אֲמָנָה

From the study of Nehemiah 11:23

Range of meaning

A firm, binding arrangement or agreement, something fixed and reliable. It comes from the root ʾ-m-n ('to be firm, trustworthy'), the same root behind ʾemunah ('faithfulness') and amen. As a noun for an arrangement it appears only in Nehemiah: 9:38 (Heb. 10:1), 'we are making a firm agreement', and here. (A word spelled the same way in Song 4:8 is a place name.)

Against the English

KJV 'a certain portion' and WEB 'a settled provision' read it as a fixed provision. BSB 'an ordinance' reads it as a regulation. YLT 'support' is a guess at its function. All of these are reasonable. The core idea in every case is fixedness and reliability.

How it drifted

KJV 'certain' meant 'fixed, determined' in 1611. Modern readers hear 'some particular' (see drift).

Used elsewhere in the period

In Neh 9:38 (Heb 10:1) the community 'cuts' (karat) an ʾamanah. That is the verb normally used for making a covenant, so the word belongs to the language of binding commitments. Later Hebrew uses ʾamanah for a pact or a pledge of trust.

From the study of Nehemiah 9:38

Range of meaning

A firm, settled arrangement: a fixed stipulation or binding undertaking. It comes from the root ʾ-m-n, 'to be firm, reliable', the same root as ʾāmēn ('surely, so be it') and ʾĕmûnāh ('steadfastness, faithfulness'). The word appears only twice in the Hebrew Bible as a common noun: here, and in Nehemiah 11:23. There it names a royal 'fixed provision' for the temple singers, a daily allowance (ʾămānāh ʿal-hamšōrərîm, dᵉbar-yôm bᵉyômô).

Against the English

KJV and WEB say 'a sure covenant' and YLT says 'a stedfast covenant'. In all three, 'covenant' is an English addition (KJV prints it in italics). ESV also says 'a firm covenant'. BSB and NIV have 'a binding agreement', NASB 'an agreement', NLT 'a solemn promise'. 'Agreement' or 'pledge' is closer to the word itself. 'Covenant' correctly captures the solemn, binding character, but it brings in the specific word bərît, which the text does not use.

How it drifted

English Bibles supplied 'covenant' because the verb 'cut' (kārat) normally takes bərît ('covenant') as its object. Readers then hear the great theological covenant (with Abraham, at Sinai). But this verse describes a written, sealed pledge drawn up by the community itself.

Used elsewhere in the period

Nehemiah 11:23 uses it for a fixed royal stipulation. The Septuagint (the Greek translation of the Old Testament) renders it here with pistis, 'pledge, trust, guarantee', in the sense of a pledged word. In later Hebrew ʾămānāh came to mean 'trust' or 'deposit', and in modern Hebrew 'treaty'. The meaning of firmness and binding reliability stays constant.