A Biblical Aramaic Reader: With an Outline Grammar [Revised] 9042943971, 9789042943971

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A BIBLICAL ARAMAIC READER

WITH AN OUTLINE GRAMMAR

SECOND, REVISED EDITION

A BIBLICAL ARAMAIC READER With an Outline Grammar

Second, revised edition

Takamitsu Muraoka

PEETERS Leuven - Paris - Bristol, CT 2020

A catalogue record for this book is available from the Library of Congress.

©

2020 - Peeters - Bondgenotenlaan 153 - 3000 Leuven

D/2020/0602/12S ISBN 978-90-429-4397-1 eISBN 978-90-429-4398-8 All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior permission of the publisher.

DEDICATED TO MY FRIENDS AND BIBLE STUDENTS IN ASIA AS A TOKEN OF ApPRECIATION AND RESPECT

CONTENTS

Foreword .

IX

P ART I OUTLINE GRAMMAR § § § § §

1 2 3 4 5

Text . Alphabet and vowel signs . Comparison of sounds between BA and BH . Syllable Remarks about phonology.

MORPHOLOGY .

§ § § § § § § § § § § § § § § § § § § § § § § § § §

6 7 8 9 1O 11 12 13 13.1 13.2 13.3 13.4 13.5 13.6 13.7 13.8 13.9 13.10 13. 1 1 13.12 13.13 13.14 13.15 13.16 13.17 13.18

Independent personal pronouns Suffix pronouns . Demonstrative pron Olllsl Relative pron Ollll Inflection of the noun and the adjective Patterns of noun and their inflection Numerals . The verb Conjugation system . Perfect . Imperfect . -rJ of the causative and -t conjugations. Jussive . Imperative . Infinitive Participle . Pe-Nun verbs . Pe-Yod verbs . Guttural verbs Pe-A1ef verbs. Ayin-Waw/Yod verbs Larned-Yod/Alef verbs. Ayin-Ayin verbs . Safel Polel and Hitpolal Pronominal object suffixes

3 3 3 4 4 6 6 6 8 9 10 12 16 17 17 18 18 19 19 19 19 20 20 20 21 21 21 22 23 24 25 25

VIII

A BIBLICAL ARAMAIC READER

NOTES ON THE S YNTAX.

26

§ 14 § 15

26 27 27 27 28 28 29 29

§ 16 § 17

Noun p Inase . Verb tenses and moods. A) Perfect. . B) Imperfect . C) Participle . D) Infinitive . Verb p Inase . Miscellaneous syntactic remarks .

30

FURTHER STIJDIES. PART II

PARADIGMS I II

The regular verb Lamed-Yod verbs

35 36 37

SIMPLE EXERCISES

READER READING ANNOTA1ED BIBUCAL ARAMAIC TEXTS .

41

Dani el. . Chapter 2.4b-49 Chapter 3 Chapter 4 Chapter 5 Chapter 6 Chapter 7

41 41 47 51 54 61 65

Ezra. Chapter 4.8-24 Chapter 5 . Chapter 6 . Chapter 7.12-26

70 70 72 74 76

Gen esi s31.47; Jer 10.11 .

78

KEY TO EXERCISES

79

ABBREVIATIONS

85

.

