Aramaic word · H8355

שְׁתָה

shateh

to drink

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

(P'al) to drink

Aramaic of sha.tah (שָׁתָה "to drink" H8354)

Abridged from Brown, Driver and Briggs, A Hebrew and English Lexicon of the Old Testament (1906), via STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0).

Where it appears

Daniel · 5

  1. Daniel 5:1 שָׁתֵֽה׃ [he was] drinking

    Later, King Belshazzar held a great feast for a thousand of his nobles, and he drank wine with them.

    Here: 'Drinking,' a participle (a verb form for continuing action): 'he was drinking,' or vividly 'he is drinking' (YLT). It shows the drinking still going on when the story moves to the order in verse 2.

  2. Daniel 5:2 וְיִשְׁתּ֣וֹן so they may drink

    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: "So that they may drink." An unfinished-action verb joined by "and," giving the purpose of the order. The vessels are brought specifically to be drunk from.

  3. Daniel 5:3 וְאִשְׁתִּ֣יו and they drank

    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.

  4. Daniel 5:4 אִשְׁתִּ֖יו they drank

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

    Here: 'They drank.' The verb is a simple past, and the extra aleph (ʾ) at the front is a normal spelling feature of this verb in Biblical Aramaic. It picks up 5:3 word for word: the drinking just described is the drinking from the vessels taken from the Jerusalem temple.

  5. Daniel 5:23 שָׁתַ֣יִן [are] drinking

    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: 'Drinking.' The verb is a participle, a form that describes ongoing action. The cups may still be in their hands while Daniel speaks (YLT: 'are drinking').

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