Aramaic word · H4061

מִנְדָּה

mindah-

tribute

Tribute or tax owed to a ruler: the regular, set payment a subject province or community made to the crown. Borrowed from Akkadian mandattu, from nadānu 'to give', so literally 'what is given (to the king)'.

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

Appears 4 times in 4 verses of the Aramaic of the Old Testament. ·

What it means

tribute

Aramaic of mid.dah (מִדָּה "tribute" H4060B)

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 Ezra 4:13

Range of meaning

Tribute or tax owed to a ruler: the regular, set payment a subject province or community made to the crown. Borrowed from Akkadian mandattu, from nadānu 'to give', so literally 'what is given (to the king)'.

Against the English

English versions translate it 'tribute' (BSB, WEB, most moderns) or 'toll' (KJV). 'Tribute' is closest. The KJV's 'toll' points to something smaller and more local than it was.

Used elsewhere in the period

Akkadian mandattu is the usual Assyrian and Babylonian word for tribute from subject peoples. In Biblical Aramaic the same word is spelled מִדָּה (middāh) in Ezra 4:20, and the Hebrew form shows up in Nehemiah 5:4, 'the king's tax' (middat hammelek), which Judeans borrowed money against their fields to pay. Herodotus (Histories 3.89–97) describes how the Persian Empire was split into tribute districts and lists the fifth, which included Syria-Palestine, at 350 talents of silver a year.

From the study of Ezra 4:20

Range of meaning

Tribute: the regular payment a subject owes the imperial overlord. It is the general term for the king's tax.

Against the English

Rendered "tribute" (BSB, WEB, ESV), "toll" (KJV, which orders the three words differently), and "taxes" (NIV). Versions assign the three English words to the three Aramaic words inconsistently, because the exact distinctions are uncertain.

Used elsewhere in the period

Borrowed from Akkadian mandattu (from nadānu, "to give"), the standard Assyrian and Babylonian term for tribute. Ezra 4:13; 6:8 (middat, the province's tribute used to fund the temple); 7:24; Hebrew Neh 5:4 ("the king's tax").

Where it appears

Ezra · 4

  1. Ezra 4:13 מִנְדָּֽה־ tribute

    Let it now be known to the king that if that city is rebuilt and its walls are restored, they will not pay tribute, duty, or toll, and the royal treasury will suffer.

    Here: The regular tribute owed to the crown, borrowed from Akkadian mandattu ('what is given'). It is the first of three standard Persian-era tax terms.

  2. Ezra 4:20 וּמִדָּ֥ה and tribute

    And mighty kings have ruled over Jerusalem and exercised authority over the whole region west of the Euphrates; and tribute, duty, and toll were paid to them.

    Here: A shortened spelling of mindah (the form used in 4:13 and 7:24). It is borrowed from Akkadian mandattu, the general tribute a subject people paid to its overlord.

  3. Ezra 6:8 מִדַּת֙ [is] [the] tribute of

    I hereby decree what you must do for these elders of the Jews who are rebuilding this house of God: The cost is to be paid in full to these men from the royal treasury out of the taxes of the provinces west of the Euphrates, so that the work will not be hindered.

  4. Ezra 7:24 מִנְדָּ֤ה tribute

    And be advised that you have no authority to impose tribute, duty, or toll on any of the priests, Levites, singers, doorkeepers, temple servants, or other servants of this house of God.

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