Aramaic word · H3916

לֵילָא

beleileya'

night

Literally 'in it, in the night'. Aramaic often attaches a pronoun ahead of time to point at a noun that follows. This gives the noun emphasis: 'in that very night', 'that same night'.

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

night

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 5:30

Range of meaning

Literally 'in it, in the night'. Aramaic often attaches a pronoun ahead of time to point at a noun that follows. This gives the noun emphasis: 'in that very night', 'that same night'.

Against the English

BSB and other modern versions ('That very night') keep the emphasis. KJV and WEB ('In that night') are accurate but weaker. YLT ('In that night ... is slain') keeps the wording but turns the verb into a present tense.

Used elsewhere in the period

Daniel uses the same construction elsewhere: 3:6 and 3:15 (בַּהּ שַׁעֲתָא, 'in that very hour') and 4:33 [Eng] / 4:30 [Aram.] ('in that very hour the word was fulfilled'). The same device in 4:33 marks the instant fulfilment of Nebuchadnezzar's sentence.

Where it appears

Daniel · 5

  1. Daniel 2:19 לֵילְיָ֖א night the

    During the night, the mystery was revealed to Daniel in a vision, and he blessed the God of heaven

    Here: 'The night'. It is probably the same night the friends prayed, inside the short delay the king allowed (2:16). Night was the expected time for divine messages.

  2. Daniel 5:30 בְּלֵ֣ילְיָ֔א on night the

    That very night Belshazzar king of the Chaldeans was slain,

    Here: 'In the night.' The word has the definite article, so it means the particular night just described, the night the banquet (v. 1) was still going on. Judgment does not wait for morning.

  3. Daniel 7:2 לֵֽילְיָ֑א night the

    Daniel declared: “In my vision in the night I looked, and suddenly the four winds of heaven were churning up the great sea.

    Here: 'The night'. It places the vision in the hours of sleep, the usual setting for revelatory dreams in Daniel (2:19) and the wider ancient Near East.

  4. Daniel 7:7 לֵֽילְיָ֗א night the

    After this, as I watched in my vision in the night, suddenly a fourth beast appeared, and it was terrifying—dreadful and extremely strong—with large iron teeth. It devoured and crushed; then it trampled underfoot whatever was left. It was different from all the beasts before it, and it had ten horns.

    Here: 'The night'. These are revelations given in a dream at night (7:1), a recognized channel of divine communication in the ancient world.

  5. Daniel 7:13 לֵֽילְיָ֔א night the

    In my vision in the night I continued to watch, and I saw One like the Son of Man coming with the clouds of heaven. He approached the Ancient of Days and was led into His presence.

    Here: 'Of the night.' It places the experience in a dream-vision while Daniel lay on his bed (7:1). This was a recognised channel of divine revelation.

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