Aramaic word · H363

אִילָן

'ilan

tree

Tree, especially a large one. The word is found in Aramaic only. In Daniel it always means the dream tree (4:10–23).

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

Appears 6 times in 6 verses of the Aramaic of the Old Testament. ·

What it means

ram

Aramaic of a.yil (אַ֫יִל "terebinth" H0352D)

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 4:14

Range of meaning

Tree, especially a large one. The word is found in Aramaic only. In Daniel it always means the dream tree (4:10–23).

Against the English

'Tree' is accurate. Readers need to know that this tree is a symbol for a king and empire. It is not just a plant.

Used elsewhere in the period

Ezekiel 31 pictures Assyria as a cosmic cedar sheltering birds and animals before it is cut down. Ezekiel 17:22–24 and 19:10–14 use trees and vines for royal houses. Images of a world tree at the center of the earth are common across the ancient Near East.

From the study of Daniel 4:20

Range of meaning

A large tree in general. In Biblical Aramaic it occurs only in Daniel 4 (vv. 10, 11, 14, 20, 23, 26 in English numbering). It is the ordinary Aramaic word for tree, matching Hebrew ʿēṣ.

Against the English

"Tree" is accurate. What English cannot show is that, in this literary world, a great tree was a standard picture of a king or empire.

Used elsewhere in the period

The same image appears in Ezekiel 31, where Assyria and Egypt are a cedar of Lebanon "whose top was among the clouds", with birds nesting in its branches and beasts giving birth under it, until it is cut down. Ezekiel 17 also uses trees for kings. Ancient Near Eastern art and texts used sacred or cosmic trees as symbols of order and life. Commentators (e.g., Collins, Hermeneia) also point to Nebuchadnezzar's own building inscriptions, which picture Babylon sheltering the nations under its protective shade.

Where it appears

Daniel · 6

  1. Daniel 4:10 אִילָ֛ן a tree

    In these visions of my mind as I was lying in bed, I saw this come to pass: There was a tree in the midst of the land, and its height was great.

  2. Daniel 4:11 אִֽילָנָ֖א tree the

    The tree grew large and strong; its top reached the sky, and it was visible to the ends of the earth.

  3. Daniel 4:14 אִֽילָנָא֙ tree the

    He called out in a loud voice: ‘Cut down the tree and chop off its branches; strip off its leaves and scatter its fruit. Let the beasts flee from under it, and the birds from its branches.

    Here: 'The tree': the giant tree of the dream (4:10–12) that reached heaven and fed and sheltered every creature. Daniel later identifies it as the king himself (4:22).

  4. Daniel 4:20 אִֽילָנָא֙ tree the

    The tree you saw that grew large and strong, whose top reached the sky and was visible to all the earth,

    Here: "The tree". The ending -āʾ works like English "the": this is the tree already described in the king's dream (4:10–12). Daniel begins his explanation by pointing back to it.

  5. Daniel 4:23 אִֽילָנָ֜א tree the

    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: 'The tree': the huge, world-sheltering tree of the dream (vv. 10–12), which v. 22 has just identified as the king himself.

  6. Daniel 4:26 אִֽילָנָ֔א tree the

    As for the command to leave the stump of the tree with its roots, your kingdom will be restored to you as soon as you acknowledge that Heaven rules.

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