Aramaic word · H2631
חֲסַן
veyachsenun
to possess
In the causative form used in Daniel (7:18, 22): to take into possession, hold securely. The root is linked with strength and stored wealth: Hebrew ḥosen means 'treasure, wealth' (Prov 15:6; Jer 20:5; Isa 33:6) and Isa 23:18 has 'stored up'.
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
(Aphel) to take possession of
Aramaic of cha.san (חָסַן "to hoard" H2630)
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
In the causative form used in Daniel (7:18, 22): to take into possession, hold securely. The root is linked with strength and stored wealth: Hebrew ḥosen means 'treasure, wealth' (Prov 15:6; Jer 20:5; Isa 33:6) and Isa 23:18 has 'stored up'. In later Jewish Aramaic (the Targums, the Aramaic translations of scripture), aḥsanta is the normal word for 'inheritance', translating Hebrew naḥalah, the land-inheritance of Israel.
- Against the English
Most versions have 'possess', which is good. YLT's 'strengthen' follows the root's link with strength too literally. In context the verb means taking possession, not making the kingdom strong.
- Used elsewhere in the period
Found in the Bible only in Dan 7:18 and 7:22 ('the time came, and the holy ones took possession of the kingdom'). The inheritance meaning is clear in later Targumic Aramaic. That is later than Daniel, so its echo here is likely but not certain.
- Range of meaning
The root is linked to strength (Hebrew ḥāsōn 'strong', Amos 2:9; Isa 1:31; ḥōsen 'wealth, treasure'). In the Aramaic causative stem it means to take possession of, hold firmly, occupy as one's own. It occurs only in Daniel 7:18 and 7:22.
- Against the English
Most versions: 'possessed'. YLT's 'strengthened the kingdom' follows the root too literally and misleads, as though the holy ones made an existing kingdom stronger rather than came to own it.
- How it drifted
YLT translates from the root's etymology rather than from how the verb is used. Other versions are accurate.
- Used elsewhere in the period
Daniel 7:18 uses the same verb: the holy ones 'will possess the kingdom forever, forever and ever'. Later Jewish Aramaic uses the verb for taking hold of or inheriting property. Both Greek versions render it with a verb of 'holding'.
Where it appears
Daniel · 2
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Daniel 7:18 וְיַחְסְנ֤וּן so they may take possession of
But the saints of the Most High will receive the kingdom and possess it forever—yes, forever and ever.’
Here: To take hold of something and keep it as a secure possession. In later Jewish Aramaic the same root gives the ordinary word for an inheritance. First they receive the kingdom, then they hold it, and nobody takes it from them.
-
Daniel 7:22 הֶחֱסִ֥נוּ they took possession of
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: 'They took possession of'. The root has to do with strength; in this verb form it means to take firm hold of something as your own. It is a change of ownership, not a strengthening of the kingdom.
Word data: STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0), main text only.