Aramaic word · H3345

יְקַד

yakidta'

to burn

To burn or blaze. In Biblical Aramaic it is used only in this repeated phrase about the furnace. Hebrew yaqad means "burn" (e.g. Deuteronomy 32:22, "a fire is kindled… it burns").

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

Appears 8 times in 8 verses of the Aramaic of the Old Testament. ·

What it means

(P'al) to burn

Aramaic of ya.qad (יָקַד "to burn" H3344)

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 3:11

Range of meaning

To burn or blaze. In Biblical Aramaic it is used only in this repeated phrase about the furnace. Hebrew yaqad means "burn" (e.g. Deuteronomy 32:22, "a fire is kindled… it burns").

Against the English

KJV and ESV "burning fiery furnace" makes "burning" describe the furnace. Grammatically it describes the fire: "the furnace of the burning fire". NASB's "furnace of blazing fire" keeps this order.

Used elsewhere in the period

The full phrase "furnace of the burning fire" is repeated about eight times in Daniel 3 (vv. 6, 11, 15, 17, 20, 21, 23, 26), a deliberate refrain.

Where it appears

Daniel · 8

  1. Daniel 3:6 יָקִֽדְתָּֽא׃ <the> burning

    And whoever does not fall down and worship will immediately be thrown into the blazing fiery furnace.”

    Here: 'The burning (one)'. A participle meaning the fire is already lit and blazing, ready now. It is not a threat for some later date.

  2. Daniel 3:11 יָקִֽדְתָּֽא׃ <the> burning

    and that whoever does not fall down and worship will be thrown into the blazing fiery furnace.

    Here: An active participle, "the burning one". It is feminine to agree with "fire", so strictly it is the fire that is "burning". The fire is lit and going right now, not threatened for later.

  3. Daniel 3:15 יָקִֽדְתָּ֑א <the> burning

    Now when you hear the sound of the horn, flute, zither, lyre, harp, pipes, and all kinds of music, if you are ready to fall down and worship the statue I have made, very good. But if you refuse to worship, you will be thrown at once into the blazing fiery furnace. Then what god will be able to deliver you from my hands?”

    Here: A participle, 'the burning one': fire that is blazing now. The fixed phrase 'furnace of burning fire' recurs through the chapter like a refrain.

  4. Daniel 3:17 יָקִֽדְתָּ֛א <the> burning

    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 feminine participle that agrees with 'fire', so it describes the fire, not the furnace: 'the furnace of the fire, the blazing one'.

  5. Daniel 3:20 יָקִֽדְתָּֽא׃ <the> burning

    and he commanded some mighty men of valor in his army to tie up Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego and throw them into the blazing fiery furnace.

  6. Daniel 3:21 יָקִֽדְתָּֽא׃ <the> burning

    So they were tied up, wearing robes, trousers, turbans, and other clothes, and they were thrown into the blazing fiery furnace.

  7. Daniel 3:23 יָֽקִדְתָּ֖א <the> burning

    And these three men, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, firmly bound, fell into the blazing fiery furnace.

  8. Daniel 3:26 יָקִֽדְתָּא֒ <the> burning

    Then Nebuchadnezzar approached the door of the blazing fiery furnace and called out, “Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, servants of the Most High God, come out!” So Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego came out of the fire,

    Here: A feminine participle matching “fire”: “the fire, the one that is burning”. The full phrase “furnace of burning fire” works like a refrain in Daniel 3 (vv. 6, 11, 15, 17, 20, 21, 23, 26). It is used here one last time, at the moment the fire is shown to be powerless.

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