExileDespite being in a foreign land, Daniel remains faithful to God. This teaches us to maintain our faith and integrity regardless of our circumstances. Recognition of God’s GiftsDaniel's abilities are recognized by others, even in a pagan society. We should use our God-given talents to serve and glorify God, trusting that He will open doors for us. Influence and LeadershipDaniel's influence in Babylon shows that godly character can lead to positions of leadership and impact. We should strive to be leaders who reflect God's wisdom and truth. Bible Study Questions 1. How does Daniel's example of wisdom and integrity challenge you in your current environment, whether at work, school, or home? 2. In what ways can you seek and apply godly wisdom in your daily decisions, as Daniel did? 3. How does the account of Daniel in Babylon encourage you to remain faithful to God in a culture that may not share your beliefs? 4. What spiritual gifts has God given you, and how can you use them to serve others and glorify Him, as Daniel did? 5. How can the recognition of Daniel's gifts by a pagan king inspire you to live out your faith boldly and confidently in all areas of life? Connections to Other Scriptures Genesis 41Joseph's account parallels Daniel's, as both are exiles who rise to prominence in foreign courts due to their God-given ability to interpret dreams. 1 Corinthians 12Discusses spiritual gifts, including wisdom and knowledge, which are evident in Daniel's life. Proverbs 2Emphasizes the value of wisdom and understanding, qualities that Daniel exemplifies. People Babylonians, Belshazzar, Belteshazzar, Daniel, Darius, Micah, Nebuchadnezzar, PersiansPlaces Babylon, JerusalemTopics Appointed, Arts, Astrologers, Chaldaeans, Chaldeans, Chalde'ans, Chief, Conjurers, Diviners, Enchanters, Established, Gods, Holy, Illumination, Insight, Intelligence, Kingdom, Magicians, Master, Nebuchadnezzar, Nebuchadnez'zar, O, Readers, Reason, Scribes, Secret, Signs, Soothsayers, Sooth-sayers, Spirit, Understanding, Users, Wisdom, Wonder-workersDictionary of Bible Themes Daniel 5:11 3110 Holy Spirit, titles of
3272 Holy Spirit, in OT
3278 Holy Spirit, indwelling
3281 Holy Spirit, inspiration
8281 insight
8365 wisdom, human Daniel 5:10-12 5744 wife Daniel 5:10-16 3050 Holy Spirit, wisdom Daniel 5:11-12 5780 advisers
8367 wisdom, importance of Library Mene, Tekel, Peres
'Then Daniel answered and said before the king, Let thy gifts be to thyself, and give thy rewards to another: yet I will read the writing unto the king, and make known to him the interpretation. 18. O thou king, the most high God gave Nebuchadnezzar thy father a kingdom, and majesty, and glory, and honour: 19. And for the majesty that he gave him, all people, nations, and languages, trembled and feared before him: whom he would he slew; and whom he would he kept alive; and whom he would he set up; …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy ScriptureThe Scales of Judgment
There has never been a deed of persecution--there has never been a drop of martyr's blood shed yet, but shall be avenged, and every land guilty of it shall yet drink the cup of the wine of the wrath of God. And especially certain is there gathering an awful storm over the head of the empire of Rome--that spiritual despotism of the firstborn of hell. All the clouds of God's vengeance are gathering into one--the firmament is big with thunder, God's right arm is lifted up even now, and ere long the …
Charles Haddon Spurgeon—Spurgeon's Sermons Volume 5: 1859 "So Then they that are in the Flesh Cannot Please God. "
Rom. viii. 8.--"So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God." It is a kind of happiness to men, to please them upon whom they depend, and upon whose favour their well-being hangs. It is the servant's happiness to please his master, the courtier's to please his prince; and so generally, whosoever they be that are joined in mutual relations, and depend one upon another; that which makes all pleasant, is this, to please one another. Now, certainly, all the dependencies of creatures one upon …
Hugh Binning—The Works of the Rev. Hugh Binning Human Government.
