Aramaic word · H8429
תְּוַהּ
tevah
be startled
To be startled, alarmed or stunned. A sudden shock in which wonder and fear are hard to tell apart. Lexicons give 'be startled, alarmed' (BDB Aramaic section) and 'to be alarmed, frightened' (HALOT).
A Biblical Aramaic word, from the parts of the Old Testament written in Aramaic. Why Aramaic?
Appears once in the Aramaic of the Old Testament. ·
What it means
(P'al) to be startled, be alarmed
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
- Range of meaning
To be startled, alarmed or stunned. A sudden shock in which wonder and fear are hard to tell apart. Lexicons give 'be startled, alarmed' (BDB Aramaic section) and 'to be alarmed, frightened' (HALOT).
- Against the English
KJV has 'was astonied', which in 1611 meant stunned or dazed, almost paralysed. Modern versions say 'astonished' (WEB), 'astounded' (NASB) or 'in amazement' (BSB, NIV). 'Amazement' can sound like pleasant wonder. The Aramaic leans toward shock and alarm.
- How it drifted
The English 'astonish' has weakened. It once meant to stun, as if by a blow (compare 'astound' and 'stun'), and now usually means mild surprise.
- Used elsewhere in the period
This is the only occurrence in biblical Aramaic. It is related to the Syriac word for astonishment and is similar in meaning to Hebrew tāmah, 'be astounded, dumbfounded' (Ps 48:5 [Eng. 48:5–6], where kings who see Zion are 'astounded, terrified, in panic'). That Psalm text describes kings in the same sort of fear and wonder.
Where it appears
Daniel · 1
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Daniel 3:24 תְּוַ֖הּ he was alarmed
Suddenly King Nebuchadnezzar jumped up in amazement and asked his advisers, “Did we not throw three men, firmly bound, into the fire?” “Certainly, O king,” they replied.
Here: A sudden shock that stops a person in their tracks. The word mixes amazement with alarm. It occurs only here in biblical Aramaic.
Word data: STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0), main text only.