Aramaic word · H8531
תְּלַת
talta'
third
From the root for 'three.' It can be an ordinal ('third') or a noun for an office, 'one of a group of three' or 'third officer.' Compare Hebrew shalish, originally 'third man' in a chariot and later a title for a high officer (2 Kings 7:2; 9:25).
A Biblical Aramaic word, from the parts of the Old Testament written in Aramaic. Why Aramaic?
Appears 2 times in 2 verses of the Aramaic of the Old Testament. ·
What it means
third, one of three, a third part
Aramaic of she.li.shi (שְׁלִישִׁי "third" H7992)
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
From the root for 'three.' It can be an ordinal ('third') or a noun for an office, 'one of a group of three' or 'third officer.' Compare Hebrew shalish, originally 'third man' in a chariot and later a title for a high officer (2 Kings 7:2; 9:25).
- Against the English
BSB, NIV and NLT say 'third highest ruler,' which commits to a ranking. KJV and WEB say 'third ruler.' YLT's 'third in the kingdom thou dost rule' stays closest to the Aramaic and leaves the question open.
- How it drifted
The English 'third highest' turns a possibly technical title into a simple position in a list.
- Used elsewhere in the period
The Nabonidus Chronicle and the Verse Account of Nabonidus record that King Nabonidus stayed in Tema in Arabia for about ten years and 'entrusted the kingship' in Babylon to his eldest son, Belshazzar (Bel-shar-usur). Belshazzar was therefore acting king but not sole king. Daniel 6:2–3 [Eng. 6:1–2] describes three chief officials (sārekhîn) over the satraps, of whom Daniel is one.
Where it appears
Daniel · 2
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Daniel 5:16 וְתַלְתָּ֥א and third the
But I have heard about you, that you are able to give interpretations and solve difficult problems. Therefore, if you can read this inscription and give me its interpretation, you will be clothed in purple and have a gold chain placed around your neck, and you will be made the third highest ruler in the kingdom.”
Here: 'And as third.' It names a rank. It could mean third in the realm (after Nabonidus and Belshazzar) or an official title, 'one of the three,' 'triumvir.' Scholars debate which.
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Daniel 5:29 תַּלְתָּ֖א third the
Then Belshazzar gave the command, and they clothed Daniel in purple, placed a gold chain around his neck, and proclaimed him the third highest ruler in the kingdom.
Word data: STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0), main text only.