Aramaic word · H586

אֲנַ֫חְנָא

'anachna'

we

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

Appears 4 times in 4 verses of the Aramaic of the Old Testament. ·

What it means

we (first pers. pl.)

Aramaic of a.nach.nu (אֲנַ֫חְנוּ "we" H0587)

Abridged from Brown, Driver and Briggs, A Hebrew and English Lexicon of the Old Testament (1906), via STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0).

Where it appears

Ezra · 2

  1. Ezra 4:16 אֲנַ֙חְנָה֙ we

    We advise the king that if this city is rebuilt and its walls are restored, you will have no dominion west of the Euphrates.

    Here: The senders, Rehum, Shimshai and their associates (vv. 8–9), speaking as one body of local officials. Spelling the pronoun out stresses that loyal servants are the ones giving the warning.

  2. Ezra 5:11 אֲנַ֣חְנָא we

    And this is the answer they returned: “We are servants of the God of heaven and earth, and we are rebuilding the temple that was built many years ago, which a great king of Israel built and completed.

    Here: "We", put first for emphasis. The officials had asked who these people were and who authorized them (5:3–4, 5:9–10). The answer opens with who they are.

Daniel · 2

  1. Daniel 3:16 אֲנַ֧חְנָה we

    Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego replied to the king, “O Nebuchadnezzar, we have no need to answer you in this matter.

    Here: An explicit “we,” which adds emphasis because the participle already implies the subject. The three speak as one. The spelling here ends in -h, while v. 17 has the usual -ʾ. The difference is spelling only.

  2. Daniel 3:17 אֲנַ֣חְנָא we

    If the God whom we serve exists, then He is able to deliver us from the blazing fiery furnace and from your hand, O king.

    Here: An explicit pronoun that adds emphasis: 'whom *we* serve', in contrast to the gods the king serves.

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