Aramaic word · H2006

הֵן

hen

look!

In Biblical Aramaic hēn is the normal word for "if" (Ezra 4:13, 16; 5:17; Dan 2:5–6, 9; 3:15, 17). It is related to the Hebrew hēn/hinnēh ("look!"), but in Aramaic it works as a conditional word. Hēn lāʾ, "if not", is an ellipsis, meaning a phrase with the key verb left out.

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

Appears 19 times in 12 verses of the Aramaic of the Old Testament. ·

What it means

behold, if, whether

Aramaic of hen (הֵן "look!" H2005)

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 3:18

Range of meaning

In Biblical Aramaic hēn is the normal word for "if" (Ezra 4:13, 16; 5:17; Dan 2:5–6, 9; 3:15, 17). It is related to the Hebrew hēn/hinnēh ("look!"), but in Aramaic it works as a conditional word. Hēn lāʾ, "if not", is an ellipsis, meaning a phrase with the key verb left out. The hearer fills in the missing verb from the sentence before it.

Against the English

KJV, ESV and WEB keep the open-ended "But if not". BSB, NIV, NASB and NLT fill the gap with "even if he does not", which decides that the missing idea is God's willingness to deliver. YLT's "And lo — not!" takes hēn as "behold". That sense does not fit Aramaic here.

How it drifted

No drift in the English word itself. The issue is that the expanded versions settle a question the Aramaic leaves open.

Used elsewhere in the period

Ezra 4:13 uses the same pairing as this verse: "be it known to the king that if (hēn) this city is rebuilt…", which shows hēn = "if" in official Aramaic. The Vulgate reads quod si noluerit ("but if he will not"). Theodotion's Greek reads kai ean mē ("and if not"). The Old Greek removes the condition entirely.

Where it appears

Ezra · 7

  1. Ezra 4:13 הֵ֣ן if

    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: In Aramaic this is the ordinary word for 'if', not the Hebrew 'look!'. It frames the whole verse as a prediction: if this happens, that will follow.

  2. Ezra 4:16 הֵ֣ן if

    We advise the king that if this city is rebuilt and its walls are restored, you will have no dominion west of the Euphrates.

  3. Ezra 5:17 הֵ֧ן הֵ֣ן if, whether

    Now, therefore, if it pleases the king, let a search be made of the royal archives in Babylon to see if King Cyrus did indeed issue a decree to rebuild the house of God in Jerusalem. Then let the king send us his decision in this matter.

  4. Ezra 7:26 הֵ֤ן הֵ֣ן הֵן־ whether, or

    If anyone does not keep the law of your God and the law of the king, let a strict judgment be executed against him, whether death, banishment, confiscation of property, or imprisonment.

Daniel · 12

  1. Daniel 2:5 הֵ֣ן if

    The king replied to the astrologers, “My word is final: If you do not tell me the dream and its interpretation, you will be cut into pieces and your houses will be reduced to rubble.

  2. Daniel 2:6 וְהֵ֨ן לָהֵ֕ן and if, therefore

    But if you tell me the dream and its interpretation, you will receive from me gifts and rewards and great honor. So tell me the dream and its interpretation.”

  3. Daniel 2:9 הֵן־ לָהֵ֗ן if, therefore

    If you do not tell me the dream, there is only one decree for you. You have conspired to speak before me false and fraudulent words, hoping the situation will change. Therefore tell me the dream, and I will know that you can give me its interpretation.”

  4. Daniel 3:15 הֵ֧ן וְהֵן֙ if, and if

    Now when you hear the sound of the horn, flute, zither, lyre, harp, pipes, and all kinds of music, if you are ready to fall down and worship the statue I have made, very good. But if you refuse to worship, you will be thrown at once into the blazing fiery furnace. Then what god will be able to deliver you from my hands?”

    Here: In Biblical Aramaic this is the ordinary word for 'if' (unlike Hebrew hēn, 'look!'). It sets up a conditional that the king never actually finishes.

  5. Daniel 3:17 הֵ֣ן if

    If the God whom we serve exists, then He is able to deliver us from the blazing fiery furnace and from your hand, O king.

    Here: The conditional 'if'. It answers the king's own 'if' in v.15 ('if you are ready… but if not…') and sets up the 'and if not' of v.18. Biblical Aramaic regularly uses this word for 'if'.

  6. Daniel 3:18 וְהֵ֣ן and if

    But even if He does not, let it be known to you, O king, that we will not serve your gods or worship the golden statue you have set up.”

    Here: "And/but" plus the Aramaic word for "if". It picks up the "if" that opens verse 17 and sets up a second case: the outcome the speakers do not expect but will not rule out.

  7. Daniel 4:27 לָהֵ֣ן הֵ֛ן therefore, whether

    Therefore, may my advice be pleasing to you, O king. Break away from your sins by doing what is right, and from your iniquities by showing mercy to the oppressed. Perhaps there will be an extension of your prosperity.”

    Here: Marks the turn from interpretation to counsel. Daniel has finished explaining the dream (vv. 19–26), and 'therefore' introduces what the king should do in response.

  8. Daniel 5:16 הֵן֩ if

    But I have heard about you, that you are able to give interpretations and solve difficult problems. Therefore, if you can read this inscription and give me its interpretation, you will be clothed in purple and have a gold chain placed around your neck, and you will be made the third highest ruler in the kingdom.”

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