Aramaic word · H2452

חׇכְמָה

chakhemeta'

wisdom

Ḥokmâ is skill, expertise and wisdom, including the professional lore of a court sage. Yattîr means "excessive, surpassing, beyond the usual", and as an adverb "exceedingly" (3:22, 7:7, 19).

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

Appears 8 times in 7 verses of the Aramaic of the Old Testament. ·

What it means

wisdom

Aramaic of chokh.mah (חׇכְמָה "wisdom" H2451)

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 5:14

Range of meaning

Ḥokmâ is skill, expertise and wisdom, including the professional lore of a court sage. Yattîr means "excessive, surpassing, beyond the usual", and as an adverb "exceedingly" (3:22, 7:7, 19).

Against the English

KJV and WEB have "excellent wisdom". BSB has "extraordinary" and NIV has "outstanding". In modern English "excellent" has weakened to "very good". In 1611 it still carried its Latin sense, "excelling, surpassing others".

How it drifted

"Excellent" lost its comparative force ("exceeding others") between early modern and contemporary English.

Used elsewhere in the period

The same adjective describes the furnace heated "exceedingly" (3:22), the fourth beast "exceedingly terrible" (7:7), and Daniel's "excellent spirit" (5:12; 6:3). In each place it means something off the normal scale.

From the study of Daniel 2:20

Range of meaning

Skill, competence, insight. In Daniel especially it means the ability to know what is hidden and interpret it correctly (dreams, omens, mysteries). It is close to what Babylon called the expert lore of its scholars.

Against the English

English 'wisdom' often suggests calm life-advice or good judgment in general. Here it is a specific, practical skill: knowing secrets no human can reach (2:11, 27–28).

Used elsewhere in the period

Dan 2:21 ('he gives wisdom to the wise'), 2:23, 2:30; 5:11, 14. The Hebrew pair ḥokmāh ûgəbûrāh appears in Job 12:13 ('With him are wisdom and might') and is personified in Prov 8:14 ('I have counsel… I have might'). Babylon's scholarly guilds (exorcists, diviners, 'Chaldeans') claimed exactly this kind of hidden knowledge through omen collections and dream manuals.

From the study of Daniel 2:23

Range of meaning

Wisdom: skill, practical insight, and in a court setting the specialist knowledge of the trained sage, including the reading of omens and dreams.

Against the English

"Wisdom" everywhere. Accurate, but modern readers may hear only good moral judgment. Here it is above all the ability to understand hidden things.

Used elsewhere in the period

Biblical Aramaic: Dan 2:20, 21, 23, 30; 5:11, 14; Ezra 7:25. Daniel 2 calls Babylon's experts ḥakkime bavel, "the wise men of Babylon" (2:12–14, 24), from the same root. Job 12:13: "With him are wisdom and might" (ḥokhmah ugevurah).

Where it appears

Ezra · 1

  1. Ezra 7:25 כְּחָכְמַ֨ת according to [the] wisdom of

    And you, Ezra, according to the wisdom of your God, which you possess, are to appoint magistrates and judges to judge all the people west of the Euphrates—all who know the laws of your God. And you are to teach these laws to anyone who does not know them.

    Here: 'In keeping with' or 'by the standard of' the wisdom of his God. This is the norm Ezra must follow when he chooses judges, not only a talent he has.

Daniel · 7

  1. Daniel 2:20 חָכְמְתָ֛א <the> wisdom

    and declared: “Blessed be the name of God forever and ever, for wisdom and power belong to Him.

    Here: 'The wisdom.' This is skilled knowledge that can see what is hidden and get things right. It is exactly what the king's professional 'wise men' (ḥakkîmîn, 2:12–13) could not produce.

  2. Daniel 2:21 חָכְמְתָא֙ <the> wisdom

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

    Here: "The wisdom": the definite form points back to v. 20, the wisdom that "belongs to him." In this Babylonian court setting it includes the expert, practical skill of interpreting dreams and signs.

  3. Daniel 2:23 חָכְמְתָ֛א <the> wisdom

    To You, O God of my fathers, I give thanks and praise, because You have given me wisdom and power. And now You have made known to me what we have requested, for You have made known to us the dream of the king.”

    Here: "The wisdom." The definite article points back to verse 20: the wisdom that "belongs to him." In this chapter it means the skill to understand and interpret hidden things, the very skill Babylon's professional sages claimed and lacked.

  4. Daniel 2:30 בְחָכְמָה֙ by wisdom

    And to me this mystery has been revealed, not because I have more wisdom than any man alive, but in order that the interpretation might be made known to the king, and that you may understand the thoughts of your mind.

  5. Daniel 5:11 וְחָכְמָ֥ה כְּחָכְמַת־ and wisdom, like [the] wisdom of

    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: 'And wisdom': practical, expert skill. In Babylon this meant the scholar's craft, including reading signs and solving problems.

  6. Daniel 5:14 וְחָכְמָ֥ה and wisdom

    I have heard that the spirit of the gods is in you, and that you have insight, intelligence, and extraordinary wisdom.

    Here: The practical, expert skill of a sage. In Babylon this meant the professional knowledge of court diviners, which Daniel has beyond all of them.

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