Aramaic word · H2166

זְמַן

zeman

time

Zəman means an appointed time or season; in the plural it means 'times' or 'occasions'. The whole phrase means 'three times a day'.

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

Appears 11 times in 11 verses of the Aramaic of the Old Testament. ·

What it means

a set time, time, season

Aramaic of ze.man (זְמָ֑ן "time" H2165)

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 6:10

Range of meaning

Zəman means an appointed time or season; in the plural it means 'times' or 'occasions'. The whole phrase means 'three times a day'.

Against the English

English renders it accurately. The risk is reading back the fully fixed three daily services of later rabbinic Judaism.

How it drifted

Later Jewish practice of three daily prayers (Shacharit, Minchah, Maariv) and early Christian practice (Didache 8:3) both drew on this verse and on Psalm 55:17, so readers may imagine an already formal liturgy.

Used elsewhere in the period

Psalm 55:17: 'evening, morning and noon.' Daniel 9:21 has Daniel praying 'at the time of the evening offering', and Judith 9:1 places prayer at the hour of the evening incense. The Babylonian Talmud (b. Berakhot 31a) cites Daniel 6:11 (the Aramaic numbering) for praying three times a day. Didache 8:3 has the Lord's Prayer said three times daily.

From the study of Daniel 2:21

Range of meaning

Set or appointed time; a fixed moment or occasion; a season in the older English sense of "the right time." In late Hebrew and Aramaic also simply "time" (e.g. "at that time," Dan 3:7–8).

Against the English

KJV, BSB, WEB and ESV say "seasons," which today usually suggests spring, summer, autumn and winter, or the devotional idea of "seasons of life." NASB's "epochs" and NLT's "course of world events" come closer to what is meant here.

How it drifted

In 1611 "season" commonly meant "a fitting or appointed time" (as in "a word in season"). That sense has faded, and the calendar/weather sense now dominates.

Used elsewhere in the period

Probably a loanword from Persian (cf. later Persian zamān). Hebrew uses it in late books: Ecclesiastes 3:1 ("for everything there is a zĕmān"), Esther 9:27, 31 (the fixed dates of Purim), Nehemiah 2:6. Daniel 7:12 has "for a zĕman and a ʿiddān"; 7:22 "the zĕman arrived"; 7:25 the horn "intends to change zimnîn and law."

From the study of Daniel 7:22

Range of meaning

A set or appointed time, a fixed moment or period (a loanword ultimately from Old Persian). In Daniel: an agreed time (2:16), 'times and seasons' that God changes (2:21), the moment a summons is given (3:7–8; 4:36), and the span 'for a season and a time' (7:12). Hebrew zĕmān is used for the fixed dates of Purim (Esth 9:27) and for 'a time for everything' (Eccl 3:1).

Against the English

Most versions say 'the time came'. That is accurate, but 'time' in English can sound like time passing in general; the Aramaic suggests a scheduled, fixed date.

Used elsewhere in the period

Common in Imperial and later Aramaic for an agreed or fixed time. In Daniel it is part of a running theme: God 'changes times and seasons, removes kings and sets up kings' (2:21), whereas the horn 'intends to change times (zimnîn) and law' (7:25).

Where it appears

Ezra · 1

  1. Ezra 5:3 זִמְנָא֩ time the

    At that time Tattenai the governor of the region west of the Euphrates, Shethar-bozenai, and their associates went to the Jews and asked, “Who authorized you to rebuild this temple and restore this structure?”

Daniel · 10

  1. Daniel 2:16 זְמָ֣ן time

    So Daniel went in and asked the king to give him some time, so that he could give him the interpretation.

  2. Daniel 2:21 וְזִמְנַיָּ֔א and appointed times the

    He changes the times and seasons; He removes kings and establishes them. He gives wisdom to the wise and knowledge to the discerning.

    Here: "And the set times": fixed or appointed moments and seasons. Paired with ʿiddān it means the whole schedule of history: its eras and its fixed turning points. It does not mainly mean weather seasons.

  3. Daniel 3:7 זִמְנָ֡א time the

    Therefore, as soon as all the people heard the sound of the horn, flute, zither, lyre, harp, and all kinds of music, the people of every nation and language would fall down and worship the golden statue that King Nebuchadnezzar had set up.

  4. Daniel 3:8 זִמְנָ֔א time the

    At this time some astrologers came forward and maliciously accused the Jews,

  5. Daniel 4:36 זִמְנָ֞א time the

    At the same time my sanity was restored, my honor and splendor returned to me for the glory of my kingdom. My advisers and nobles sought me out, and I was restored to my throne, and surpassing greatness was added to me.

  6. Daniel 6:10 וְזִמְנִין֩ and times

    Now when Daniel learned that the document had been signed, he went into his house, where the windows of his upper room opened toward Jerusalem, and three times a day he got down on his knees, prayed, and gave thanks to his God, just as he had done before.

    Here: Set times or occasions. The word suggests a regular appointed pattern, not random moments.

  7. Daniel 6:13 וְזִמְנִ֤ין and times

    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.”

  8. Daniel 7:12 זְמַ֥ן a time

    As for the rest of the beasts, their dominion was removed, but they were granted an extension of life for a season and a time.

  9. Daniel 7:22 וְזִמְנָ֣א and appointed time the

    until the Ancient of Days arrived and pronounced judgment in favor of the saints of the Most High, and the time came for them to possess the kingdom.

    Here: 'And the set time', a fixed, appointed moment rather than time in general. Its echo matters: in v. 25 the horn tries to 'change times', and in 2:21 God is the one who 'changes times and seasons'.

  10. Daniel 7:25 זִמְנִ֣ין appointed times

    He will speak out against the Most High and oppress the saints of the Most High, intending to change the appointed times and laws; and the saints will be given into his hand for a time, and times, and half a time.

    Here: "Appointed times". The word means set or fixed times. Read alongside "law" and against Israel's worship, it points to the sacred calendar: Sabbaths, feasts and festival seasons.

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