Aramaic word · H1093

בְּלוֹ

velo

tribute

A royal levy different from mindah. It is usually explained from Akkadian biltu, 'load, yield', and from there 'rent, tax in produce'. It may have been paid in goods (grain, livestock) rather than silver, but this is not certain.

A Biblical Aramaic word, from the parts of the Old Testament written in Aramaic. Why Aramaic?

Appears 3 times in 3 verses of the Aramaic of the Old Testament. ·

What it means

tribute

Abridged from Brown, Driver and Briggs, A Hebrew and English Lexicon of the Old Testament (1906), via STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0).

In depth

From the study of Ezra 4:13

Range of meaning

A royal levy different from mindah. It is usually explained from Akkadian biltu, 'load, yield', and from there 'rent, tax in produce'. It may have been paid in goods (grain, livestock) rather than silver, but this is not certain.

Against the English

Rendered 'tribute' (KJV), 'duty' (BSB), 'custom' (WEB, ESV-type versions). All are educated guesses. No English word lines up exactly, and the order of the three terms changes from version to version.

Used elsewhere in the period

It appears only in Ezra, always in the set triplet mindah/middah – belo – halakh (Ezra 4:13, 4:20, 7:24). In Ezra 7:24 Artaxerxes exempts temple staff from all three. That shows the trio is the standard way of saying 'every kind of royal tax'.

From the study of Ezra 4:20

Range of meaning

A levy or tribute, probably often paid in goods or produce. Some take it more specifically as a tax on produce or a per-person tax. The data do not settle this.

Against the English

"Duty" (BSB), "tribute" (KJV), "custom" (WEB, ESV). Where the English differs, it reflects guesswork about the distinctions, not any disagreement in the text.

Used elsewhere in the period

Borrowed from Akkadian biltu (from wabālu, "to carry"), literally "load," used for rent, yield and tribute. Ezra 4:13; 7:24 (always in this group of three).

Where it appears

Ezra · 3

  1. Ezra 4:13 בְל֤וֹ tax

    Let it now be known to the king that if that city is rebuilt and its walls are restored, they will not pay tribute, duty, or toll, and the royal treasury will suffer.

    Here: A second kind of royal levy. It is probably from Akkadian biltu (a 'load', so a rent or tax paid in produce or goods). The exact difference from mindah is not certain.

  2. Ezra 4:20 בְל֛וֹ tax

    And mighty kings have ruled over Jerusalem and exercised authority over the whole region west of the Euphrates; and tribute, duty, and toll were paid to them.

    Here: Borrowed from Akkadian biltu, literally "what is carried in," a levy often paid in produce. Its exact difference from middah is not certain.

  3. Ezra 7:24 בְלוֹ֙ tax

    And be advised that you have no authority to impose tribute, duty, or toll on any of the priests, Levites, singers, doorkeepers, temple servants, or other servants of this house of God.

Word data: STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0), main text only.