Aramaic word · H1884

דְּתָבָר

detaveraiya'

judge

A law officer or judge. From Old Persian *dātabara, "law-bearer", built on dāt, "law, royal decree".

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

Appears 2 times in 2 verses of the Aramaic of the Old Testament. ·

What it means

lawyer, interpreter of decrees, judge

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 3:2

Range of meaning

A law officer or judge. From Old Persian *dātabara, "law-bearer", built on dāt, "law, royal decree".

Against the English

BSB has "judges", which works. KJV moves its words around: it uses "judges" for the fourth title (ʾăḏargāzərayyāʾ, counselors) and "counsellors" for this one, so KJV's sequence does not line up with the Aramaic.

Used elsewhere in the period

The title appears (as databari) in Persian-period Babylonian documents. Dāt, "law", recurs in Daniel (2:9, 13, 15; 6:5, 8, 12, 15; 7:25) and in Esther and Ezra.

Where it appears

Daniel · 2

  1. Daniel 3:2 דְּתָבְרַיָּא֙ judges the

    Then King Nebuchadnezzar sent word to assemble the satraps, prefects, governors, advisers, treasurers, judges, magistrates, and all the other officials of the provinces to attend the dedication of the statue he had set up.

    Here: From Old Persian *dātabara, "bearer of the law (dāt)". These were legal officials. The same word dāt is behind "the law of the Medes and Persians" (Daniel 6:8).

  2. Daniel 3:3 דְּתָ֨בְרַיָּ֜א judges the

    So the satraps, prefects, governors, advisers, treasurers, judges, magistrates, and all the rulers of the provinces assembled for the dedication of the statue that King Nebuchadnezzar had set up, and they stood before it.

    Here: Old Persian *dātabara, 'law-bearer', from dāta, 'law' (the dāt of Esther and Ezra). Officers who administered royal law.

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