פַּרְדֵּס

From the study of Nehemiah 2:8

Range of meaning

A loanword from Old Persian (reconstructed *paridaida-; compare Avestan pairi-daēza, "walled around"). It means an enclosed estate: a royal park, orchard, plantation or game preserve, usually walled and professionally managed. In the Hebrew Bible it appears only three times: here, Ecclesiastes 2:5 ("I made myself gardens and parks"), and Song of Songs 4:13 (an "orchard" of pomegranates). All three come from the Persian period or later.

Against the English

BSB, KJV, WEB and most modern versions say "forest." That fits the purpose (timber) but suggests wild, unowned woodland. YLT's "paradise" is the right word historically but sounds like heaven to modern readers. "Royal park" or "crown estate" is closest.

How it drifted

Greek writers took the Persian word over as paradeisos for these royal parks. The Septuagint (the ancient Greek translation of the Hebrew Bible) then used paradeisos for the garden of Eden (Gen 2:8). Through Jewish and Christian use (Luke 23:43; 2 Cor 12:4; Rev 2:7) it came to mean the blessed afterlife. By the time it reached English as "paradise" it had lost its earlier meaning of a government-run estate.

Used elsewhere in the period

Xenophon describes Persian royal and satrapal paradeisoi full of trees and game (Anabasis 1.2.7, the park at Celaenae; Oeconomicus 4.13, Cyrus the Younger planting trees in his park at Sardis). The Persepolis Fortification tablets (Elamite, around 500 BCE) record estates called partetaš, managed by officials. Josephus describes royal gardens at Etam near Bethlehem associated with Solomon (Antiquities 8.186). The Septuagint has paradeisos in this verse.

From the study of Song of Songs 4:13

Range of meaning

A walled park or enclosed pleasure-garden with trees, water and often exotic plants. It could be a royal estate, a hunting park or an orchard. The word is borrowed from Old Persian (paridaida-; compare Avestan pairi-daēza, 'walled around'). It appears only three times in the Hebrew Bible: Neh 2:8 (the king's 'forest' or park, kept by Asaph), Eccl 2:5 ('I made myself gardens and parks'), and here.

Against the English

KJV, BSB, WEB, ESV and NIV say 'orchard,' which is not wrong but loses the wall, the royal owner and the luxury. YLT and NLT say 'paradise,' which keeps the word's history but brings in the later meaning 'heaven.'

How it drifted

Greek took the Persian word over as paradeisos, used by Xenophon for the parks of Persian kings and nobles. The LXX then used paradeisos for the garden of Eden (Gen 2:8). In later Jewish and Christian writing it became the abode of the righteous dead (e.g., Luke 23:43; 2 Cor 12:4). So English 'paradise' now means heaven, a sense this verse does not have.

Used elsewhere in the period

Persepolis administrative tablets (Elamite partetaš); Xenophon, Oeconomicus 4.13 and Anabasis 1.2.7 (Cyrus's park at Celaenae); Neh 2:8; Eccl 2:5; LXX paradeisos throughout Gen 2–3; later rabbinic and medieval use (including the late PaRDeS acronym for four levels of interpretation, which has nothing to do with this verse).