Aramaic word · H5972

עַם

'am

people

'am: a people, nation, ethnic community. oḥoran: another. shebaq: leave, let go, leave behind, hand over by default.

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

Appears 15 times in 14 verses of the Aramaic of the Old Testament. ·

What it means

people

Aramaic of am (עַם ": people" H5971A)

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 2:44

Range of meaning

'am: a people, nation, ethnic community. oḥoran: another. shebaq: leave, let go, leave behind, hand over by default.

Against the English

KJV's 'to other people' sounds to modern ears like 'other persons.' The phrase means another nation. NLT turns the clause into a statement that the kingdom will never be conquered, which is close in substance but loses the picture of succession.

How it drifted

In 1611 English 'people' could still mean a nation. Today 'other people' usually means other individuals.

Used elsewhere in the period

Daniel 5:28 says of Babylon: 'your kingdom is divided and given to the Medes and Persians.' Daniel 7:27 gives the kingdom to 'the people of the holy ones of the Most High.' shebaq is used in 4:15, 23, 26 for leaving the tree's stump in the ground.

From the study of Daniel 4:1

Range of meaning

'Peoples, nations, and tongues' is a fixed three-part phrase for every ethnic and language group in an empire. ʿam is people or population, ʾummah is nation or tribe, and lishshān is tongue or language community.

Against the English

KJV, WEB, YLT and NASB keep all three terms. BSB ('people of every nation and language') and NIV ('nations and peoples of every language') fold them into a smoother phrase. The meaning survives, but readers lose sight of a refrain that runs through the whole book.

Used elsewhere in the period

The phrase appears in Daniel 3:4, 3:7, 3:29, 4:1 (Aramaic 3:31), 5:19, 6:25 and 7:14. Revelation takes up a similar fourfold list ('every tribe and tongue and people and nation,' Revelation 5:9; 7:9; 13:7; 14:6).

Where it appears

Ezra · 5
  1. Ezra 5:12 וְעַמָּ֖ה and people the

    But since our fathers angered the God of heaven, He delivered them into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, the Chaldean who destroyed this temple and carried away the people to Babylon.

  2. Ezra 6:12 וְעַם֙ and people

    May God, who has caused His Name to dwell there, overthrow any king or people who lifts a hand to alter this decree or to destroy this house of God in Jerusalem. I, Darius, have issued the decree. Let it be carried out with diligence.

    Here: "Or people": a whole population. In context that includes neighbouring groups like those who had opposed the building (Ezra 4).

  3. Ezra 7:13 עַמָּ֨ה people the

    I hereby decree that any volunteers among the Israelites in my kingdom, including the priests and Levites, may go up with you to Jerusalem.

  4. Ezra 7:16 עַמָּ֤א people the

    together with all the silver and gold you may find in all the province of Babylon, as well as the freewill offerings of the people and priests to the house of their God in Jerusalem.

  5. Ezra 7:25 עַמָּה֙ people the

    And you, Ezra, according to the wisdom of your God, which you possess, are to appoint magistrates and judges to judge all the people west of the Euphrates—all who know the laws of your God. And you are to teach these laws to anyone who does not know them.

    Here: 'The people.' The next phrases narrow it down: the people in the province who know the laws of Ezra's God.

Daniel · 10
  1. Daniel 2:44 לְעַ֥ם to a people

    In the days of those kings, the God of heaven will set up a kingdom that will never be destroyed, nor will it be left to another people. It will shatter all these kingdoms and bring them to an end, but will itself stand forever.

    Here: "To a people." It means a nation or ethnic group, not 'other individuals.' Empires passed from people to people: Babylon's rule was 'given to the Medes and Persians' (5:28).

  2. Daniel 3:4 עַֽמְמַיָּ֔א peoples O

    Then the herald loudly proclaimed, “O people of every nation and language, this is what you are commanded:

  3. Daniel 3:7 עַמְמַיָּ֡א עַֽמְמַיָּ֜א peoples the

    Therefore, as soon as all the people heard the sound of the horn, flute, zither, lyre, harp, and all kinds of music, the people of every nation and language would fall down and worship the golden statue that King Nebuchadnezzar had set up.

  4. Daniel 3:29 עַ֨ם people

    Therefore I decree that the people of any nation or language who say anything offensive against the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego will be cut into pieces and their houses reduced to rubble. For there is no other god who can deliver in this way.”

    Here: First word of the three-part formula 'people, nation, and tongue' that runs through Daniel 3 for the whole multi-ethnic empire.

  5. Daniel 4:1 עַֽמְמַיָּ֞א peoples the

    King Nebuchadnezzar, To the people of every nation and language who dwell in all the earth: May your prosperity be multiplied.

    Here: 'The peoples.' These are ethnic groups or populations, the many peoples gathered under Babylon's rule. It is the first word of a three-part formula Daniel uses for the whole human world under an empire.

  6. Daniel 5:19 עַֽמְמַיָּ֗א peoples the

    Because of the greatness that He bestowed on him, the people of every nation and language trembled in fear before him. He killed whom he wished and kept alive whom he wished; he exalted whom he wished and humbled whom he wished.

  7. Daniel 6:25 עַֽמְמַיָּ֞א peoples the

    Then King Darius wrote to the people of every nation and language throughout the land: “May your prosperity abound.

    Here: 'The peoples': population groups bound by shared descent and identity. It is the first part of Daniel's stock three-part phrase for everyone in the empire.

  8. Daniel 7:14 עַֽמְמַיָּ֗א peoples the

    And He was given dominion, glory, and kingship, that the people of every nation and language should serve Him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion that will not pass away, and His kingdom is one that will never be destroyed.

    Here: Peoples as kinship and ethnic groups. It is the first word of the imperial formula 'peoples, nations and languages'.

  9. Daniel 7:27 לְעַ֖ם to a people

    Then the sovereignty, dominion, and greatness of the kingdoms under all of heaven will be given to the people, the saints of the Most High. His kingdom will be an everlasting kingdom, and all rulers will serve and obey Him.’

    Here: A people, a nation, a kin-group. A real human community on earth receives the rule.

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