Hebrew word · H6579

פַּרְתְּמִים

hapartemim

noble

Nobles, leading men. It is a loanword from Old Persian, generally derived from fratama- 'foremost, first' (compare Greek prōtos, Sanskrit prathama).

Appears 3 times in 3 verses of the Hebrew Old Testament. ·

What it means

noble, nobleman

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 Esther 1:3

Range of meaning

Nobles, leading men. It is a loanword from Old Persian, generally derived from fratama- 'foremost, first' (compare Greek prōtos, Sanskrit prathama).

Against the English

'Nobles' in nearly all versions, which is accurate. The English loses the foreign sound of the word.

Used elsewhere in the period

It occurs only three times: Esth 1:3; 6:9 ('one of the king's most noble officials'); Dan 1:3 (the 'nobles' of Judah). All three are late books from the Persian period.

Similar words

Where it appears

Esther · 2

  1. Esther 1:3 הַֽפַּרְתְּמִ֛ים the nobles

    In the third year of his reign, Xerxes held a feast for all his officials and servants. The military leaders of Persia and Media were there, along with the nobles and princes of the provinces.

    Here: A Persian loanword, probably from Old Persian *fratama-, 'foremost, first'. These are the top aristocrats. The foreign word adds Persian court colour.

  2. Esther 6:9 הַֽפַּרְתְּמִ֔ים the nobles

    Let the robe and the horse be entrusted to one of the king’s most noble princes. Let them array the man the king wants to honor and parade him on the horse through the city square, proclaiming before him, ‘This is what is done for the man whom the king is delighted to honor!’”

Daniel · 1

  1. Daniel 1:3 הַֽפַּרְתְּמִֽים׃ the nobles

    Then the king ordered Ashpenaz, the chief of his court officials, to bring in some Israelites from the royal family and the nobility—

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