Daniel 5:12

Forasmuch as an excellent spirit, and knowledge, and understanding, interpreting of dreams, and shewing of hard sentences, and dissolving of doubts, were found in the same Daniel, whom the king named Belteshazzar: now let Daniel be called, and he will shew the interpretation.

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Word by word — the Hebrew

Word	Hebrew	Strong’s	Meaning
as	קֳבֵ֡ל ko.Vel	H6903	(adverbially) in front of · noun, common both genders singular absolute
excellent	יַתִּירָ֡ה ya.ti.Rah	H3493	preeminent · adjective, feminine singular absolute
spirit	ר֣וּחַ Ru.ach	H7308	wind · noun, common both genders singular absolute
knowledge	וּמַנְדַּ֡ע u.man.Da'	H4486	wisdom or intelligence · conjunction + noun, common both genders singular absolute
understanding	וְשָׂכְלְתָנ֡וּ ve.sa.khe.le.ta.Nu	H7924	intelligence · conjunction + noun, common both genders singular construct
interpreting	מְפַשַּׁ֣ר me.fa.Shar	H6590	to interpret · verb, piel active participle, masculine singular construct
dreams	חֶלְמִין֩ chel.Min	H2493	a dream · noun, common masculine plural absolute
shewing	וַֽאַֽחֲוָיַ֨ת va.'a.cha.va.Yat	H263	solution (of riddles) · conjunction + verb, infinitive construct
sentences	אֲחִידָ֜ן 'a.chi.Dan	H280	an enigma · noun, common feminine plural absolute
dissolving	וּמְשָׁרֵ֣א u.me.sha.Re'	H8271	to free · conjunction + verb, piel active participle, masculine singular construct
doubts	קִטְרִ֗ין kit.Rin	H7001	a knot (as tied up) · noun, common masculine plural absolute
found	הִשְׁתְּכַ֤חַת hish.te.Kha.chat	H7912	to discover (literally or figuratively) · verb, perfect, 3rd person feminine singular
Daniel	בְּדָ֣נִיֵּ֔אל be.Da.ni.Yel	H1841	Danijel · preposition + proper noun, a man's name
king	מַלְכָּ֥א mal.Ka'	H4430	a king · noun, common both genders singular determined + particle of affirmation
named	שָׂם som-	H7761	to put (used in a great variety of applications · verb, qal perfect, 3rd person masculine singular
Belteshazzar	בֵּלְטְשַׁאצַּ֑ר be.le.te.sha.Tzar	H1096	Belteshatstsar · proper noun, a man's name
now	כְּעַ֛ן ke.'An	H3705	now · adverb
Daniel	דָּנִיֵּ֥אל da.ni.Yel	H1841	Danijel · proper noun, a man's name
called	יִתְקְרֵ֖י yit.ke.Rei	H7123	to call out to (i.e. properly · verb, imperfect, 3rd person masculine singular
shew	יְהַֽחֲוֵֽה ye.Ha.cha.Veh	H2324	to show · verb, hiphil imperfect, 3rd person masculine singular
interpretation	וּפִשְׁרָ֥ה u.fish.Rah'	H6591	an interpretation · conjunction + noun, common both genders singular determined + particle of affirmation

Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).

Cross-references

Daniel 5:14 I have even heard of thee, that the spirit of the gods is in thee, and that light and understanding and excellent wisdom is found in thee.
Daniel 6:3 Then this Daniel was preferred above the presidents and princes, because an excellent spirit was in him; and the king thought to set him ove…
Daniel 1:7 Unto whom the prince of the eunuchs gave names: for he gave unto Daniel the name of Belteshazzar; and to Hananiah, of Shadrach; and to Misha…
Proverbs 12:26 The righteous is more excellent than his neighbour: but the way of the wicked seduceth them.
Daniel 5:16 And I have heard of thee, that thou canst make interpretations, and dissolve doubts: now if thou canst read the writing, and make known to m…
Psalms 16:3 But to the saints that are in the earth, and to the excellent, in whom is all my delight.
Daniel 4:8 But at the last Daniel came in before me, whose name was Belteshazzar, according to the name of my god, and in whom is the spirit of the hol…
2 Chronicles 9:1-2 And when the queen of Sheba heard of the fame of Solomon, she came to prove Solomon with hard questions at Jerusalem, with a very great comp…

Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Daniel 5:10-29

Here is, I. The information given to the king, by the queen-mother, concerning Daniel, how fit he was to be consulted in this difficult case. It is supposed that this queen was the widow of Evil-Merodach, and was that famous Nitocris whom Herodotus mentions as a woman of extraordinary prudence. She was not present at the feast, as the king's wives and concubines were (Dan 5:2); it was not agreeable to her age and gravity to keep a merry night. But, tidings of the fright which the king and his lords were put into being brought to her apartment, she came herself to the banqueting-house, to recommend to the king a physician for his melancholy. She entreated him not to be discouraged by the insu…

Read the whole note in the console

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Daniel 5:11

spirit of the holy gods--She remembers and repeats Nebuchadnezzar's language (Dan 4:8-9, Dan 4:18). As Daniel was probably, according to Oriental custom, deprived of the office to which Nebuchadnezzar had promoted him, as "master of the magicians" (Dan 4:9), at the king's death, Belshazzar might easily be ignorant of his services. the king . . . thy father the king . . . thy father--The repetition marks with emphatic gravity both the excellencies of Daniel, and the fact that Nebuchadnezzar, whom Belshazzar is bound to reverence as his father, had sought counsel from him in similar circumstances.

Adam Clarke on Daniel 5:11

Nebuchadnezzar thy father - See the note on Dan 5:1 (note).

John Gill on Daniel 5:12

Forasmuch as an excellent spirit,.... A superior spirit to all the wise men in Babylon for natural knowledge and political wisdom; and he had yet a more excellent spirit which she knew nothing of, and was no judge of; a spirit of real grace, and true piety and devotion: and knowledge, and understanding, interpreting of dreams; of which interpreting two of Nebuchadnezzar's was a proof: and showing hard sentences: or explaining enigmas and riddles, or proverbial, parabolical, and figurative phrases and expressions: and dissolving of doubts: or untying knots, solving problems, and answering knotty, intricate, and difficult questions: were found in the same Daniel, whom the king named Beltes…

The Church Fathers

Daniel, having become a receptacle of the divine Spirit, gives wise advice on everything, makes intelligent utterances on everything, clarifies riddles in dreams, removes the obscurity from what is hidden in some obscurity and by setting free what is held in bondage in secret recesses, as it were.
— Theodoret of Cyrus, COMMENTARY ON DANIEL 5:12

The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).

Dictionary and topics

Babel — (confusion), Bab’ylon (Greek form of Babel), is properly the capital city of the country which is called in Genesis Shinar, and in the later books Chaldea, or the land of the Chaldeans. The first…
Belshazzar — Bel protect the king!, the last of the kings of Babylon (Dan. 5:1). He was the son of Nabonidus by Nitocris, who was the daughter of Nebuchadnezzar and the widow of Nergal-sharezer. When still young…
Daniel — God is my judge, or judge of God. (1.) David’s second son, “born unto him in Hebron, of Abigail the Carmelitess” (1 Chr. 3:1). He is called also Chileab (2 Sam. 3:3). (2.) One of the four great…
Belshazzar · King of Babylon — King of Babylon
Influence · 19:6;29:26; — 19:6;29:26;
Queen · Counsels the king — Counsels the king

Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).

Daniel 5:12

Word by word — the Hebrew

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Daniel 5:10-29

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Daniel 5:11

Adam Clarke on Daniel 5:11

John Gill on Daniel 5:12

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

Daniel 5:12

Word by word — the Hebrew

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Daniel 5:10-29

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Daniel 5:11

Adam Clarke on Daniel 5:11

John Gill on Daniel 5:12

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

John Calvin on Daniel 5:12

Keil & Delitzsch on Daniel 5:12

Tyndale Open Study Notes on Daniel 5:11-12

Rashi on Daniel 5:12