Aramaic word · H718

אֲרוּ

va'aru

behold|!

An exclamation, 'behold! look!', that draws attention to something sudden or striking. It is the Aramaic counterpart of Hebrew hinnēh and is found in the Bible only in Daniel 7.

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

Appears 5 times in 5 verses of the Aramaic of the Old Testament. ·

What it means

behold, lo

Aramaic of al.lay (אַלְלַי "woe!" H0480)

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 7:2

Range of meaning

An exclamation, 'behold! look!', that draws attention to something sudden or striking. It is the Aramaic counterpart of Hebrew hinnēh and is found in the Bible only in Daniel 7.

Against the English

KJV 'behold' and YLT 'lo' keep it as an exclamation. BSB 'suddenly' turns it into a time word, which keeps the surprise but loses the 'look!' that invites the reader to see along with Daniel.

Used elsewhere in the period

Dan 7:2, 5, 6, 7, 13. A related form (ʾălû/ʾărû) occurs in Dan 2:31 and 4:7, 10, 13. Compare hinnēh in Hebrew dream reports (Gen 28:12; 37:7; 41:1–7).

Where it appears

Daniel · 5

  1. Daniel 7:2 וַאֲר֗וּ and lo!

    Daniel declared: “In my vision in the night I looked, and suddenly the four winds of heaven were churning up the great sea.

    Here: An exclamation, 'and look!'. It turns attention sharply to something new and startling. In biblical Aramaic it appears only in Daniel 7 (vv. 2, 5, 6, 7, 13), where it marks each sudden new sight.

  2. Daniel 7:5 וַאֲר֣וּ and lo!

    Suddenly another beast appeared, which looked like a bear. It was raised up on one of its sides, and it had three ribs in its mouth between its teeth. So it was told, ‘Get up and gorge yourself on flesh!’

    Here: A vivid interjection used only in Daniel's Aramaic visions (7:2, 7, 13 has a related form). It freezes the frame: the seer is pointing, 'And look!' as the next creature surges up out of the sea.

  3. Daniel 7:6 וַאֲר֤וּ and lo!

    Next, as I watched, suddenly another beast appeared. It was like a leopard, and on its back it had four wings like those of a bird. The beast also had four heads, and it was given authority to rule.

  4. Daniel 7:7 וַאֲר֣וּ and lo!

    After this, as I watched in my vision in the night, suddenly a fourth beast appeared, and it was terrifying—dreadful and extremely strong—with large iron teeth. It devoured and crushed; then it trampled underfoot whatever was left. It was different from all the beasts before it, and it had ten horns.

    Here: 'And look!' This is a vivid interjection that pulls the listener into the dream at the moment the new creature appears.

  5. Daniel 7:13 וַאֲרוּ֙ and lo!

    In my vision in the night I continued to watch, and I saw One like the Son of Man coming with the clouds of heaven. He approached the Ancient of Days and was led into His presence.

    Here: An exclamation, 'and look!'. It marks a sudden new sight that grabs attention, here the most important arrival of the vision.

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