Aramaic word · H5407

נִשְׁתְּוָן

nishtevana'

document

An official written document, letter or order. It is a loanword from Old Persian, usually traced to a form like *ništāvana-, from a verb meaning 'to command'. So it means a written directive, not private correspondence.

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

Appears 3 times in 3 verses of the Aramaic of the Old Testament. ·

What it means

letter

Aramaic of nish.te.van (נִשְׁתְּוָן "letter" H5406)

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 4:23

Range of meaning

An official written document, letter or order. It is a loanword from Old Persian, usually traced to a form like *ništāvana-, from a verb meaning 'to command'. So it means a written directive, not private correspondence.

Against the English

'Letter' (all major versions) is fine, but it can suggest a personal note. The word belongs to the language of the Persian chancery (the royal office that issued documents) and carries the weight of a royal order.

Used elsewhere in the period

Used in Ezra 4:7 and 4:18 (and 4:23). The word nštwn is also attested in Imperial Aramaic administrative documents from Achaemenid Egypt (per HALOT). Many Persian administrative terms entered Aramaic, the official language of communication across the empire.

Where it appears

Ezra · 3

  1. Ezra 4:18 נִשְׁתְּוָנָ֕א letter the

    The letter you sent us has been translated and read in my presence.

  2. Ezra 4:23 נִשְׁתְּוָנָא֙ letter the

    When the text of the letter from King Artaxerxes was read to Rehum, Shimshai the scribe, and their associates, they went immediately to the Jews in Jerusalem and forcibly stopped them.

    Here: Another Persian administrative word: an official written communication, here the king's reply and order of 4:17–22. It is a government document, not a personal letter.

  3. Ezra 5:5 נִשְׁתְּוָנָ֖א letter the

    But the eye of their God was on the elders of the Jews, so that they were not stopped until a report was sent to Darius and written instructions about this matter were returned.

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