Aramaic word · H6590
פְּשַׁר
mefashar
to interpret
To interpret, decode, explain the hidden meaning of a sign, dream, or text. As a noun: 'interpretation, solution'. It is the key word of Daniel 2, 4, 5 and 7 (more than 30 times).
A Biblical Aramaic word, from the parts of the Old Testament written in Aramaic. Why Aramaic?
Appears 2 times in 2 verses of the Aramaic of the Old Testament. ·
What it means
1) to interpret
1a) (P'al) to interpret
1b) (Pael) to interpret
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
To interpret, decode, explain the hidden meaning of a sign, dream, or text. As a noun: 'interpretation, solution'. It is the key word of Daniel 2, 4, 5 and 7 (more than 30 times).
- Against the English
'Interpretation' in English can suggest a personal opinion ('that's just your interpretation'). Pəšar means the actual meaning hidden in the sign, the one correct solution, which is unlocked rather than proposed.
- How it drifted
Modern English treats 'interpretation' as one view among many. The ancient word assumes one true hidden meaning.
- Used elsewhere in the period
It is a loanword related to Akkadian pašāru, 'to loosen, release, undo (a spell); to interpret (a dream)', and pišru, 'interpretation'. The Hebrew cognate pēšer appears in Ecclesiastes 8:1 ('who knows the interpretation of a thing?'), and Joseph's Hebrew verb pātar is related. Among the Dead Sea Scrolls, the 'pesharim' (e.g. the Habakkuk Pesher) use pišrô ('its interpretation is…') to decode prophecy as coded messages about their own time. That method is modelled directly on Daniel.
Where it appears
Daniel · 2
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Daniel 5:12 מְפַשַּׁ֣ר an interpreter of
did this because Daniel, the one he named Belteshazzar, was found to have an extraordinary spirit, as well as knowledge, understanding, and the ability to interpret dreams, explain riddles, and solve difficult problems. Summon Daniel, therefore, and he will give you the interpretation.”
Here: 'Interpreting'. This is the technical word for decoding signs, and it echoes the Babylonian word for dream-interpretation (pašāru). The vowel points make it 'one who interprets', but in this list it works as 'the interpreting of'.
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Daniel 5:16 לְמִפְשַׁ֖ר to interpret
But I have heard about you, that you are able to give interpretations and solve difficult problems. Therefore, if you can read this inscription and give me its interpretation, you will be clothed in purple and have a gold chain placed around your neck, and you will be made the third highest ruler in the kingdom.”
Word data: STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0), main text only.