Aramaic word · H7624

שְׁבַח

veshabachu

to praise

To praise, laud, glorify. Paired with yedaʾ it builds a doubled expression of worship.

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

(Pael) to laud, praise, adulate, adore

Aramaic of sha.vach (שָׁבַח "to praise" H7623B)

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 2:23

Range of meaning

To praise, laud, glorify. Paired with yedaʾ it builds a doubled expression of worship.

Against the English

"Praise" in all major versions. Accurate.

Used elsewhere in the period

In Daniel: 2:23; 4:34, 37 (Nebuchadnezzar praises the Most High); 5:4, 23 (Belshazzar and his guests praise gods of gold, silver, bronze, iron, wood and stone). The Hebrew cognate shibbaḥ appears in later Hebrew psalms (Ps 63:3; 117:1; 145:4; 147:12).

From the study of Daniel 5:23

Range of meaning

Shabbach means to praise or extol, the vocabulary of hymns and royal acclaim. Haddar means to honour or glorify, to give someone the splendour (hadar) due to them. The noun hadar is used of royal majesty in 4:30 and 4:36.

Against the English

'Praised' and 'glorified' are accurate. Readers today may hear 'glorify' as a mainly religious word for worship songs. In this Aramaic it also belongs to the royal court: it means to acknowledge someone's superior majesty publicly.

Used elsewhere in the period

Daniel 4:34: Nebuchadnezzar 'blessed the Most High, and praised (shabbechet) and honoured (haddret) him who lives forever.' Daniel 4:37: 'I praise, exalt and honour (meshabbach u-meromem u-mehaddar) the King of heaven.' Daniel himself 'praises' (meshabbach) God in 2:23.

From the study of Daniel 5:4

Range of meaning

To praise, laud, extol, or speak glory over someone. It is used only in the stronger verb form, which suggests loud and repeated praise. In Biblical Aramaic it is always aimed at a deity: 2:23; 4:34, 37; 5:4, 23. Its Hebrew relative shibbaḥ appears in late psalms and Ecclesiastes (Ps 63:3[4]; 117:1; 145:4; Eccl 4:2) for public praise or admiring speech.

Against the English

English 'praised' is accurate. The modern reader may picture singing or quiet devotion, but at a royal drinking party in the ancient Near East this would most naturally mean toasts, praise calls and hymns to the city's gods. It was loud, public and done as a group.

Used elsewhere in the period

In Daniel the verb works almost as a theme word. Daniel 'praises' the God of heaven for revealing the dream (2:23). Nebuchadnezzar, restored from madness, 'praised and honored the one who lives forever' (4:34) and 'praises and extols and honors the King of heaven' (4:37). Daniel's speech in 5:23 uses it again: 'you praised the gods of silver and gold … but the God in whose hand is your breath you have not honored.'

Where it appears

Daniel · 5

  1. Daniel 2:23 וּמְשַׁבַּח֙ and [am] praising

    To You, O God of my fathers, I give thanks and praise, because You have given me wisdom and power. And now You have made known to me what we have requested, for You have made known to us the dream of the king.”

    Here: "And praising." Also an ongoing participle. In Daniel the same verb is used for Nebuchadnezzar praising the Most High (4:34, 37) and for Belshazzar's guests praising gods of gold and silver (5:4, 23), so who receives this praise matters.

  2. Daniel 4:34 שַׁבְּחֵ֣ת I praised

    But at the end of those days I, Nebuchadnezzar, looked up to heaven, and my sanity was restored to me. Then I praised the Most High, and I honored and glorified Him who lives forever: “For His dominion is an everlasting dominion, and His kingdom endures from generation to generation.

    Here: 'I praised', saying aloud how worthy someone is. In 5:4, 23 the same verb is used for Belshazzar praising idols, which makes a pointed contrast.

  3. Daniel 4:37 מְשַׁבַּ֨ח [am] praising

    Now I, Nebuchadnezzar, praise and exalt and glorify the King of heaven, for all His works are true and all His ways are just. And He is able to humble those who walk in pride.

    Here: A participle (a verb form for ongoing action): 'I am praising.' The praise has not ended. The same verb appears in 4:34 ('I praised') and is turned around in 5:4, 23, where Belshazzar 'praises' gods of gold and silver.

  4. Daniel 5:4 וְ֠שַׁבַּחוּ and they praised

    As they drank the wine, they praised their gods of gold and silver, bronze and iron, wood and stone.

    Here: 'And they praised.' The verb form makes the action stronger: they loudly extolled, probably in toasts and hymns. Daniel used this same verb of himself praising the God of heaven (2:23), and Nebuchadnezzar used it when he praised 'the King of heaven' (4:34, 37). Here the praise goes to the wrong recipients.

  5. Daniel 5:23 שַׁבַּ֑חְתָּ you have praised

    Instead, you have exalted yourself against the Lord of heaven. The vessels from His house were brought to you, and as you drank wine from them with your nobles, wives, and concubines, you praised your gods of silver and gold, bronze and iron, wood and stone, which cannot see or hear or understand. But you have failed to glorify the God who holds in His hand your very breath and all your ways.

    Here: 'You have praised.' This is the same verb Nebuchadnezzar used when he finally praised the King of heaven (4:34, 37). Belshazzar aims that praise at metal and wood.

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