Aramaic word · H4083

מְדִינָה

medinat

province

Mədînāh means 'jurisdiction, administrative district'. It comes from the root d-y-n, 'to judge, govern', so it is literally 'an area under someone's jurisdiction'. Yəhûd is the Aramaic form of the name Judah used by the Persian administration.

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

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

What it means

district, province

Aramaic of me.di.nah (מְדִינָה "province" H4082)

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 5:8

Range of meaning

Mədînāh means 'jurisdiction, administrative district'. It comes from the root d-y-n, 'to judge, govern', so it is literally 'an area under someone's jurisdiction'. Yəhûd is the Aramaic form of the name Judah used by the Persian administration.

Against the English

KJV: 'province of Judea'. 'Judea' is the later Greco-Roman form of the name. Modern versions: 'province of Judah'. Neither English rendering shows that 'Yehud' was the official imperial name.

Used elsewhere in the period

Coins and seal impressions of the Persian and early Hellenistic periods read 'yhd' (Yehud). Elephantine papyrus TAD A4.7 (about 407 BCE) mentions 'Bagavahya, governor of Yehud'.

From the study of Daniel 2:48

Range of meaning

"Province, administrative district." It comes from dyn, "to judge", so it first meant an area under someone's jurisdiction. It can also mean a city or region in general.

Against the English

"Province" is accurate in all versions. The Vulgate's plural "all the provinces of Babylon" makes the area sound bigger than the Aramaic does.

Used elsewhere in the period

A standard term in Imperial Aramaic and in Hebrew books of the Persian period: Ezra 5:8 ("the province of Judah"), Esther 1:1 (127 provinces), Nehemiah 1:3, and the Elephantine papyri.

From the study of Daniel 3:1

Range of meaning

An administrative district under a ruler's jurisdiction; a province. Later Aramaic also uses it for 'city'. From the root dyn, 'to judge', so literally 'area of jurisdiction'.

Against the English

'Province' everywhere. It is accurate, but readers can miss that this is exactly the district just mentioned in 2:49.

Used elsewhere in the period

Used for Persian provinces in Esther 1:1 and Ezra 2:1, and in Daniel 2:48–49 and 3:2–3, 30.

Where it appears

Ezra · 4

  1. Ezra 4:15 וּמְדִנָ֔ן and provinces

    that a search should be made of the record books of your fathers. In these books you will discover and verify that the city is a rebellious city, harmful to kings and provinces, inciting sedition from ancient times. That is why this city was destroyed.

  2. Ezra 5:8 מְדִֽינְתָּא֙ province the

    Let it be known to the king that we went into the province of Judah, to the house of the great God. The people are rebuilding it with large stones and placing timbers in the walls. This work is being carried out diligently and is prospering in their hands.

    Here: 'The province': a district under its own governor, inside the much larger region 'Beyond the River' that Tattenai governed. Calling it this frames Judah as one more administrative unit of the empire, not a kingdom.

  3. Ezra 6:2 מְדִינְתָּ֖ה province the

    And a scroll was found in the fortress of Ecbatana, in the province of Media, with the following written on it: Memorandum:

  4. Ezra 7:16 מְדִינַ֣ת [the] province of

    together with all the silver and gold you may find in all the province of Babylon, as well as the freewill offerings of the people and priests to the house of their God in Jerusalem.

Daniel · 7

  1. Daniel 2:48 מְדִינַ֣ת [the] province of

    Then the king promoted Daniel and gave him many generous gifts. He made him ruler over the entire province of Babylon and chief administrator over all the wise men of Babylon.

    Here: "The province of." A district of government. The word comes from the root "judge", so it originally meant an area under someone's jurisdiction. Here it is the home region around the capital, not the whole empire.

  2. Daniel 2:49 מְדִינַ֣ת [the] province of

    And at Daniel’s request, the king appointed Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego to manage the province of Babylon, while Daniel remained in the king’s court.

  3. Daniel 3:1 בִּמְדִינַ֖ת in [the] province of

    King Nebuchadnezzar made a golden statue sixty cubits high and six cubits wide, and he set it up on the plain of Dura in the province of Babylon.

    Here: 'In the province of'. This is the same district Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego had just been put in charge of (2:49). The ceremony happens in their own jurisdiction, so their refusal cannot be hidden.

  4. Daniel 3:2 מְדִֽינָתָ֑א provinces the

    Then King Nebuchadnezzar sent word to assemble the satraps, prefects, governors, advisers, treasurers, judges, magistrates, and all the other officials of the provinces to attend the dedication of the statue he had set up.

  5. Daniel 3:3 מְדִֽינָתָ֔א provinces the

    So the satraps, prefects, governors, advisers, treasurers, judges, magistrates, and all the rulers of the provinces assembled for the dedication of the statue that King Nebuchadnezzar had set up, and they stood before it.

  6. Daniel 3:12 מְדִינַ֣ת [the] province of

    But there are some Jews you have appointed to manage the province of Babylon—Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego—who have ignored you, O king, and have refused to serve your gods or worship the golden statue you have set up.”

    Here: A judicial and administrative district. 'The province of Babylon' is the home province around the capital, the most prestigious posting there was (2:48–49).

  7. Daniel 3:30 בִּמְדִינַ֥ת in [the] province of

    Then the king promoted Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego in the province of Babylon.

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