What Does Daniel 6:3 Mean in the King James?
Then this Daniel was preferred above the presidents and princes, because an excellent spirit was in him; and the king thought to set him over the whole realm.
The analysis reads the King James wording.
King James Version The King James Version, first published in 1611. Selah Verse shows the standard text.
THE KEY
The king sees Daniel’s extraordinary ruach, breath, before he decides to give him authority.
THE MEANING
The verse speaks to you now: what is within you can become visible in how you carry responsibility. It places distinction before appointment: the king sees the extraordinary breath in Daniel and then intends to place him over the realm.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
Your worth begins only when someone grants you rank.
THE ROOT
רוּחַ
rûaḥ
GROWS FROM
ר-ו-ח
r-w-ḥ
To blow; the word carries wind and breath, the animating current within a living person.
The Aramaic word in Daniel is the same word as Hebrew ruach: wind, breath, and spirit belong to one image. The verse describes Daniel’s distinction as an extraordinary inner breath, not merely as a quality attached to his position.
ALSO GROWS
rûaḥ: Wind, breath, spirit
רוּחַ
One word spans moving air and the breath within a person; the English word “spirit” can hide that concrete connection.
rāvaḥ: To find room or relief
רָוַח
This related form shares the consonants and echoes the movement from constriction into room; Daniel’s extraordinary breath accompanies the discernment and capacity that make room for responsibility.
יַתִּירָא
yattîrā’
GROWS FROM
י-ת-ר
y-t-r
To remain or be left over; by extension, to exceed or be more than enough.
The word translated “excellent” comes from the sense of what exceeds or remains beyond the ordinary measure. The phrase is more pointed than a vague compliment: Daniel has a surpassing breath within him.
ALSO GROWS
yattîr: Surpassing, abundant
יַתִּיר
This Aramaic form carries the sense of exceeding measure, describing the quality of Daniel’s breath.
yoter: More, remaining
יוֹתֵר
This Hebrew branch preserves the idea of what is left over or beyond the expected, sharpening the force of “excellent.”
THE PATTERN
An extraordinary inner breath becomes visible as discernment and capacity, and others entrust responsibility in response.
And Pharaoh said unto his servants, Can we find such a one as this is, a man in whom the Spirit of God is?And I have filled him with the spirit of God, in wisdom, and in understanding, and in knowledge, and in all manner of workmanship,Wherefore, brethren, look ye out among you seven men of honest report, full of the Holy Ghost and wisdom, whom we may appoint over this business.THE THREAD
And Pharaoh said unto his servants, Can we find such a one as this is, a man in whom the Spirit of God is?Genesis uses Hebrew רוּחַ (rûaḥ, wind, breath, spirit), the same word as Daniel’s Aramaic רוּחַ (rûaḥ, wind, breath, spirit). In both verses, someone recognizes the breath within a person before public authority follows.
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