Aramaic word · H1247

בֵּן

bar-

description

Bar means 'son'. Like Hebrew ben, it is also used for membership in a class: 'son of man' is a human being, 'son of a year' is a year-old. 'Son(s) of god(s)' is a fixed Semitic expression for heavenly beings, members of the divine council.

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

Appears 19 times in 17 verses of the Aramaic of the Old Testament. ·

What it means

son

Aramaic of ben (בֵּן ": child" H1121)

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 Daniel 3:25

Range of meaning

Bar means 'son'. Like Hebrew ben, it is also used for membership in a class: 'son of man' is a human being, 'son of a year' is a year-old. 'Son(s) of god(s)' is a fixed Semitic expression for heavenly beings, members of the divine council. It has Hebrew counterparts in bənê hāʾĕlōhîm (Job 1:6; 2:1; 38:7; Gen 6:2) and a Canaanite one at Ugarit (bn ilm, the gods as El's sons).

Against the English

Most modern versions have 'a son of the gods' (BSB, NIV, ESV, NASB, WEB, YLT), and NLT has 'a god'. KJV and NKJV have 'the Son of God', which adds a definite article, makes 'gods' singular and capitalizes it as a title. None of those three changes is in the Aramaic.

How it drifted

Theodotion's Greek, huiō theou ('a son of God' or 'of a god', with no article), and the Vulgate's filio Dei already leaned toward a single God. Christian readers from early on saw a foreshadowing of Christ in the fourth figure, and the 1611 translators printed the phrase as a capitalized title. For English readers, 'the Son of God' then became a confession of Jesus spoken by a Babylonian king.

Used elsewhere in the period

Biblical Aramaic uses ʾĕlāh (singular) for Israel's God ('the Most High God', v. 26) and the plural ʾĕlāhîn only for 'gods' (Dan 2:11, 2:47 'God of gods', 4:8–9, 5:4, 5:11, 5:14, 5:23). The Old Greek renders this phrase 'an angel of God'. In v. 28 Nebuchadnezzar himself says God 'sent his angel (malʾăkēh)'. Rabbinic tradition identifies the figure as the angel Gabriel (b. Pesachim 118a).

From the study of Daniel 7:13

Range of meaning

Aramaic 'bar' means 'son', and 'enash' means 'humankind'. In Semitic idiom 'son of X' means 'a member of class X', so 'bar enash' means simply 'a human being, a person'. The Hebrew equivalent 'ben adam' works the same way. Ezekiel is addressed as 'son of man' (mortal) over ninety times, and Gabriel calls Daniel 'ben adam' in 8:17. The prefix 'kə-' ('like') is used in visions to describe a symbolic figure by what it looks like.

Against the English

KJV has '[one] like the Son of man' and BSB 'One like the Son of Man'. Both add 'the' and capitals that make the phrase sound like a known title. WEB, NIV and ESV have 'one like a son of man', and NRSV 'one like a human being'. These keep the phrase indefinite and descriptive, as the Aramaic is.

How it drifted

In the Gospels Jesus uses 'the Son of Man' (with the article) as his way of referring to himself, often drawing on this verse (Mark 13:26; 14:62). English printing conventions then capitalised it here as well. Readers now meet a proper title in Daniel, where the text has a description: 'someone who looked human'.

Used elsewhere in the period

The phrase 'br ʾnš' ('anyone, a person') already appears in the 8th-century BCE Aramaic Sefire treaty inscriptions. In Daniel's own Aramaic, 'bənê ʾănāšāʾ' means 'human beings' (2:38; 5:21). Later Jewish writings develop this figure into an individual heavenly agent: the 'Son of Man' of the Similitudes of Enoch (1 Enoch 46–71) and the man from the sea who rides the clouds in 4 Ezra 13.

From the study of Daniel 5:22

Range of meaning

Son. More broadly it can mean descendant, member of a group ('son of man' = human being, 7:13), or successor in an office or dynasty. In ancient Near Eastern royal language a king could be called the 'son' of an earlier king he did not descend from.

Against the English

Most versions: 'his son'. NLT: 'his successor'. NIV adds a footnote ('or descendant'). The choice decides whether the reader takes this as a family claim or a claim about succession.

How it drifted

English 'son' is almost always biological. That has made this verse (with 5:2, 11, 13, 18) a well-known historical problem, because Babylonian records make Belshazzar the son of Nabonidus, not Nebuchadnezzar.

Used elsewhere in the period

Assyrian inscriptions call Jehu 'son of Omri' although he wiped out Omri's dynasty (Black Obelisk of Shalmaneser III). Baruch 1:11–12 likewise speaks of 'Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon and… Belshazzar his son'. Jeremiah 27:7 foresees Babylon serving 'him, his son, and his son's son'. Belshazzar's real role as acting king while Nabonidus stayed at Tema is confirmed by the Nabonidus Chronicle and the Verse Account of Nabonidus.

Where it appears

Ezra · 9

  1. Ezra 5:1 בַר־ [the] son of

    Later, the prophets Haggai and Zechariah son of Iddo prophesied to the Jews in Judah and Jerusalem in the name of the God of Israel, who was over them.

