Aramaic word · H6655
צַד
mitzad
side
Ṣad means "side". The phrase lᵉṣad ("to the side of") is used idiomatically for "against" or "in regard to". In Dan 6:4 miṣṣad malkûtāʾ means "in regard to the kingdom".
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) side
2) (CLBL) beside
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
Ṣad means "side". The phrase lᵉṣad ("to the side of") is used idiomatically for "against" or "in regard to". In Dan 6:4 miṣṣad malkûtāʾ means "in regard to the kingdom".
- Against the English
BSB has "speak out against", NIV and ESV "speak (words) against", and KJV "speak [great] words against", where the italic "great" is supplied from 7:8 and 20. YLT has "as an adversary of". A few interpreters hear "words beside/alongside the Most High", as if he were putting himself on God's level.
- Used elsewhere in the period
Dan 7:8, 11 and 20 describe "a mouth speaking great things". Dan 11:36 says the king "will speak astonishing things against the God of gods". 2 Macc 9:12 has the dying Antiochus admit "no mortal should think he is equal to God". His coins called him Theos Epiphanēs, "God Manifest". Rev 13:5–6 has the beast given "a mouth uttering great things and blasphemies".
- Range of meaning
Ṣad means 'side'. The phrase min-ṣad means 'from the side of' and so 'with respect to'. Malkû means kingship, kingdom, or the realm's government.
- Against the English
KJV/WEB 'concerning/as touching the kingdom', NIV/NASB-type renderings 'conduct of government affairs'. The second makes the sense clear.
- Used elsewhere in the period
Min-ṣad meaning 'against, with regard to' also appears in Daniel 7:25 ('words against [lə-ṣad] the Most High'). Imperial Aramaic of the period uses similar expressions.
Where it appears
Daniel · 2
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Daniel 6:4 מִצַּ֣ד from [the] side of
Thus the administrators and satraps sought a charge against Daniel concerning the kingdom, but they could find no charge or corruption, because he was trustworthy, and no negligence or corruption was found in him.
Here: 'From the side of', meaning 'in the area of' or 'with regard to'. It marks out the sphere they were searching.
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Daniel 7:25 לְצַ֤ד to [the] side of
He will speak out against the Most High and oppress the saints of the Most High, intending to change the appointed times and laws; and the saints will be given into his hand for a time, and times, and half a time.
Here: Literally "to the side of". As a preposition it means "against" or "with regard to". Here it means speech aimed at God as an opponent. YLT catches this with "as an adversary".
Word data: STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0), main text only.