Aramaic word · H8160

שָׁעָה

sha'ata'

moment

A moment, an instant, a short span of time. In Biblical Aramaic it never means a fixed hour of sixty minutes. Daniel 4:19 (Aram. 4:16) has 'for a moment' or 'a while'. The idiom bah-šaʿătāʾ, 'in it, the moment', means 'at that very instant'.

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

brief time, moment

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 3:6

Range of meaning

A moment, an instant, a short span of time. In Biblical Aramaic it never means a fixed hour of sixty minutes. Daniel 4:19 (Aram. 4:16) has 'for a moment' or 'a while'. The idiom bah-šaʿătāʾ, 'in it, the moment', means 'at that very instant'.

Against the English

KJV and WEB say 'the same hour', YLT 'in that hour', and BSB (with most modern versions) 'immediately'. The 'hour' versions are word-for-word, but the modern sense of 'hour' did not yet exist.

How it drifted

Dividing the day into equal hours of fixed length came later. Even the Greek hōra used by the ancient translators here meant 'time, season, moment' just as much as a clock-hour. KJV's 'the same hour' was idiomatic in 1611 for 'at once'.

Used elsewhere in the period

Dan 3:6, 15; 4:19, 33; 5:5 ('in that same moment fingers appeared'). Theodotion's Greek has αὐτῇ τῇ ὥρᾳ and the Vulgate has eadem hora, both meaning 'that very moment'. In later Aramaic and Hebrew the word developed into 'hour'.

From the study of Daniel 4:19

Range of meaning

In biblical Aramaic, 'moment, short space of time'. The phrase bah-šaʿtāʾ ('in that moment') means 'immediately' (Dan 3:6, 15; 4:33; 5:5). Only in later Aramaic, Syriac and rabbinic Hebrew does šāʿâ settle into the fixed meaning 'hour'.

Against the English

KJV 'one hour' and YLT 'about one hour' suggest a measured stretch of about sixty minutes. Modern versions rightly have 'for a time' (BSB, NIV) or 'for a while' (ESV, NASB, WEB).

How it drifted

The Greek and Latin versions rendered it 'hour' (hōra, hora). In Greek and Latin of the period 'hour' could also mean an indefinite short time, but English readers hear a clock-hour.

Used elsewhere in the period

Biblical Aramaic: Dan 3:6, 15; 4:19, 33; 5:5. Later Aramaic and Syriac šāʿtā = 'hour'. Theodotion renders it hōsei hōran mian ('about one hour'), and the Vulgate quasi una hora.

From the study of Daniel 5:5

Range of meaning

In Biblical Aramaic: a short span of time, a moment, an instant. In the phrase bah-sha‘ătā ('in it, the moment') it means 'at that very moment, immediately'. Only in later Aramaic and Hebrew (the Mishnah, the Talmud) does the word settle into the meaning 'hour' as a fixed division of the day.

Against the English

KJV and WEB: 'In the same hour'; YLT: 'In that hour'. BSB: 'At that moment'. NIV and NASB: 'Suddenly'. ESV: 'Immediately'. The modern versions convey the instant. 'Hour' can suggest a vaguer span of time.

How it drifted

KJV followed the Latin in eadem hora and the Greek en autē tē hōra. In older English 'hour' could mean 'the point of time when something happens' (compare 'in the hour of death'). Modern readers mostly hear a 60-minute unit.

Used elsewhere in the period

Daniel uses the same idiom elsewhere: 3:6 and 3:15 (whoever does not bow 'at that moment' is thrown into the furnace) and 4:33 (the decree against Nebuchadnezzar fulfilled 'at that moment'). In 4:19 Daniel is dismayed 'for a moment'. Theodotion's Greek translates it with hōra.

Where it appears

Daniel · 5

  1. Daniel 3:6 שַׁעֲתָ֣א moment the

    And whoever does not fall down and worship will immediately be thrown into the blazing fiery furnace.”

    Here: 'The moment'. Not a sixty-minute hour. With 'in it' it means 'on the spot, at once'. Punishment comes with no trial and no delay.

  2. Daniel 3:15 שַׁעֲתָ֣ה moment the

    Now when you hear the sound of the horn, flute, zither, lyre, harp, pipes, and all kinds of music, if you are ready to fall down and worship the statue I have made, very good. But if you refuse to worship, you will be thrown at once into the blazing fiery furnace. Then what god will be able to deliver you from my hands?”

    Here: In Biblical Aramaic this is a short span, an instant, not a 60-minute hour. Punishment would be immediate.

  3. Daniel 4:19 כְּשָׁעָ֣ה about a moment

    For a time, Daniel, who was also known as Belteshazzar, was perplexed, and his thoughts alarmed him. So the king said, “Belteshazzar, do not let the dream or its interpretation alarm you.” “My lord,” replied Belteshazzar, “may the dream apply to those who hate you, and its interpretation to your enemies!

    Here: 'About a moment', 'for a little while'. The word does not mean a sixty-minute hour. The pause is short but noticeable, and the king sees it.

  4. Daniel 4:33 שַׁעֲתָ֗א moment the

    At that moment the sentence against Nebuchadnezzar was fulfilled. He was driven away from mankind. He ate grass like an ox, and his body was drenched with the dew of heaven, until his hair grew like the feathers of an eagle and his nails like the claws of a bird.

  5. Daniel 5:5 שַׁעֲתָ֗ה moment the

    At that moment the fingers of a human hand appeared and wrote on the plaster of the wall, near the lampstand in the royal palace. As the king watched the hand that was writing,

    Here: 'The moment'. With the word before it, it means 'in that same instant', not 'within the same hour'. The hand shows up in the middle of the toast to the idols in verse 4.

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