  2. Ezra 5:2 בַּר־ בַּר־ [the] son of

    Then Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel and Jeshua son of Jozadak rose up and began to rebuild the house of God in Jerusalem. And the prophets of God were with them, helping them.

    Here: The Aramaic word for "son," linked to the next name. It gives the family line, which mattered here: through Shealtiel, Zerubbabel came from the royal house of David.

  3. Ezra 6:9 וּבְנֵ֣י and young of

    Whatever is needed—young bulls, rams, and lambs for burnt offerings to the God of heaven, as well as wheat, salt, wine, and oil, as requested by the priests in Jerusalem—must be given to them daily without fail.

  4. Ezra 6:10 וּבְנֽוֹהִי׃ and sons his

    Then they will be able to offer sacrifices of a sweet aroma to the God of heaven and to pray for the lives of the king and his sons.

    Here: "And his sons." The request reaches past the king's own lifetime to his dynasty, so the prayer covers the continuation of the royal house and not only one man's health.

  5. Ezra 6:14 בַּר־ [the] son of

    So the Jewish elders built and prospered through the prophesying of Haggai the prophet and Zechariah son of Iddo. They finished building according to the command of the God of Israel and the decrees of Cyrus, Darius, and Artaxerxes, kings of Persia.

    Here: Aramaic 'son', used loosely for 'descendant'. Zechariah 1:1 shows that Iddo was his grandfather.

  6. Ezra 6:16 בְנֵֽי־ בְּנֵי־ [the] people of

    Then the people of Israel—the priests, the Levites, and the rest of the exiles—celebrated the dedication of the house of God with joy.

    Here: Literally 'sons of', a common idiom for the members of a people. It names a community by its ancestry, so it does not mean young children or point to males as such.

  7. Ezra 7:23 וּבְנֽוֹהִי׃ and sons his

    Whatever is commanded by the God of heaven must be done diligently for His house. For why should wrath fall on the realm of the king and his sons?

Daniel · 10

  1. Daniel 2:25 בְּנֵ֤י [the] sons of

    Arioch hastily brought Daniel before the king and said to him, “I have found a man among the exiles from Judah who will tell the king the interpretation.”

  2. Daniel 2:38 בְּֽנֵי־ [the] sons of

    Wherever the sons of men or beasts of the field or birds of the air dwell, He has given them into your hand and has made you ruler over them all. You are that head of gold.

    Here: In 'sons of' + a group, 'sons' means 'members of'. It is not about male children. (The supplied gloss 'description' looks like a data error. H1247 is the Aramaic word for 'son'.)

  3. Daniel 3:25 לְבַר־ <obj.> a son of

    “Look!” he exclaimed. “I see four men, unbound and unharmed, walking around in the fire—and the fourth looks like a son of the gods!”

    Here: 'A son of', with no article. In Aramaic and Hebrew, 'son of X' often means 'one belonging to the class X', so 'son of gods' means a member of the divine world.

  4. Daniel 5:13 בְּנֵ֤י [the] sons of

    So Daniel was brought before the king, who asked him, “Are you Daniel, one of the exiles my father the king brought from Judah?

  5. Daniel 5:21 בְּנֵי֩ [the] sons of

    He was driven away from mankind, and his mind was like that of a beast. He lived with the wild donkeys and ate grass like an ox, and his body was drenched with the dew of heaven until he acknowledged that the Most High God rules over the kingdom of mankind, setting over it whom He wishes.

    Here: Part of the idiom 'sons of humankind', meaning simply 'human beings'. It does not refer to literal children. (The supplied gloss 'description' is a data error.)

  6. Daniel 5:22 בְּרֵהּ֙ son his

    But you his son, O Belshazzar, have not humbled your heart, even though you knew all this.

    Here: 'His son', meaning Nebuchadnezzar's. In Aramaic and Hebrew, 'son' can also mean descendant or successor on the throne. The point of the word here is that Belshazzar inherited the kingdom and also the lesson that went with it.

  7. Daniel 5:31 כְּבַ֥ר about a son of

    and Darius the Mede received the kingdom at the age of sixty-two.

  8. Daniel 6:13 בְּנֵ֨י [the] sons of

    Then they told the king, “Daniel, one of the exiles from Judah, shows no regard for you, O king, or for the decree that you have signed. He still makes his petition three times a day.”

  9. Daniel 6:24 בְּנֵיה֣וֹן sons their

    At the command of the king, the men who had falsely accused Daniel were brought and thrown into the den of lions—they and their children and wives. And before they had reached the bottom of the den, the lions overpowered them and crushed all their bones.

    Here: Literally 'sons', but in practice 'children'. The whole household line is included.

  10. Daniel 7:13 כְּבַ֥ר like a son of

    In my vision in the night I continued to watch, and I saw One like the Son of Man coming with the clouds of heaven. He approached the Ancient of Days and was led into His presence.

    Here: 'Like' plus 'son of'. The 'like' belongs to vision language: the beasts were 'like a lion', 'like a bear' (7:4–5). There is no 'the': it is 'a son of', not a title.

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