Aramaic word · H3029
יְדָא
mehode'
to praise
To acknowledge, praise, or give thanks. It is related to Hebrew hôdâ, which covers thanks, praise, and confession, whether of God's name or of one's sin.
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 praise, give thanks
Aramaic of ya.dah (יָדָה "to give thanks" H3034)
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 acknowledge, praise, or give thanks. It is related to Hebrew hôdâ, which covers thanks, praise, and confession, whether of God's name or of one's sin.
- Against the English
'Gave thanks' (KJV, BSB, ESV, NIV) is correct but narrower. YLT's 'confessing' and the Vulgate's 'confitebatur' bring out the element of open acknowledgement.
- How it drifted
Modern English 'thanks' usually means gratitude for a specific benefit received.
- Used elsewhere in the period
Daniel uses the same verb in 2:23: 'I thank and praise you, God of my fathers.' The Hebrew hôdû l-YHWH, 'give thanks/acknowledge the LORD', runs through the Psalms (e.g. Psalm 136). Theodotion's Greek renders it exomologoumenos, 'confessing/acknowledging'.
- Range of meaning
In its causative form: to acknowledge, confess, give thanks, praise. It matches Hebrew hodah (from yadah), whose core idea is openly declaring or confessing something, especially what God has done. Thanks in this sense is speech that testifies, not mainly an inner feeling.
- Against the English
English versions say "thank" (KJV, WEB, YLT) or "give thanks" (BSB). That is accurate, but modern "thanks" is often a private emotion or a polite word. The Semitic word is public acknowledgment: naming God as the one who did it.
- How it drifted
Modern English "thank" has narrowed toward personal gratitude. The older sense of acknowledging or confessing someone publicly has faded.
- Used elsewhere in the period
Biblical Aramaic uses it only here and in Dan 6:10 (Aramaic 6:11), where Daniel prays and "gives thanks before his God" three times a day. Hebrew hodah is the verb of the thanksgiving psalms (todah), which retell a rescue before the assembly. The Greek of Theodotion renders it exomologoumai, "I confess / openly acknowledge."
Where it appears
Daniel · 2
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Daniel 2:23 מְהוֹדֵ֤א [am] praising
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: A participle (a verb form for ongoing action): "I am acknowledging." Like Hebrew hodah, it means openly declaring what God has done. It is public testimony, not only a private feeling of gratitude.
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Daniel 6:10 וּמוֹדֵא֙ and [was] praising
Now when Daniel learned that the document had been signed, he went into his house, where the windows of his upper room opened toward Jerusalem, and three times a day he got down on his knees, prayed, and gave thanks to his God, just as he had done before.
Here: Openly acknowledging God: thanks, praise and confession of who he is. It is related to Hebrew hôdâ and tôdâ. He does this while under threat of death.
Word data: STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0), main text only.