Aramaic word · H2604
חֲנַן
umitchanan
to show favor
To be gracious, to show favour or kindness, especially by a stronger party toward a weaker one who has no claim. In Hebrew it is the root of ḥēn ('favour, grace') and of the cry 'be gracious to me' in the Psalms.
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
1) to show favour
1a) (P'al) to show favour
1b) (Ithpael) to implore favour
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
- Range of meaning
To be gracious, to show favour or kindness, especially by a stronger party toward a weaker one who has no claim. In Hebrew it is the root of ḥēn ('favour, grace') and of the cry 'be gracious to me' in the Psalms. In Aramaic and Hebrew alike it often refers to concrete giving, for example Psalm 37:21: 'the righteous is gracious (ḥônēn) and gives.'
- Against the English
'Showing mercy' (KJV, BSB, WEB) is acceptable, but modern 'mercy' mostly means sparing someone from deserved punishment. NIV's 'being kind to' captures the generosity better but loses some of its weight.
- How it drifted
English 'mercy' narrowed toward clemency to offenders. The Aramaic word means generous favour to the needy.
- Used elsewhere in the period
Hebrew Proverbs 14:31 says 'whoever is gracious (ḥônēn) to the needy honours his Maker', and Proverbs 19:17 says 'whoever is gracious to the poor lends to the LORD', which uses the same giving-as-lending idea that later fed the alms tradition. Theodotion renders the phrase en oiktirmois penētōn, 'by compassions on the poor.'
- Range of meaning
The root ḥ-n-n means 'show favour, be gracious' (Aramaic, Dan 4:27: 'showing mercy to the oppressed'). In the reflexive-intensive form used here it means 'seek favour for oneself, plead for grace'. It is the same idea as the Hebrew hitḥannēn, 'make supplication'.
- Against the English
'Making supplication' (KJV, WEB, NASB) is accurate but old-fashioned. 'Imploring' (BSB) and 'asking for help' (NIV, NLT) lose the idea of grace or favour. YLT 'entreating grace' keeps it best.
- How it drifted
'Supplication' has become a churchy word most readers don't use. 'Asking for help' turns it into an ordinary request and drops the picture of someone appealing to a ruler's favour.
- Used elsewhere in the period
Hebrew hitḥannēn is the key verb of Solomon's temple prayer (1 Kgs 8:33, 47, 59). There Israelites, even when exiled in a foreign land, 'pray and plead for favour' turned toward the land, the city and the house. The same Hebrew verb also appears in Esther 4:8 and 8:3, where Esther pleads for favour before a Persian king.
Where it appears
Daniel · 2
-
Daniel 4:27 בְּמִחַ֣ן by showing mercy to
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: 'By showing grace/favour to', an infinitive of the root ḥnn, the root behind Hebrew ḥēn ('grace, favour') and the plea ḥonnēnî ('be gracious to me'). It means active, generous kindness to someone with no claim on you, not lenience toward an offender.
-
Daniel 6:11 וּמִתְחַנַּ֖ן and imploring favor
Then these men went as a group and found Daniel petitioning and imploring his God.
Here: 'And pleading for favour.' The root means grace or favour, and this form means asking for favour for oneself. It is the language of someone throwing himself on a superior's goodwill, and it goes beyond the 'thanks' of v. 10 into actual pleading.
Word data: STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0), main text only.