Aramaic word · H7680

שְׂגָא

yisge'

to grow great

To grow great, increase, become abundant. In the Bible it occurs only in Ezra 4:22 (damage that would 'grow') and in Daniel's two greetings (3:31 and 6:26 in Aramaic Bibles).

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

(P'al) to grow great

Aramaic of sa.ga (שָׂגָא "to grow great" H7679)

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 4:1

Range of meaning

To grow great, increase, become abundant. In the Bible it occurs only in Ezra 4:22 (damage that would 'grow') and in Daniel's two greetings (3:31 and 6:26 in Aramaic Bibles).

Against the English

'Be multiplied' (KJV, WEB, ESV, BSB) comes through the Greek and Latin ('plēthyntheiē,' 'multiplicetur'). 'Abound' (NASB) and 'greatly' (NIV) are closer to the Aramaic picture of growing large.

Used elsewhere in the period

Imperial Aramaic letter formulas wish 'much' (śgyʾ) welfare. Daniel's wording is ordinary chancery language, the stock phrasing of royal and official letters.

From the study of Daniel 6:25

Range of meaning

To grow great, increase, become much. Related to Hebrew śāgāʾ ('grow great', Job 8:7; Ps 73:12). In Aramaic letters an adjective/adverb from the same root (šgyʾ) means 'much, abundantly'.

Against the English

'Be multiplied' (KJV, WEB, ESV) keeps the picture of increase. 'Abound' (BSB, NASB) is close. NIV turns it into an adverb, 'greatly'. All are fair.

Used elsewhere in the period

Ezra 4:22 ('why should damage grow great'). The Elephantine greeting formula 'seek after your welfare abundantly (šgyʾ)' uses the same root in the same kind of epistolary context, so 'welfare + increase' was a set pairing in Aramaic letter-writing.

Where it appears

Ezra · 1

  1. Ezra 4:22 יִשְׂגֵּ֣א will it grow great

    See that you do not neglect this matter. Why allow this threat to increase and the royal interests to suffer?

Daniel · 2

  1. Daniel 4:1 יִשְׂגֵּֽא׃ may it increase

    King Nebuchadnezzar, To the people of every nation and language who dwell in all the earth: May your prosperity be multiplied.

    Here: 'May it grow great / abound.' The form is used as a wish ('may it…'). The same verb shows up in real Aramaic letter greetings that wish someone 'abundant' welfare. The king is courteously wishing his readers more and more well-being.

  2. Daniel 6:25 יִשְׂגֵּֽא׃ may it increase

    Then King Darius wrote to the people of every nation and language throughout the land: “May your prosperity abound.

    Here: 'May it grow great / be multiplied'. A verb form used as a wish. Together with the previous word it makes a fixed greeting: 'Abundant welfare to you!'

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