Human governments a part of the moral government of God. In the discussion of this subject I will,-- I. Inquire into the ultimate end of God in creation. We have seen in former lectures, that God is a moral agent, the self-existent and supreme; and is therefore himself, as ruler of all, subject to, and observant of, moral law in all his conduct. That is, his own infinite intelligence must affirm that a certain course of willing is suitable, fit, and right in him. This idea, or affirmation, is law …
Charles Grandison Finney—Systematic Theology Eastern Wise-Men, or Magi, visit Jesus, the New-Born King.
(Jerusalem and Bethlehem, b.c. 4.) ^A Matt. II. 1-12. ^a 1 Now when Jesus was born in Bethlehem [It lies five miles south by west of Jerusalem, a little to the east of the road to Hebron. It occupies part of the summit and sides of a narrow limestone ridge which shoots out eastward from the central chains of the Judæan mountains, and breaks down abruptly into deep valleys on the north, south, and east. Its old name, Ephrath, meant "the fruitful." Bethlehem means "house of bread." Its modern …
J. W. McGarvey—The Four-Fold Gospel Messiah Unpitied, and Without a Comforter
Reproach [Rebuke] hath broken my heart; and I am full of heaviness: and I looked for some to take pity, but there was none; and for comforters, but I found none. T he greatness of suffering cannot be certainly estimated by the single consideration of the immediate, apparent cause; the impression it actually makes upon the mind of the sufferer, must likewise be taken into the account. That which is a heavy trial to one person, may be much lighter to another, and, perhaps, no trial at all. And a state …
John Newton—Messiah Vol. 1 Sovereignty of God in Administration
"The LORD hath prepared His Throne In the heavens; and His Kingdom ruleth over all" (Psa. 103:19). First, a word concerning the need for God to govern the material world. Suppose the opposite for a moment. For the sake of argument, let us say that God created the world, designed and fixed certain laws (which men term "the laws of Nature"), and that He then withdrew, leaving the world to its fortune and the out-working of these laws. In such a case, we should have a world over which there was no intelligent, …
Arthur W. Pink—The Sovereignty of God Jesus Sets Out from Judæa for Galilee.
Subdivision A. Reasons for Retiring to Galilee. ^A Matt. IV. 12; ^B Mark I. 14; ^C Luke III. 19, 20; ^D John IV. 1-4. ^c 19 but Herod the tetrarch [son of Herod the Great, and tetrarch, or governor, of Galilee], being reproved by him [that is, by John the Baptist] for Herodias his brother's wife, and for all the evil things which Herod had done [A full account of the sin of Herod and persecution of John will be found at Matt. xiv. 1-12 and Mark vi. 14-29. John had spoken the truth to Herod as fearlessly …
J. W. McGarvey—The Four-Fold Gospel The Eternity of God
The next attribute is, God is eternal.' Psa 90:0. From everlasting to everlasting thou art God.' The schoolmen distinguish between aevun et aeternum, to explain the notion of eternity. There is a threefold being. I. Such as had a beginning; and shall have an end; as all sensitive creatures, the beasts, fowls, fishes, which at death are destroyed and return to dust; their being ends with their life. 2. Such as had a beginning, but shall have no end, as angels and the souls of men, which are eternal …
Thomas Watson—A Body of Divinity That Upon the Conquest and Slaughter of vitellius Vespasian Hastened his Journey to Rome; but Titus his Son Returned to Jerusalem.
