In a moment of deep dread and despair, when the royal advisors fail to solve a terrifying mystery, the queen steps forward. Her intervention is not simply a casual recommendation of a wise man, but a highly calculated speech designed to calm the king's fears and restore his confidence. She begins her address by declaring that there is a man capable of providing the answer. Unlike the scholars surrounding the king who engage in foreign worship, this individual possesses the spirit of the holy God [ביאור שטיינזלץ]. By deliberately emphasizing that he is a flesh-and-blood human being, the queen aims from the very start to ease any fears the king might have about him [אלשיך].
She recalls his extraordinary qualities from the days of Nebuchadnezzar, noting his profound spiritual illumination and a mind that shines brightly [אבן עזרא, מצודת ציון]. His intellect is described as supreme, likened to the wisdom of angels [רש"י, יוסף אבן יחיא] or even the wisdom of God [מצודת דוד]. Yet, the careful phrasing she uses ensures the king understands that while this wisdom is divine in nature, the man himself is not a deity [אלשיך].
The queen reminds the king that Nebuchadnezzar previously appointed this man as the chief officer over all the kingdom's magicians and advisors [רש"י, מצודת דוד, יוסף אבן יחיא]. Bringing up this past appointment serves two distinct purposes. First, it acts as a subtle rebuke. This man is a known and established figure; the king should have been aware of the history of his predecessor's royal court and summoned this greatest of scholars immediately, rather than wasting time on the Babylonian advisors who tried and failed [מלבי"ם].
The second purpose reveals the queen's psychological mastery. She intentionally conceals the man's name and Jewish origins until the very end of her speech, fearing that the king's hostility toward Israel might cause him to reject the suggestion. Moreover, because Nebuchadnezzar had once treated this man with almost god-like reverence, she worries the king might be too terrified to summon him. Since the king had just desecrated God's sacred vessels at his feast, he might fear that this holy man would zealously defend God's honor and strike him down. To prevent this panic, the queen specifically highlights his title as chief of the magicians. This clarifies that he possesses no actual divine power to cause harm or grant blessing, but merely the intellectual brilliance required to solve the mystery [אלשיך].