A watcher and a holy one — i.e., a holy one who is watchful; translated “angel” by the LXX., but simply transliterated into “Eir” by Theodotion. The word is used twice by the king, and once by Daniel (Daniel 4:23), but it is to be noticed that the prophet substitutes “the Most High” for the words of the king in Daniel 4:17). We must suppose that Nebuchadnezzar dreamed in a language familiar to himself, and that the objects of his dream were things with which his Babylonian education had made him acquainted. According to his mythology, the god of Nergal was regarded as “manifesting himself in watching,” so that he may have dreamed that he witnessed a descent of one of his deities. In this he is corrected by Daniel, being assured that the whole is sent from heaven, that the decree is ordered by the one true God, and that the holy watcher is an angel of God.
Related Commentaries of Daniel 4:13
Daniel 4:13
13 I saw in the visions of my head upon my bed, and, behold, a watcher and an holy one came down from heaven;