Aramaic word · H858

אֲתָה

'atah

to come

In the simple form, "to come." In the causative form, "to make come," so "to bring, fetch." The passive of the causative means "to be brought."

A Biblical Aramaic word, from the parts of the Old Testament written in Aramaic. Why Aramaic?

Appears 16 times in 15 verses of the Aramaic of the Old Testament. ·

What it means

1) to come, arrive

1a) (P'al) to come

1b) (Aphel) to bring

1c) (Hophal) to be brought

2) used in the NT in the phrase "maranatha" -"Lord come"

Aramaic of a.tah (אָתָה "to come" H0857)

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 3:13

Range of meaning

In the simple form, "to come." In the causative form, "to make come," so "to bring, fetch." The passive of the causative means "to be brought."

Against the English

"Summoned" (BSB, NIV) suggests an invitation to come. The Aramaic "to bring" (KJV, WEB, YLT) is more forceful: the men are fetched. In the second half, KJV's "they brought" (active) and the others' "were brought" (passive) give the same event with a different grammatical reading.

Used elsewhere in the period

The same verb is used in Dan 5:2–3 when Belshazzar orders the temple vessels brought (ləhaytāyâ) and "then they brought" them (haytîw). Dan 6:17 [Eng. 6:16] uses a passive form, hêtāyît, for the stone that "was brought" to seal the lions' pit. The lexicons (BDB, HALOT) group 3:13 hêtāyû with that passive.

Where it appears

Ezra · 3
  1. Ezra 4:12 אֲת֖וֹ they have come

    Let it be known to the king that the Jews who came from you to us have returned to Jerusalem and are rebuilding that rebellious and wicked city. They are restoring its walls and repairing its foundations.

  2. Ezra 5:3 אֲתָ֨א he came

    At that time Tattenai the governor of the region west of the Euphrates, Shethar-bozenai, and their associates went to the Jews and asked, “Who authorized you to rebuild this temple and restore this structure?”

  3. Ezra 5:16 אֲתָ֗א he came

    So this Sheshbazzar came and laid the foundation of the house of God in Jerusalem, and from that time until now it has been under construction, but it has not yet been completed.”

Daniel · 13
  1. Daniel 3:2 לְמֵתֵא֙ to come

    Then King Nebuchadnezzar sent word to assemble the satraps, prefects, governors, advisers, treasurers, judges, magistrates, and all the other officials of the provinces to attend the dedication of the statue he had set up.

  2. Daniel 3:13 לְהַיְתָיָ֔ה הֵיתָ֖יוּ to bring, they were brought

    Then Nebuchadnezzar, furious with rage, summoned Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. So these men were brought before the king,

    Here: "To make come," that is, to bring. This is the causative form of the ordinary verb "come." The three men do not come of their own accord. They are fetched.

  3. Daniel 3:26 וֶאֱת֑וֹ and come!

    Then Nebuchadnezzar approached the door of the blazing fiery furnace and called out, “Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, servants of the Most High God, come out!” So Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego came out of the fire,

    Here: “And come!”, a second command after the first. It reads as “come out, and come here”: out of the fire and over to the king. Commanding the men he had condemned shows how completely the situation has reversed.

  4. Daniel 5:2 לְהַיְתָיָה֙ to bring

    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: "To bring," a form of the verb "come" meaning "cause to come." It states what the command was.

  5. Daniel 5:3 הַיְתִיו֙ they brought

    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.

  6. Daniel 5:13 הַיְתִ֛י he brought

    So Daniel was brought before the king, who asked him, “Are you Daniel, one of the exiles my father the king brought from Judah?

  7. Daniel 5:23 הַיְתִ֣יו they have brought

    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: 'They have brought.' The unnamed 'they' works like a passive: the vessels were brought. Servants did the carrying, but the order was the king's (5:2).

  8. Daniel 6:16 וְהַיְתִיו֙ and they brought

    So the king gave the order, and they brought Daniel and threw him into the den of lions. The king said to Daniel, “May your God, whom you serve continually, deliver you!”

    Here: 'And they brought'. This is the causative form of 'come'. The subject is unnamed, presumably court officers or the accusers, and Daniel is simply led in.

  9. Daniel 6:17 וְהֵיתָ֙יִת֙ and it was brought

    A stone was brought and placed over the mouth of the den, and the king sealed it with his own signet ring and with the rings of his nobles, so that nothing concerning Daniel could be changed.

  10. Daniel 6:24 וְהַיְתִ֞יו and they brought

    At the command of the king, the men who had falsely accused Daniel were brought and thrown into the den of lions—they and their children and wives. And before they had reached the bottom of the den, the lions overpowered them and crushed all their bones.

    Here: Causative form of 'come': 'they caused to come', i.e. officers fetched them. No subject is named; the court's servants act.

  11. Daniel 7:13 אָתֵ֣ה coming

    In my vision in the night I continued to watch, and I saw One like the Son of Man coming with the clouds of heaven. He approached the Ancient of Days and was led into His presence.

    Here: A participle, 'coming'. With the next word it means 'was coming'. Daniel watches the approach as it happens.

  12. Daniel 7:22 אֲתָ֗ה he came

    until the Ancient of Days arrived and pronounced judgment in favor of the saints of the Most High, and the time came for them to possess the kingdom.

    Here: 'Came, arrived'. It pictures the judge entering to hold court, recalling the thrones being set up and the Ancient of Days taking his seat in v. 9.

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