Aramaic word · H5023
נְבִזְבָּה
unevizbah
reward
Reward, payment, gift given as a reward. A rare word of uncertain origin, almost certainly borrowed (Persian and Akkadian sources have both been proposed). Only in Dan 2:6 and 5:17.
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
reward
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
- Range of meaning
Reward, payment, gift given as a reward. A rare word of uncertain origin, almost certainly borrowed (Persian and Akkadian sources have both been proposed). Only in Dan 2:6 and 5:17.
- Against the English
KJV/ESV/BSB “rewards”; YLT “fee”. “Fee” brings out the idea of payment for services, while “rewards” sounds more like a prize. Theodotion's Greek renders it with dōrea (“gift, bounty”).
- Used elsewhere in the period
Dan 2:6, where it sits alongside “gifts” and “great honor” in Nebuchadnezzar's offer for interpreting his dream. Lexicons (BDB, HALOT) list the etymology as uncertain.
Where it appears
Daniel · 2
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Daniel 2:6 וּנְבִזְבָּה֙ and a reward
But if you tell me the dream and its interpretation, you will receive from me gifts and rewards and great honor. So tell me the dream and its interpretation.”
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Daniel 5:17 וּנְבָ֥זְבְּיָתָ֖ךְ and rewards your
In response, Daniel said to the king, “You may keep your gifts for yourself and give your rewards to someone else. Nevertheless, I will read the inscription for the king and interpret it for him.
Here: A rare word, probably borrowed from another language, found only here and in Dan 2:6. It means a reward or payment granted by a king. Here it most likely covers the promised promotion to “third in the kingdom” and its perks.
Word data: STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0), main text only.