Aramaic word · H5974
עִם
'im-
with
'Anan' means 'cloud'. In Israel's scriptures clouds overwhelmingly accompany or carry God: the pillar of cloud (Exod 13:21), the cloud on Sinai (Exod 19:9; 34:5), God 'making the clouds his chariot' (Ps 104:3), 'riding on a swift cloud' (Isa 19:1), riding the skies (Deut 33:26; Ps 68:33–34).
A Biblical Aramaic word, from the parts of the Old Testament written in Aramaic. Why Aramaic?
Appears 22 times in 20 verses of the Aramaic of the Old Testament. ·
What it means
1) with
1a) together with, with
1b) with, during
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
- Range of meaning
'Anan' means 'cloud'. In Israel's scriptures clouds overwhelmingly accompany or carry God: the pillar of cloud (Exod 13:21), the cloud on Sinai (Exod 19:9; 34:5), God 'making the clouds his chariot' (Ps 104:3), 'riding on a swift cloud' (Isa 19:1), riding the skies (Deut 33:26; Ps 68:33–34). 'Shemayya' is both the visible sky and the realm of God.
- Against the English
Most versions say 'with the clouds of heaven'. WEB's 'clouds of the sky' is also accurate. 'Heaven' can make a modern reader think of the afterlife, but here the sky itself is God's domain.
- Used elsewhere in the period
Elsewhere in the Hebrew Bible, coming or riding on the clouds is said of God. Ugaritic texts from Canaan call the storm-god Baal 'rider of the clouds' (rkb ʿrpt), and Baal receives kingship from the aged high god El. Many scholars (e.g. Emerton, 1958) see this older pattern of imagery behind Daniel 7. The Old Greek renders it 'upon the clouds'.
Where it appears
Ezra · 4
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Ezra 5:2 וְעִמְּה֛וֹן and [were] with them
Then Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel and Jeshua son of Jozadak rose up and began to rebuild the house of God in Jerusalem. And the prophets of God were with them, helping them.
Here: "And with them." It puts the prophets at the builders' side. They were present and involved, not commenting from a distance.
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Ezra 6:8 עִם־ with
I hereby decree what you must do for these elders of the Jews who are rebuilding this house of God: The cost is to be paid in full to these men from the royal treasury out of the taxes of the provinces west of the Euphrates, so that the work will not be hindered.
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Ezra 7:13 עִמָּ֖ךְ with you
I hereby decree that any volunteers among the Israelites in my kingdom, including the priests and Levites, may go up with you to Jerusalem.
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Ezra 7:16 עִם֩ with
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.
Daniel · 18
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Daniel 2:11 עִם־ [is] with
What the king requests is so difficult that no one can tell it to him except the gods, whose dwelling is not with mortals.”
Here: "With," in the sense of in company with. The denial concerns living alongside people.
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Daniel 2:18 עִם־ with
urging them to plead for mercy from the God of heaven concerning this mystery, so that Daniel and his friends would not be killed with the rest of the wise men of Babylon.
Here: 'Along with'. The fear is being swept up in the blanket execution of the whole guild.
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Daniel 2:22 עִמֵּ֥הּ with him
He reveals the deep and hidden things; He knows what lies in darkness, and light dwells with Him.
Here: 'With him'. Light is at home in God's company. This echoes and reverses 2:11, where the experts spoke of gods 'whose dwelling is not with flesh'.
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Daniel 2:43 עִם־ עִם־ with
As you saw the iron mixed with clay, so the peoples will mix with one another but will not hold together any more than iron mixes with clay.
Here: "With", the joining preposition in "this with this".
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Daniel 4:2 עִמִּ֔י with me
I am pleased to declare the signs and wonders that the Most High God has performed for me.
Here: 'With me.' To 'do with' someone means to deal with them, for good or ill. It covers the humbling as well as the restoration, so it is wider than English 'for me', which sounds only like a favour.
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Daniel 4:3 עִם־ [is] with
How great are His signs, how mighty His wonders! His kingdom is an eternal kingdom; His dominion endures from generation to generation.
Here: "With": his rule is with every generation, present alongside each one in turn as it comes.
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Daniel 4:15 וְעִם־ and [be] with
But leave the stump with its roots in the ground, with a band of iron and bronze around it, in the tender grass of the field. Let him be drenched with the dew of heaven and graze with the beasts on the grass of the earth.
Here: 'And with', meaning in the company of. He will be counted among the animals.
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Daniel 4:23 וְעִם־ and [be] with
And you, O king, saw a watcher, a holy one, coming down from heaven and saying: ‘Cut down the tree and destroy it, but leave the stump with its roots in the ground, with a band of iron and bronze around it, in the tender grass of the field. Let him be drenched with the dew of heaven, and graze with the beasts of the field till seven times pass him by.’
Here: 'And with': his place will be among the animals.
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Daniel 4:25 וְעִם־ and with
You will be driven away from mankind, and your dwelling will be with the beasts of the field. You will feed on grass like an ox and be drenched with the dew of heaven, and seven times shall pass you by, until you acknowledge that the Most High rules over the kingdom of mankind and gives it to whom He wishes.
Here: In company with, among. He will be at home with animals instead of people.
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Daniel 4:32 וְֽעִם־ and [will be] with
You will be driven away from mankind to live with the beasts of the field, and you will feed on grass like an ox. And seven times will pass you by, until you acknowledge that the Most High rules over the kingdom of mankind and gives it to whom He wishes.”
Here: 'And with.' His company is no longer people but animals.
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Daniel 4:34 עִם־ [is] with
But at the end of those days I, Nebuchadnezzar, looked up to heaven, and my sanity was restored to me. Then I praised the Most High, and I honored and glorified Him who lives forever: “For His dominion is an everlasting dominion, and His kingdom endures from generation to generation.
Here: 'With', in the idiom 'with generation and generation': his rule goes along with every generation as it comes.
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Daniel 5:21 עִם־ וְעִם־ with, and [was] with
He was driven away from mankind, and his mind was like that of a beast. He lived with the wild donkeys and ate grass like an ox, and his body was drenched with the dew of heaven until he acknowledged that the Most High God rules over the kingdom of mankind, setting over it whom He wishes.
Here: Used with the verb 'made equal' to mean 'on a level with, like': his heart was put on a par with the beast's.
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Daniel 6:21 עִם־ with
Then Daniel replied, “O king, may you live forever!
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Daniel 7:2 עִם־ with
Daniel declared: “In my vision in the night I looked, and suddenly the four winds of heaven were churning up the great sea.
Here: Literally 'with'. Used with time it means 'during' or 'in the course of'. The vision came while the night was going on.
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Daniel 7:13 עִם־ with
In my vision in the night I continued to watch, and I saw One like the Son of Man coming with the clouds of heaven. He approached the Ancient of Days and was led into His presence.
Here: 'With, together with.' The figure arrives with the clouds as his escort, the way God's arrival is pictured. The Old Greek turned it into 'upon'. Its position before the figure is named puts the emphasis on the clouds.
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Daniel 7:21 עִם־ with
As I watched, this horn was waging war against the saints and prevailing against them,
Word data: STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0), main text only.