Aramaic word · H3202

יְכִל

yakhil

be able

'Be able, have power to; overcome.' Here it is in the completed (past) form with a question marker: 'has he been able?' / 'was he able?'

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

Appears 11 times in 10 verses of the Aramaic of the Old Testament. ·

What it means

1) to be able

1a) (P'al)

1a1) to be able

1a2) to prevail

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 6:20

Range of meaning

'Be able, have power to; overcome.' Here it is in the completed (past) form with a question marker: 'has he been able?' / 'was he able?'

Against the English

BSB, NIV, ESV and NASB keep the past sense ('has… been able'). KJV, WEB and YLT use the present ('is thy God able'). The present makes it sound like a general question about God's power. The king is actually asking what happened during the night.

Used elsewhere in the period

It echoes Dan 3:17 closely, where the three friends say, 'our God whom we serve (pelaḥ) is able (yakhil) to rescue us (leshezavutana).' The same three words come together: worship, be able, rescue. Nebuchadnezzar had asked, 'who is the god who will rescue you out of my hands?' (3:15).

From the study of Daniel 3:17

Range of meaning

To be able, have power to, prevail. The participle yākil means 'able'.

Against the English

All versions translate it 'is able'. The disagreement is over whether it sits inside the 'if' clause or forms the main clause.

Used elsewhere in the period

Dan 2:10, 27, 47 uses it for ability to reveal mysteries; 4:34 for God's ability to humble the proud; 6:21 for Darius asking 'has your God… been able to rescue you?' The chapter's closing confession in 3:29 says there is 'no other god who is able (yikkul) to rescue like this'.

Where it appears

Daniel · 11

  1. Daniel 2:10 יוּכַ֖ל he will be able

    The astrologers answered the king, “No one on earth can do what the king requests! No king, however great and powerful, has ever asked anything like this of any magician, enchanter, or astrologer.

  2. Daniel 2:27 יָכְלִ֖ין [are] being able

    Daniel answered the king, “No wise man, enchanter, medium, or magician can explain to the king the mystery of which he inquires.

  3. Daniel 2:47 יְכֵ֔לְתָּ you have been able

    The king said to Daniel, “Your God is truly the God of gods and Lord of kings, the Revealer of Mysteries, since you were able to reveal this mystery.”

    Here: 'You have been able.' The 'you' is singular, meaning Daniel. The word answers the chapter's running theme of who 'can' do this. The Babylonian experts said no human could (2:10–11, 27), and Daniel said God could (2:28).

  4. Daniel 3:17 יָכִ֖ל [is] being able

    If the God whom we serve exists, then He is able to deliver us from the blazing fiery furnace and from your hand, O king.

    Here: A participle, 'able'. It may be what 'there is' (word 2) is completing ('if our God… is able'), or it may be the main verb of the result clause ('he is able'). It looks ahead to v.29, where the king admits no other god 'is able' to rescue like this.

  5. Daniel 3:29 יִכֻּ֥ל he is able

    Therefore I decree that the people of any nation or language who say anything offensive against the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego will be cut into pieces and their houses reduced to rubble. For there is no other god who can deliver in this way.”

    Here: 'Is able'. This answers the king's sneer in 3:15 ('who is the god who will rescue you?') and the young men's reply in 3:17 ('our God... is able').

  6. Daniel 4:18 יָכְלִ֤ין [are] able

    This is the dream that I, King Nebuchadnezzar, saw. Now, Belteshazzar, tell me the interpretation, because none of the wise men of my kingdom can interpret it for me. But you are able, because the spirit of the holy gods is in you.”

  7. Daniel 4:37 יָכִ֖ל [he is] able

    Now I, Nebuchadnezzar, praise and exalt and glorify the King of heaven, for all His works are true and all His ways are just. And He is able to humble those who walk in pride.

    Here: 'He is able.' This answers the king's own taunt in 3:15 ('who is the god who will deliver you?'), the friends' 'our God is able' (3:17), and the king's admission in 3:29. Now he has felt that power himself.

  8. Daniel 5:16 תִיכּ֥וּל תִּכ֨וּל you are able, you will be able

    But I have heard about you, that you are able to give interpretations and solve difficult problems. Therefore, if you can read this inscription and give me its interpretation, you will be clothed in purple and have a gold chain placed around your neck, and you will be made the third highest ruler in the kingdom.”

  9. Daniel 6:4 יָכְלִ֣ין [they were] able

    Thus the administrators and satraps sought a charge against Daniel concerning the kingdom, but they could find no charge or corruption, because he was trustworthy, and no negligence or corruption was found in him.

    Here: Participle, 'they were (still) unable'. The inability continues alongside the continuing search.

  10. Daniel 6:20 הַיְכִ֥ל ¿ was he able

    When he reached the den, he cried out in a voice of anguish, “O Daniel, servant of the living God, has your God, whom you serve continually, been able to deliver you from the lions?”

    Here: The prefix ha- turns this into a question, and the verb is in the past or completed form: 'has he been able?' The king is asking how the night turned out, not making a general statement about what God can do.

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