Aramaic word · H7695

שֵׁגָל

shegelateh

consort

šēgal: royal consort, a principal wife of the king (cf. Ps 45:9, where she stands at the king's right hand; Neh 2:6, where she sits beside the Persian king). Its origin is uncertain.

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

king's wife, king's concubine, (royal) consort

Aramaic of she.gal (שֵׁגָל "queen" H7694)

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 5:2

Range of meaning

šēgal: royal consort, a principal wife of the king (cf. Ps 45:9, where she stands at the king's right hand; Neh 2:6, where she sits beside the Persian king). It probably derives from Akkadian ša ekalli, "(woman) of the palace." ləḥēnâ: concubine or secondary wife, a member of the harem without full wife's status. Its origin is uncertain.

Against the English

"Wives and concubines" (KJV, BSB, and most versions) is reasonable, but "wives" hides the rank of šēgal. These are royal consorts, not ordinary wives.

Used elsewhere in the period

Hebrew šēgal appears in Ps 45:9 and Neh 2:6. Theodotion's Greek translates the pair with two words for concubine/consort. Greek writers describe Persian royal banquets that included women (e.g. the Persian envoys' demand in Herodotus 5.18), while Esther 1:9 shows a queen holding her own separate feast.

Where it appears

Daniel · 3

  1. Daniel 5:2 שֵׁגְלָתֵ֖הּ wives his

    Under the influence of the wine, Belshazzar gave orders to bring in the gold and silver vessels that Nebuchadnezzar his father had taken from the temple in Jerusalem, so that the king could drink from them, along with his nobles, his wives, and his concubines.

    Here: "His consorts": the king's high-ranking wives. The word probably comes from Akkadian ša ekalli, "she of the palace." They are not the same person as "the queen" of v.10, who comes in from outside the hall.

  2. Daniel 5:3 שֵׁגְלָתֵ֖הּ wives his

    Thus they brought in the gold vessels that had been taken from the temple, the house of God in Jerusalem, and the king drank from them, along with his nobles, his wives, and his concubines.

  3. Daniel 5:23 שֵֽׁגְלָתָ֣ךְ wives your

    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: 'Your consorts.' These are the king's wives of high rank. The Hebrew counterpart is used of a queen consort (Ps 45:9; Neh 2:6).

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