Numbers 27:18

27:18 The Lord replied ¹  to Moses, “Take Joshua son of Nun, a man in whom is such a spirit, ²  and lay your hand on him; ³ 

Job 32:8

32:8 But it is a spirit in people,

the breath ⁴  of the Almighty,

that makes them understand.

Daniel 4:6

4:6 So I issued an order ⁵  for all the wise men of Babylon to be brought ⁶  before me so that they could make known to me the interpretation of the dream.

Daniel 4:8

4:8 Later Daniel entered (whose name is Belteshazzar after the name of my god, ⁷  and in whom there is a spirit of the holy gods). I recounted the dream for him as well,

Daniel 4:18

4:18 “This is the dream that I, King Nebuchadnezzar, saw. Now you, Belteshazzar, declare its ⁸  interpretation, for none of the wise men in ⁹  my kingdom are able to make known to me the interpretation. But you can do so, for a spirit of the holy gods is in you.”

Daniel 5:11

5:11 There is a man in your kingdom who has within him a spirit of the holy gods. In the days of your father, he proved to have ¹⁰  insight, discernment, and wisdom like that ¹¹  of the gods. ¹²  King Nebuchadnezzar your father appointed him chief of the magicians, astrologers, wise men, and diviners. ¹³ 

Daniel 5:14

5:14 I have heard about you, how there is a spirit of the gods in you, and how you have ¹⁴  insight, discernment, and extraordinary wisdom.

Daniel 6:3

6:3 Now this Daniel was distinguishing himself above the other supervisors and the satraps, for he had an extraordinary spirit. In fact, the king intended to appoint him over the entire kingdom.

¹ tn Or “said.”

² sn The word “spirit” probably refers to the Holy Spirit, in which case it would be rendered “in whom is the Spirit.” This would likely be a permanent endowment for Joshua. But it is also possible to take it to refer to a proper spirit to do all the things required of such a leader (which ultimately is a gift from the Spirit of God). The Hebrew text simply says “in whom is a spirit.”

³ sn This symbolic act would indicate the transfer of leadership to Joshua.

⁴ tn This is the word נְשָׁמָה (nÿshamah, “breath”); according to Gen 2:7 it was breathed into Adam to make him a living person (“soul”). With that divine impartation came this spiritual understanding. Some commentators identify the רוּחַ (ruakh) in the first line as the Spirit of God; this “breath” would then be the human spirit. Whether Elihu knew that much, however, is hard to prove.

⁵ tn Aram “from me there was placed a decree.”

⁶ tn The Aramaic infinitive here is active.

⁷ sn This explanation of the meaning of the name Belteshazzar may be more of a paronomasia than a strict etymology.

⁸ tc The present translation reads פִּשְׁרֵהּ (pishreh, “its interpretation”) with the Qere and many medieval Hebrew MSS; the Kethib is פִּשְׁרָא (pishra’, “the interpretation”); so also v. 16.

⁹ tn Aram “of.”

¹⁰ tn Aram “[there were] discovered to be in him.”

¹¹ tn Aram “wisdom like the wisdom.” This would be redundant in terms of English style.

¹² tc Theodotion lacks the phrase “and wisdom like the wisdom of the gods.”

¹³ tc The MT includes a redundant reference to “your father the king” at the end of v. 11. None of the attempts to explain this phrase as original are very convincing. The present translation deletes the phrase, following Theodotion and the Syriac.

¹⁴ tn Aram “there has been found in you.”