Aramaic word · H280
אֲחִידָה
'achidan
riddle
Riddle, enigma, obscure or veiled saying, a hard question. It is the Aramaic equivalent of Hebrew ḥîdâ.
A Biblical Aramaic word, from the parts of the Old Testament written in Aramaic. Why Aramaic?
Appears once in the Aramaic of the Old Testament. ·
What it means
puzzle, riddle
Aramaic of chi.dah (חִידָה "riddle" H2420)
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
Riddle, enigma, obscure or veiled saying, a hard question. It is the Aramaic equivalent of Hebrew ḥîdâ.
- Against the English
KJV 'hard sentences': 'sentence' here is the older sense of 'saying, pronouncement' (as in 'sententious'), not a grammatical sentence or a court sentence. WEB 'dark sentences', YLT 'enigmas', BSB/ESV/NIV/NLT 'riddles'.
- How it drifted
'Sentence' moved from 'a saying or opinion' to the modern grammatical and legal senses.
- Used elsewhere in the period
Samson's riddle (Judg 14:12–19); the Queen of Sheba testing Solomon 'with hard questions' (ḥîdôt, 1 Kgs 10:1); the Lord speaking to Moses 'not in riddles' (Num 12:8); 'the words of the wise and their riddles' (Prov 1:6); 'dark sayings of old' (Ps 78:2). Daniel 8:23 (Hebrew) describes a coming fierce king 'skilled in riddles'. Josephus (Ant. 8.143–149, citing Phoenician historians) tells of Solomon and Hiram exchanging riddles. Riddle-contests were part of royal court wisdom.
Where it appears
Daniel · 1
-
Daniel 5:12 אֲחִידָ֜ן riddles
did this because Daniel, the one he named Belteshazzar, was found to have an extraordinary spirit, as well as knowledge, understanding, and the ability to interpret dreams, explain riddles, and solve difficult problems. Summon Daniel, therefore, and he will give you the interpretation.”
Here: Riddles or enigmatic sayings whose meaning is hidden. The writing on the wall that the king cannot read is just such a riddle.
Word data: STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0), main text only.