Aramaic word · H5460

סְגַן

signaiya'

prefect

An official appointed by the crown, a prefect or governor of some rank. The word comes from Akkadian šaknu ("appointed one", used for governors and officials).

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

Appears 5 times in 5 verses of the Aramaic of the Old Testament. ·

What it means

prefect, governor

Aramaic of sa.gan (סָגָן "ruler" H5461)

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 2:48

Range of meaning

An official appointed by the crown, a prefect or governor of some rank. The word comes from Akkadian šaknu ("appointed one", used for governors and officials). In Daniel 3:2, 3, 27 and 6:7 (6:8 Aram.) it appears in lists of officials, ranked below satraps (provincial heads in the Persian empire) and alongside governors and counsellors.

Against the English

KJV "chief of the governors" and WEB "chief governor". YLT "chief of the perfects" (a misprint for "prefects"). ESV and NASB "chief prefect". BSB "chief administrator". NIV and NLT drop the title and say he was put "in charge of" the wise men.

How it drifted

Older English "governor" could mean any official with authority. Today it suggests the head of a state or colony. That makes Daniel's title sound like regional rule, when it is really the head of a body of appointed officials.

Used elsewhere in the period

The Hebrew form sᵉgānîm is used for Babylonian officials in Jeremiah 51:23, 28, 57 and Ezekiel 23:6, 12, 23, and for Judean officials in Ezra and Nehemiah. Later Hebrew used segan for the deputy high priest (Mishnah). Akkadian šaknu is a common official title in Neo-Babylonian documents (CAD s.v. šaknu; Kaufman, Akkadian Influences on Aramaic).

Where it appears

Daniel · 5

  1. Daniel 2:48 סִגְנִ֔ין prefects

    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: "Prefects." Officials appointed by the crown. The word was borrowed from Akkadian (the language of Babylon) šaknu, "one who is appointed". "Chief of prefects" makes Daniel the head official.

  2. Daniel 3:2 סִגְנַיָּ֣א prefects 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.

  3. Daniel 3:3 סִגְנַיָּ֣א prefects 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.

  4. Daniel 3:27 סִגְנַיָּ֣א prefects the

    and when the satraps, prefects, governors, and royal advisers had gathered around, they saw that the fire had no effect on the bodies of these men. Not a hair of their heads was singed, their robes were unaffected, and there was no smell of fire on them.

    Here: From Akkadian šaknu, "appointed one": a senior appointed official or deputy. This is the second tier of the bureaucracy listed in 3:2.

  5. Daniel 6:7 סִגְנַיָּ֤א prefects the

    All the royal administrators, prefects, satraps, advisers, and governors have agreed that the king should establish an ordinance and enforce a decree that for thirty days anyone who petitions any god or man except you, O king, will be thrown into the den of lions.

    Here: An old Mesopotamian title (Akkadian šaknu, 'appointed one') for a high officer; one item in a deliberately long, impressive list of offices.

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