Aramaic word · H7560

רְשַׁם

resham

to sign

The verb rəšam means to inscribe, write down, or sign. It describes a document becoming a formal, binding record. Kətāb means writing: a document, decree, or inscription.

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

Appears 7 times in 7 verses of the Aramaic of the Old Testament. ·

What it means

1) to inscribe, sign

1a) (P'al) to inscribe, sign

1b) (P'al)

1b1) to be inscribed, be written

1b2) to be signed

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 6:10

Range of meaning

The verb rəšam means to inscribe, write down, or sign. It describes a document becoming a formal, binding record. Kətāb means writing: a document, decree, or inscription.

Against the English

'Signed' (KJV, BSB, ESV) fits well. NIV's 'published' points toward announcing the decree, while the verb is about formally setting it down.

Used elsewhere in the period

In Biblical Aramaic the verb appears only in Daniel 6 (vv. 8, 9, 10, 12, 13). The related Hebrew rāšûm appears in Daniel 10:21, 'inscribed in the book of truth.' In Imperial Aramaic documents, kətāb is the normal word for a written instrument.

From the study of Daniel 5:24

Range of meaning

To mark, inscribe, put in writing, register. It is also used for signing a document to make it legally valid.

Against the English

'Written' (KJV) and 'inscribed' (WEB) are accurate. 'Noted down' (YLT) comes closer to the sense of putting something on record. None captures the echo of chapter 6, where the same verb means a king 'signing' a decree.

Used elsewhere in the period

Daniel 5:24–25. Daniel 6:8, 9, 10, 12, 13: Darius is urged to 'sign the writing', and he does. Daniel 10:21 (Hebrew): 'what is inscribed in the book of truth' (hārāšûm bikṯāb ʾĕmet), a heavenly record of what has been decided. Later Aramaic and Hebrew use the root for marking and recording.

From the study of Daniel 6:8

Range of meaning

To inscribe, write down, mark, record in official form. By extension, to validate a document. It is related to Hebrew rāšam, 'to inscribe' (Dan 10:21, 'what is inscribed in the book of truth'), and to the later Aramaic and Syriac rᵉšam, 'to mark, trace, sign'.

Against the English

KJV, BSB, WEB and YLT all have 'sign', as do most modern versions. That is a fair functional rendering. But to a modern reader it suggests a personal signature in ink, which is not clearly what the word meant.

How it drifted

'Sign' fits modern legal practice. Achaemenid royal documents were validated by being written out officially and sealed, usually with the royal or official seal (compare 6:17, where the king seals the den with his signet ring, and Esther 8:8, 'written in the king's name and sealed with the king's ring').

Used elsewhere in the period

Daniel 6:8, 9, 10, 12, 13 (Eng.). Hebrew cognate in Dan 10:21. In later Aramaic and Syriac the root covers marking, tracing and 'signing' in a broad sense.

Where it appears

Daniel · 7

  1. Daniel 5:24 רְשִֽׁים׃ it was inscribed

    Therefore He sent the hand that wrote the inscription.

    Here: 'Was inscribed' or 'was put on record'. In the next chapter the same verb is used for King Darius signing a written decree (6:8–13). So the word suggests a formal, ratified record, not casual writing.

  2. Daniel 5:25 רְשִׁ֑ים it was inscribed

    Now this is the inscription that was written: MENE, MENE, TEKEL, PARSIN.

  3. Daniel 6:8 וְתִרְשֻׁ֣ם so you may sign

    Therefore, O king, establish the decree and sign the document so that it cannot be changed—in accordance with the law of the Medes and Persians, which cannot be repealed.”

    Here: 'And put it in writing / mark it officially.' This is the step that turns a spoken agreement into a formal royal document that can be enforced. It may have meant sealing it rather than a signature.

  4. Daniel 6:9 רְשַׁ֥ם he signed

    Therefore King Darius signed the written decree.

    Here: He 'put it in writing', meaning he made it official and recorded it. The verb is a simple completed past: it is done. It answers the officials' plea in verse 8, 'and sign (tirshum) the document'.

  5. Daniel 6:10 רְשִׁ֤ים it was signed

    Now when Daniel learned that the document had been signed, he went into his house, where the windows of his upper room opened toward Jerusalem, and three times a day he got down on his knees, prayed, and gave thanks to his God, just as he had done before.

    Here: A passive form: the document 'had been signed', meaning formally inscribed and made binding. Under the story's 'law of the Medes and Persians' (6:8, 12, 15), this made the decree impossible to revoke.

  6. Daniel 6:12 רְשַׁ֗מְתָּ did you sign

    So they approached the king and asked about his royal decree: “Did you not sign a decree that for thirty days any man who petitions any god or man except you, O king, will be thrown into the den of lions?” The king replied, “According to the law of the Medes and Persians the order stands, and it cannot be repealed.”

  7. Daniel 6:13 רְשַׁ֑מְתָּ you signed

    Then they told the king, “Daniel, one of the exiles from Judah, shows no regard for you, O king, or for the decree that you have signed. He still makes his petition three times a day.”

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