Aramaic word · H4504

מִנְחָה

uminchatehon

offering

In Hebrew (H4503): a gift, tribute paid to an overlord, or a sacrificial offering, especially the grain offering of Leviticus 2. In Biblical Aramaic it occurs only here and in Ezra 7:17, where it means grain offerings brought to the Jerusalem altar.

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

Appears 2 times in 2 verses of the Aramaic of the Old Testament. ·

What it means

1) gift, offering

1a) oblation, offering (to God through representative)

1b) meal offering

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 2:46

Range of meaning

In Hebrew (H4503): a gift, tribute paid to an overlord, or a sacrificial offering, especially the grain offering of Leviticus 2. In Biblical Aramaic it occurs only here and in Ezra 7:17, where it means grain offerings brought to the Jerusalem altar.

Against the English

KJV "oblation" (an old word for something offered to God) keeps the sacred sense. "Offering" (BSB, WEB, ESV, NIV) is accurate but can sound to modern ears like a gift or a collection. NLT's "sacrifices" makes the cultic sense plain.

Used elsewhere in the period

Ezra 7:17 (Aramaic, sacrificial). The Old Greek renders this phrase as θυσίας ("sacrifices"). Theodotion simply transliterates it as μαναα (manaa), treating it as a technical term.

Where it appears

Ezra · 1

  1. Ezra 7:17 וּמִנְחָתְה֖וֹן and grain offerings their

    With this money, therefore, you are to buy as many bulls, rams, and lambs as needed, together with their grain offerings and drink offerings, and offer them on the altar at the house of your God in Jerusalem.

Daniel · 1

  1. Daniel 2:46 וּמִנְחָה֙ and offering

    At this, King Nebuchadnezzar fell on his face, paid homage to Daniel, and ordered that an offering and incense be presented to him.

    Here: "And an offering." The Hebrew relative of this word is the priestly term for a grain offering, and Ezra 7:17 uses the Aramaic form for offerings at the Jerusalem altar. Next to "soothing aromas" it means a sacrificial offering, not just a present.

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