Aramaic word · H2920

טַל

umital

dew

Ṭal is dew or night mist. In the Levant and Mesopotamia heavy dew was a main source of moisture in the dry season. 'Dew of heaven' is a fixed phrase for moisture from the sky.

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

Appears 5 times in 5 verses of the Aramaic of the Old Testament. ·

What it means

dew

Aramaic of tal (טַל "dew" H2919)

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 4:15

Range of meaning

Ṭal is dew or night mist. In the Levant and Mesopotamia heavy dew was a main source of moisture in the dry season. 'Dew of heaven' is a fixed phrase for moisture from the sky.

Against the English

'Dew of heaven' (BSB, KJV, ESV) is a fair literal rendering. WEB's 'dew of the sky' makes the physical sense clear. The phrase means 'sky', not the afterlife.

Used elsewhere in the period

Genesis 27:28 and 39 ('the dew of heaven' as blessing or its absence); Deuteronomy 33:13; Hosea 14:5. In Daniel 4 the phrase comes back in verses 23, 25 and 33 and in 5:21.

Where it appears

Daniel · 5

  1. Daniel 4:15 וּבְטַ֤ל and with [the] dew of

    But leave the stump with its roots in the ground, with a band of iron and bronze around it, in the tender grass of the field. Let him be drenched with the dew of heaven and graze with the beasts on the grass of the earth.

    Here: 'And with the dew.' In that climate, night dew was heavy and soaking. Being covered in it means sleeping outdoors with no roof.

  2. Daniel 4:23 וּבְטַ֧ל and with [the] dew of

    And you, O king, saw a watcher, a holy one, coming down from heaven and saying: ‘Cut down the tree and destroy it, but leave the stump with its roots in the ground, with a band of iron and bronze around it, in the tender grass of the field. Let him be drenched with the dew of heaven, and graze with the beasts of the field till seven times pass him by.’

    Here: 'And with the dew': the night moisture that soaks anyone sleeping outdoors with no roof.

  3. Daniel 4:25 וּמִטַּ֤ל and from [the] dew of

    You will be driven away from mankind, and your dwelling will be with the beasts of the field. You will feed on grass like an ox and be drenched with the dew of heaven, and seven times shall pass you by, until you acknowledge that the Most High rules over the kingdom of mankind and gives it to whom He wishes.

    Here: "And from the dew". He sleeps outside with no roof, and the night moisture soaks him.

  4. Daniel 4:33 וּמִטַּ֥ל and from [the] dew of

    At that moment the sentence against Nebuchadnezzar was fulfilled. He was driven away from mankind. He ate grass like an ox, and his body was drenched with the dew of heaven, until his hair grew like the feathers of an eagle and his nails like the claws of a bird.

  5. Daniel 5:21 וּמִטַּ֥ל and from [the] dew of

    He was driven away from mankind, and his mind was like that of a beast. He lived with the wild donkeys and ate grass like an ox, and his body was drenched with the dew of heaven until he acknowledged that the Most High God rules over the kingdom of mankind, setting over it whom He wishes.

    Here: Night dew. He slept in the open with no roof over him.

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