Aramaic word · H674
אַפְּתֹם
ve'apetom
revenue
An Old Persian loanword that appears only here. Two main explanations: (1) a noun, 'revenue, treasury', which gives 'the revenue of kings'; (2) an adverb from Old Persian *apatama 'last, furthest', so 'in the end, finally', or a related sense 'surely'.
A Biblical Aramaic word, from the parts of the Old Testament written in Aramaic. Why Aramaic?
Appears once in the Aramaic of the Old Testament. ·
What it means
1) treasury, treasuries
2) (CLBL) revenue
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
An Old Persian loanword that appears only here. Two main explanations: (1) a noun, 'revenue, treasury', which gives 'the revenue of kings'; (2) an adverb from Old Persian *apatama 'last, furthest', so 'in the end, finally', or a related sense 'surely'.
- Against the English
KJV 'revenue of the kings', BSB 'royal treasury', and the NIV/ESV/NASB family's 'royal revenue(s)' all follow the noun reading. YLT 'at length' and WEB 'in the end' follow the adverb reading.
- Used elsewhere in the period
Older lexicons (BDB, and Strong's 'revenue') take it as a noun. Many Aramaic grammars and HALOT give the adverb reading as likely or possible. Modern commentators (e.g. Williamson, Blenkinsopp) are split. The ancient versions seem to have guessed (see textual notes).
Where it appears
Ezra · 1
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Ezra 4:13 וְאַפְּתֹ֥ם and certainly
Let it now be known to the king that if that city is rebuilt and its walls are restored, they will not pay tribute, duty, or toll, and the royal treasury will suffer.
Here: A Persian loanword whose meaning is disputed. Read as a noun it is 'the revenue/treasury (of kings)'. Read as an adverb it is 'and in the end' or 'surely'. Either way the clause ends the letter's financial threat.
Word data: STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0), main text only.