Daniel 4:18

Belteshazzar, that is what I, King Nebuchadnezzar, saw in my dream. Now tell me what the dream means. No one else can tell me. I asked all the very wise men in my kingdom to tell me what it means, but they were unable to do that. But you can tell me, because the spirit of the holy gods is in you.”

Translation for Translators

In The King James Version

This dream I king Nebuchadnezzar have seen. Now thou, O Belteshazzar, declare the interpretation thereof, forasmuch as all the wise men of my kingdom are not able to make known unto me the interpretation: but thou art able; for the spirit of the holy gods is in thee.

In Context

17The holy angels have decided what must happen. They want to inform everyone that the Supreme God rules over all the kingdoms in this world. He is the one who chooses who will rule these kingdoms. He sometimes allows very unimportant people to become rulers.”

19I, whose new name was Belteshazzar, did not say anything for some time, because I was very worried/disturbed about the meaning of the dream. Finally, the king said to me, “Belteshazzar, do not be afraid about the dream and about what it means.” I replied, “Sir, I wish that the events that were predicted in your dream would happen to your enemies, and not to you.

Read all of Daniel 4

Cross References

Genesis 41:8But the next morning he was worried about the meaning of the dream. So he summoned all the magicians and wise men who lived in Egypt. He told them what he had dreamed, but none of them could tell him the meaning of the two dreams.

1 Kings 14:2Jeroboam said to his wife, “Disguise yourself, in order that no one will recognize that you are my wife. Then go to Shiloh city, where the prophet Ahijah lives. He is the one who predicted/prophesied that I would become the king of Israel.

Isaiah 47:12So you can continue to perform all your magic spells [IRO]! You can perform the many kinds of sorcery that you have practiced for many years! Perhaps doing those things will enable you to be successful; perhaps you will be able to cause your enemies to be afraid of you!

Daniel 2:26The king said to me, whose new name was Belteshazzar, “ Is this true? Can you tell me what I dreamed and what it means?”

Daniel 4:7All the men who worked magic, the fortune-tellers, the men who worked sorcery, and men who studied the stars came to me. I told them what I had dreamed, but they could not tell me what it meant.

Daniel 5:15My wise men and men who work magic have tried to read the writing on this wall and tell me what it means, but they are not able to do it.

Matthew Henry on Daniel 4:5-19

Nebuchadnezzar's Second Dream; Nebuchadnezzar Relates His Dream. ( b. c. 570.) 4 I Nebuchadnezzar was at rest in mine house, and flourishing in my palace: 5 I saw a dream which made me afraid, and the thoughts upon my bed and the visions of my head troubled me. 6 Therefore made I a decree to bring in all the wise men of Babylon before me, that they might make known unto me the interpretation of the dream. 7 Then came in the magicians, the astrologers, the Chaldeans, and the soothsayers: and I told the dream before… Read the whole commentary →

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