Aramaic word · H861

אַתּוּן

'atun

furnace

ʾattûn is a kiln or furnace, borrowed from Akkadian utūnu/atūnu, a kiln for firing bricks or pottery or for smelting. nûrāʾ means 'the fire'. yāqidtāʾ is a participle, 'burning, blazing'.

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

Appears 10 times in 10 verses of the Aramaic of the Old Testament. · Updated October 31, 2026

What it means

furnace

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 3:15

Range of meaning: ʾattûn is a kiln or furnace, borrowed from Akkadian utūnu/atūnu, a kiln for firing bricks or pottery or for smelting. nûrāʾ means 'the fire'. yāqidtāʾ is a participle, 'burning, blazing'.
Against the English: 'Blazing fiery furnace' (BSB) and 'burning fiery furnace' (KJV, WEB) keep the triple phrase. A few versions shorten it to 'blazing furnace', which loses the formula's weight.
Used elsewhere in the period: Babylon was built of fired brick, so large kilns were everywhere. Burning was a legal punishment in Mesopotamia; the Code of Hammurabi prescribes it for certain crimes (e.g. §§25, 110, 157). Jeremiah 29:22 says the king of Babylon 'roasted in the fire' two false prophets, Zedekiah and Ahab.

From the study of Daniel 3:11

Range of meaning: A large furnace or kiln, from Akkadian utūnu (kiln for bricks, pottery or metal).
Against the English: "Furnace" is right, but modern readers may picture a home boiler or a cartoon pit of flames. The original picture is a large industrial brick kiln of the kind that filled Babylon.
Used elsewhere in the period: Akkadian utūnu is common in texts about brick-making and pottery. Nebuchadnezzar's building projects used vast numbers of kiln-fired bricks, many stamped with his name. An Old Babylonian royal letter from the time of Rim-Sin of Larsa orders a slave to be thrown into a kiln as punishment. Jeremiah 29:22 says the king of Babylon "roasted in the fire" two Judean men.

From the study of Daniel 3:17

Range of meaning: A furnace or kiln, the kind used for firing bricks or smelting. Borrowed from Akkadian utūnu, 'kiln'.
Against the English: 'Furnace' is accurate. 'Fiery furnace' has become a stock English metaphor for any severe ordeal, but here it is a literal place of execution.
Used elsewhere in the period: Babylon was a city built of fired brick, so large kilns were everywhere. Jer 29:22 refers to two men 'whom the king of Babylon roasted in the fire'. Death by burning appears in Mesopotamian law (Code of Hammurabi §§25, 110, 157). An Old Babylonian royal letter is often cited for an order to throw a slave into a kiln as punishment.

Where it appears

Daniel · 10

Daniel 3:6 אַתּ֥וּן [the] furnace of

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

Here: 'Furnace of', borrowed from Akkadian utūnu, a kiln for firing bricks or pottery. Babylon was a city of fired brick, so these kilns were a familiar industrial structure.
Daniel 3:11 אַתּ֥וּן [the] furnace of

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

Here: An Akkadian loanword (utūnu) for a large kiln, the kind used to fire bricks or smelt. It is an industrial structure, not a pit or a symbolic hell.
Daniel 3:15 אַתּ֥וּן [the] furnace of

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: An industrial kiln or furnace (Akkadian utūnu), the kind used to fire bricks or work metal. Not a domestic oven.
Daniel 3:17 אַתּ֨וּן [the] furnace of

If the God whom we serve exists, then He is able to deliver us from the blazing fiery furnace and from your hand, O king.

Here: A large industrial kiln. The word was borrowed from Akkadian utūnu. In this story it is a literal means of execution, not a picture of trials.
Daniel 3:19 לְאַתּוּנָ֔א <obj.> furnace the

At this, Nebuchadnezzar was filled with rage, and the expression on his face changed toward Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. He gave orders to heat the furnace seven times hotter than usual,

Here: 'The furnace'. The lĕ- here simply marks the object, as is normal in Aramaic. The word comes from Akkadian utūnu, a kiln for firing bricks or smelting, which was an everyday industrial structure in Babylon.
Daniel 3:20 לְאַתּ֥וּן to [the] furnace of

and he commanded some mighty men of valor in his army to tie up Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego and throw them into the blazing fiery furnace.
Daniel 3:21 אַתּ֥וּן [the] furnace of

So they were tied up, wearing robes, trousers, turbans, and other clothes, and they were thrown into the blazing fiery furnace.
Daniel 3:22 וְאַתּוּנָ֖א and furnace the

The king’s command was so urgent and the furnace so hot that the fiery flames killed the men who carried up Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego.
Daniel 3:23 אַתּוּן־ [the] furnace of

And these three men, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, firmly bound, fell into the blazing fiery furnace.
Daniel 3:26 אַתּ֣וּן [the] furnace of

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: A word borrowed from Babylonian (utūnu) for a large kiln, the kind used to fire bricks or burn lime. It is not a modern heating furnace.

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