1. And now, when Vespasian had given answers to the embassages, and had disposed of the places of power justly, [25] and according to every one's deserts, he came to Antioch, and consulting which way he had best take, he preferred to go for Rome, rather than to march to Alexandria, because he saw that Alexandria was sure to him already, but that the affairs at Rome were put into disorder by Vitellius; so he sent Mucianus to Italy, and committed a considerable army both of horsemen and footmen to …
Flavius Josephus—The Wars of the Jews or History of the Destruction of Jerusalem Grace Abounding to the Chief of Sinners Or, a Brief Relation of the Exceeding Mercy of God in Christ, to his Poor Servant, John Bunyan
In this my relation of the merciful working of God upon my soul, it will not be amiss, if in the first place, I do in a few words give you a hint of my pedigree, and manner of bringing up; that thereby the goodness and bounty of God towards me, may be the more advanced and magnified before the sons of men. 2. For my descent then, it was, as is well known by many, of a low and inconsiderable generation; my father's house being of that rank that is meanest, and most despised of all the families in …
John Bunyan—Grace Abounding to the Chief of Sinners There is a Blessedness in Reversion
Blessed are the poor in spirit. Matthew 5:3 Having done with the occasion, I come now to the sermon itself. Blessed are the poor in spirit'. Christ does not begin his Sermon on the Mount as the Law was delivered on the mount, with commands and threatenings, the trumpet sounding, the fire flaming, the earth quaking, and the hearts of the Israelites too for fear; but our Saviour (whose lips dropped as the honeycomb') begins with promises and blessings. So sweet and ravishing was the doctrine of this …
Thomas Watson—The Beatitudes: An Exposition of Matthew 5:1-12 The Life and Death of Mr. Badman,
Presented to the World in a Familiar Dialogue Between Mr. Wiseman and Mr. Attentive. By John Bunyan ADVERTISEMENT BY THE EDITOR. The life of Badman is a very interesting description, a true and lively portraiture, of the demoralized classes of the trading community in the reign of King Charles II; a subject which naturally led the author to use expressions familiar among such persons, but which are now either obsolete or considered as vulgar. In fact it is the only work proceeding from the prolific …
John Bunyan—The Works of John Bunyan Volumes 1-3 The Harbinger
The voice of him that crieth in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the LORD , make straight in the desert a high-way for our God. Every valley shall be exalted, and every mountain and hill shall be made low, and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough places plain. And the glory of the LORD shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together, for the mouth of the LORD hath spoken it. T he general style of the prophecies is poetical. The inimitable simplicity which characterizes every …
John Newton—Messiah Vol. 1 The Greater Prophets.
1. We have already seen (Chap. 15, Nos. 11 and 12) that from Moses to Samuel the appearances of prophets were infrequent; that with Samuel and the prophetical school established by him there began a new era, in which the prophets were recognized as a distinct order of men in the Theocracy; and that the age of written prophecy did not begin till about the reign of Uzziah, some three centuries after Samuel. The Jewish division of the latter prophets--prophets in the more restricted sense of the …
E. P. Barrows—Companion to the Bible Meditations Before Dinner and Supper.
Meditate that hunger is like the sickness called a wolf; which, if thou dost not feed, will devour thee, and eat thee up; and that meat and drink are but as physic, or means which God hath ordained, to relieve and cure this natural infirmity and necessity of man. Use, therefore, to eat and to drink, rather to sustain and refresh the weakness of nature, than to satisfy the sensuality and delights of the flesh. Eat, therefore, to live, but live not to eat. There is no service so base, as for a man …
Lewis Bayly—The Practice of Piety The Chorus of Angels
Worthy is the Lamb that was slain, to receive power, and riches, and wisdom, and strength, and honour and glory, and blessing! I t was a good report which the queen of Sheba heard, in her own land, of the wisdom and glory of Solomon. It lessened her attachment to home, and prompted her to undertake a long journey to visit this greater King, of whom she had heard so much. She went, and she was not disappointed. Great as the expectations were, which she had formed from the relation made her by others, …
John Newton—Messiah Vol. 2 Daniel
Daniel is called a prophet in the New Testament (Matt. xxiv. 15). In the Hebrew Bible, however, the book called by his name appears not among the prophets, but among "the writings," between Esther and Ezra. The Greek version placed it between the major and the minor prophets, and this has determined its position in modern versions. The book is both like and unlike the prophetic books. It is like them in its passionate belief in the overruling Providence of God and in the sure consummation of His …
John Edgar McFadyen—Introduction to the Old Testament Links Daniel 5:11 NIVDaniel 5:11 NLTDaniel 5:11 ESVDaniel 5:11 NASBDaniel 5:11 KJV
Daniel 5:11 Commentaries
Bible Hub |
