Aramaic word · H7284

רְגַשׁ

hargishu

to throng

The root relates to commotion, tumult and a crowd in motion. In the causative-type form found in Daniel it describes a group coming together as one body, noisily or in a rush. Lexicons split on the stress. BDB gives 'come thronging, show tumultuousness'. Both senses include 'together'.

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

1) to be in tumult

1a) (Aphel) to gather in a tumultuous throng, show tumultuousness, come thronging

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 6:6

Range of meaning

The root relates to commotion, tumult and a crowd in motion. In the causative-type form found in Daniel it describes a group coming together as one body, noisily or in a rush. Lexicons split on the stress. BDB gives 'come thronging, show tumultuousness'. Others take it as 'act in concert, by agreement'. Both senses include 'together'. The disagreement is whether the noise and crowd are in view, or the prior arrangement.

Against the English

KJV/WEB 'assembled together' and BSB 'went together' keep the 'together' but make it sound like an orderly meeting. NIV 'went as a group' is neutral. ESV/NASB 'came by agreement' and NRSV 'conspired' bring out the plot behind it. None fully conveys a crowd rushing in on the king.

Used elsewhere in the period

Biblical Aramaic uses it only in Daniel 6:6, 6:11 and 6:15 (English numbering), always of this same group. The Hebrew cognates are telling. Psalm 2:1 'Why do the nations rage (ragšû)?' is set beside 'take counsel together' in 2:2. Psalm 55:14 has 'we walked in the throng (beregeš)'. Psalm 64:2 has 'the scheming throng (rigšat) of evildoers', where crowd and conspiracy are joined. Jerome's Vulgate renders Daniel 6:6 'surripuerunt regi', 'they stole upon / took the king unawares', reading deceit into the verb.

From the study of Daniel 6:15

Range of meaning

In biblical Aramaic it occurs only in Daniel 6:6, 11, 15. Lexicons (HALOT, BDB) give "to come thronging, come tumultuously". Some scholars prefer "to act in concert, by agreement, conspire". The related Hebrew root covers commotion and crowds: "Why do the nations rage" (Ps 2:1), "in the throng" of worshippers (Ps 55:14), and the "tumult (or scheming crowd) of evildoers" (Ps 64:2), where it stands alongside a word for secret plotting.

Against the English

KJV and WEB have "assembled", which today sounds like a calm, orderly meeting. BSB has "approached… together" and NIV "went as a group": accurate about the group, but they lose the sense of pressure. ESV and NASB have "came by agreement", picking the "conspire" sense. YLT's "assembled near" is neutral.

How it drifted

"Assemble" in 1611 could still suggest gathering in force. Today it suggests a scheduled meeting. Because the verb is rare and its exact meaning debated, translators fell back on neutral words.

Used elsewhere in the period

The Hebrew relatives in the Psalms (2:1; 55:14; 64:2) cover a crowd, an uproar and a plotting gang. The Greek of Psalm 2:1 renders the Hebrew with a verb meaning "to snort, rage". In Daniel 6 the narrator keeps this verb for the plotters' three visits: to get the decree (v. 6), to accuse Daniel (v. 11), and to force the penalty (v. 15).

Where it appears

Daniel · 3

  1. Daniel 6:6 הַרְגִּ֖שׁוּ they came as a crowd

    So the administrators and satraps went together to the king and said, “O King Darius, may you live forever!

    Here: The pivotal verb. It is a causative-type form of a root for commotion or a crowd moving together. It shows them descending on the king as a body, by prior agreement. Whether the stress falls on the noise of the crowd or on the plotting behind it is debated (see debates). The same verb returns in 6:11 and 6:15 each time this group swarms in to press its case.

  2. Daniel 6:11 הַרְגִּ֔שׁוּ they came as a crowd

    Then these men went as a group and found Daniel petitioning and imploring his God.

  3. Daniel 6:15 הַרְגִּ֖שׁוּ they came as a crowd

    Then the men approached the king together and said to him, “Remember, O king, that by the law of the Medes and Persians no decree or ordinance established by the king can be changed.”

    Here: "They came thronging" or "they came in concert." Daniel 6 uses this verb only for this group's three visits (vv. 6, 11, 15). It pictures a crowd pressing in together, with a hint of coordinated, even noisy, pressure. It is not a calm, orderly meeting.

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