Daniel 6:3

Excellent spirit. This was not the first time that royal observers had noticed a unique “spirit” in Daniel. Nebuchadnezzar had testified to Daniel’s possession of “the spirit of the holy gods” (ch. 4:8). The queen mother repeated the expression in her interview with Belshazzar on his last fateful night (ch. 5:11). On the same occasion she called attention to the “excellent spirit” that had been observed in Daniel (ch. 5:12). This spirit had no doubt manifested itself, not only in the solving of “hard sentences” (ch. 5:12), but also in scrupulous integrity, unwavering faithfulness, loyalty to duty, and integrity in words and acts — qualities rarely seen in civil servants of that age. A brief acquaintance with this elderly statesman, a survivor of the golden age of imperial Babylonia, was sufficient to convince Darius that Daniel would be a wise choice as chief administrator of the new empire and counselor of the crown.