Aramaic word · H1505

גְּזַר

vegazeraiya'

to determine

In Aramaic and Hebrew the root g-z-r has two branches. One is physical: to cut, cut off, quarry or split, as in Hebrew 1 Kings 3:25, "cut the child in two". The other is figurative, the way "cut" can mean "decide" in English: to decree or determine.

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

Appears 6 times in 6 verses of the Aramaic of the Old Testament. ·

What it means

1) to cut, determine

1a) (P'al) determiner (participle)

1b) (Ithp'al) to be cut out

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 2:34

Range of meaning

In Aramaic and Hebrew the root g-z-r has two branches. One is physical: to cut, cut off, quarry or split, as in Hebrew 1 Kings 3:25, "cut the child in two". The other is figurative, the way "cut" can mean "decide" in English: to decree or determine. From that second branch come the Aramaic gĕzērāh, "decree" (Dan 4:17, 24), and gāzrîn, "determiners", a class of Babylonian diviners (Dan 2:27; 4:7; 5:7, 11). Here the passive form means "was cut out / was quarried loose".

Against the English

English versions all say "cut out", which is correct. Strong's short gloss for H1505 is "determine", taken from the other branch of the root, and it would mislead if someone applied it here.

Used elsewhere in the period

Biblical Aramaic uses the same root for decree (Dan 4:17, 24) and for a professional class of fate-readers (Dan 2:27). Later Jewish Aramaic uses it for cutting and for rulings: a rabbinic gezērāh is a decree. Mesopotamian diviners claimed to read the fates the gods had "cut" or fixed.

From the study of Daniel 2:27

Range of meaning

The verb means "to cut" and, by extension, "to decide, decree" (cf. gəzērâ, "decree," Dan 4:17, 24). The plural participle gāzərîn is a class of diviner, found only in Daniel (2:27; 4:7 [4:4]; 5:7, 11). It means either "cutters" (those who cut up sacrificial animals to read omens in the organs) or "deciders" (those who determine fates).

Against the English

KJV and WEB have "soothsayers". ESV has "astrologers". NIV and NASB have "diviners". NLT has "fortune-tellers". "Diviners" is the safest, since the exact technique is uncertain. "Astrologers" is one guess at the method, not what the word itself says.

Used elsewhere in the period

In the Qumran Prayer of Nabonidus (4Q242), the Babylonian king Nabonidus says that a gāzar, "a Jew from among the exiles," forgave (or remitted) his sin. The term there names a Jewish diviner/healer at the Babylonian court, a close parallel to Daniel's own role. Theodotion's Greek simply transliterates it (gazarēnoi), showing the translator was unsure of its exact meaning.

From the study of Daniel 2:45

Range of meaning

Basic sense: "to cut, cut off, cut out" (Hebrew gāzar: 1 Kgs 3:25, "cut the child in two"). From that comes "to decide, decree": a decision "cuts" the matter (Job 22:28; Aramaic gĕzērâ "decree," Dan 4:17/14, 24/21). The participle gāzrîn names a class of Babylonian experts, "determiners," probably those who fixed fates by divination (Dan 2:27; 4:7; 5:7, 11).

Against the English

Every major English version rightly has "cut (out)." The supplied lexical gloss "to determine" is the root's other sense and does not fit this verb form here.

Used elsewhere in the period

The Hebrew cognate means "cut" (1 Kgs 3:25; Ps 136:13 "divided the Red Sea"). The Aramaic noun gĕzērâ means "decree" (Dan 4). Gāzrîn as a class of diviners appears only in Daniel.

Where it appears

Daniel · 6

  1. Daniel 2:27 גָּזְרִ֔ין astrologers

    Daniel answered the king, “No wise man, enchanter, medium, or magician can explain to the king the mystery of which he inquires.

    Here: A participle used as a noun: "cutters" or "deciders." These are diviners who 'determined' fates or decrees, possibly by reading the entrails of sacrificed animals. It makes its first appearance in Daniel here, in Daniel's list.

  2. Daniel 2:34 הִתְגְּזֶ֤רֶת it was cut out

    As you watched, a stone was cut out, but not by human hands. It struck the statue on its feet of iron and clay, and crushed them.

    Here: "Was cut out / was broken loose". The form is passive and feminine because it agrees with "stone". It is the word for quarrying a block from rock. No one is named as doing the cutting, which points to God as the hidden agent.

  3. Daniel 2:45 אִתְגְּזֶ֨רֶת it was cut out

    And just as you saw a stone being cut out of the mountain without human hands, and it shattered the iron, bronze, clay, silver, and gold, so the great God has told the king what will happen in the future. The dream is true, and its interpretation is trustworthy.”

    Here: "Was cut out" (passive, feminine to agree with "stone"). It names a quarrying action but gives no one who does it. The same root gives gāzrîn, the "diviners" (literally "determiners") who could not reveal the dream (2:27).

  4. Daniel 4:7 וְגָזְרַיָּ֑א and astrologers the

    When the magicians, enchanters, astrologers, and diviners came in, I told them the dream, but they could not interpret it for me.

  5. Daniel 5:7 וְגָזְרַיָּ֑א and astrologers the

    The king called out for the enchanters, astrologers, and diviners to be brought in, and he said to these wise men of Babylon, “Whoever reads this inscription and tells me its interpretation will be clothed in purple and have a gold chain placed around his neck, and he will be made the third highest ruler in the kingdom.”

    Here: A participle used as a noun: 'the determiners', specialists who worked out (literally 'cut' or decided) fates and omens. They were diviners of some kind; their exact method is uncertain.

  6. Daniel 5:11 גָּזְרִ֔ין astrologers

    There is a man in your kingdom who has the spirit of the holy gods in him. In the days of your father he was found to have insight, intelligence, and wisdom like that of the gods. Your father, King Nebuchadnezzar, appointed him chief of the magicians, enchanters, astrologers, and diviners. Your own father, the king,

    Here: Literally 'those who cut' or 'determine', that is, who decree fates. These were diviners who worked out destinies, probably by astrology or omens.

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