Aramaic word · H6902

קַבֵּל

kabel

to receive

To receive, accept, take what another hands over. Dan 2:6 (receive gifts and honour from the king); 6:1 [5:31 Eng] (Darius 'received the kingdom'). In later Aramaic and Hebrew it also means 'to receive a tradition' (hence 'Kabbalah', 'what is received').

A Biblical Aramaic word, from the parts of the Old Testament written in Aramaic. Why Aramaic?

Appears 3 times in 3 verses of the Aramaic of the Old Testament.

What it means

(Pael) to receive

Aramaic of qa.val (קָבַל "to receive" H6901)

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 Daniel 7:18

Range of meaning

To receive, accept, take what another hands over. Dan 2:6 (receive gifts and honour from the king); 6:1 [5:31 Eng] (Darius 'received the kingdom'). In later Aramaic and Hebrew it also means 'to receive a tradition' (hence 'Kabbalah', 'what is received').

Against the English

BSB, WEB, ESV, NIV and NASB have 'receive', which is accurate. KJV has 'take', which today can sound like seizing or conquering.

How it drifted

In 1611 'take' could naturally mean 'accept, receive' ('take this cup'). Modern ears more easily hear 'take by force'.

Used elsewhere in the period

Its use in Dan 6:1 for the change from Babylonian to Medo-Persian rule shows the verb belongs to the language of royal succession: a kingdom changing hands.

Where it appears

Daniel · 3

  1. Daniel 2:6 תְּקַבְּל֖וּן you will receive

    But if you tell me the dream and its interpretation, you will receive from me gifts and rewards and great honor. So tell me the dream and its interpretation.”

  2. Daniel 5:31 קַבֵּ֖ל he received

    and Darius the Mede received the kingdom at the age of sixty-two.

  3. Daniel 7:18 וִֽיקַבְּלוּן֙ so they may receive

    But the saints of the Most High will receive the kingdom and possess it forever—yes, forever and ever.’

    Here: The verb for receiving something handed over: gifts (Dan 2:6) or a throne (Dan 6:1 [5:31 Eng], where Darius 'received the kingdom'). The verb comes first and the subject is held back to the end of the clause, so the sentence opens on the act of receiving. The opening 'and' works as 'but' after verse 17: four beast-kings rise, but the holy ones receive.

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