FOREWORD

The present work purports to fill a gap in fhe tools for those who wish to read those parts in fhe Jewish Bible written in Aramaic. Not only in English, but also in other European languages and Mode m Hebrew there are available for this purpose a good number of beginners' grammars. However, to our best knowledge, none of them except one by van Pelt offers a chrestomathy which could help students con­ solidate the acquired knowledge of the grammar. With this need in mind we offer here a combination of an outline gra rrnnar of Biblical Aramaic and a verse-by-verse guide to all the chapters of the books of Daniel and Ezra written in this idiom. There are constant cross references to sections of the outline grammar. The fonnat and contents of the present work are based on a number of assumptions. 1) The reader is assumed to have the basic knowledge of grammar and vocabulary of Biblical Hebrew. On this assumption no elementary explanation of points of grammar shared by Hebrew and Aramaic is deemed necessary, and constant references are made throughout to Biblical Hebrew. This is hoped to be helpful in order to le arnaspects of Hebrew from the comparative perspective and at the same time to facilitate the le arning of Aramaic. 2) The beginner is assumed to go through the outline grammar first in order to gain an overview of the structure of Aramaic. There is no need to try to memorise all the details at this initial stage. When he or she starts reading the texts, many details mentioned and dealt with in the outline grammar will be referred to and explained. 3) When the student is fhrough the grammar, he or she is assumed to begin reading fhe book of Daniel, fhen proceed to fhe book of Ezra and a stray verse in Jeremiah. Grammatical and philological notes are written and presented on this assumption. Notes on the later chapters of Daniel and on the chapters of Ezra are pitched on a slightly higher level. 4) In the armotations on the chapters of Daniel, references may be made to examples in E zra , then with 'E' as in E 4.10, i.e. Ezra chapter 4, verse 10. But within fhe section on Daniel, references to other Daniel passages will not be prefixed with 'D'. Likewise within the section on Ezra, e.g. 4.10 refers to Ezra 4.10, but ref­ erences to Daniel passages will be prefixed with 'D' like D 3.16. 5) Not every single word or fonn occu rring in fhe text is parsed, grammatically analysed. 6) The reader is assumed to have access to the glossary in Rosenthal's grammar or, better still, to dictionaries by Koehler-Baumgar tner (Gennan edition) or a some­ what extended English edition of it, HALOT, or a recent English version of Vogl's Biblical Aramaic lexicon originally published in Latin. (I) (1) For bibliographical details, refer to p.

31 under "Further studies."

x

A BIBLICAL ARAMAIC READER

The importance of knowing some Biblical Aramaic has lately increased now that many contemporary Aramaic texts from the Middle East, notably the Judaean Desert, are available. Biblical Aramaic datable to the pre-Christian era and possessing a finn and ancient tradition of promllciation provides an ideal starting point for those inter­ ested in exploring not only part of the Old Testament canon, but also contemporary and near-contemporary texts of cultural, religious, and linguistic relevance. The outline grammar of the present work was written when the author was privi­ leged and honoured to teach as a vohlllteer a begirmers' Biblical Aramaic course in 2011 at Taban Theological Seminary in Myanmar, subsequently in 2012 at Bangkok Theological Institute in Thailand, and in 2014 at Aletheia Theological Seminary in Lawang and Cipanas Theological Seminary, both in Indonesia, I take this opportunity of expressing my appreciation of the enthusiasm and interest shown in Aramaic by tens of Asian students and my hosts and hostess at those institutions for the invita­ tion extended to my wife and me to come and the wannth of their friendship during our stay in their company. I repeat here my sense of profound admiration for the love shown by those Asian students of mine for Aramaic. This is all the more admirable, when a study of the biblical languages, not to speak of Aramaic, is being steadily pushed out of theological curriculum at many divinity schools and theological sem­ inaries in the West, when these Asian students are eager to take on those languages which are far more different from many Western languages and far more demand­ ing. At the Asian seminaries I taught Greek and Hebrew were compulsory, but not Aramaic, As a token of my respect to the Asian Bible students I humbly dedicate this work. I am grateful to Mr Peeters for taking this project on and to Mr Verrept, a senior associate of his, for looking after the technical aspects of the production of this Reader, Last, but not the least, I am appreciative of my wife's company on these arumal Asian trips. 17th March, 2015 Oegstgeest, The Netherlands, ES , It is marvellous to hear from Peeters, the publisher, of a continued demand for this book. We have taken this opportunity of correcting a number of errors in the first edition and revising and expanding it to a certain extent. I am again much obliged to Mr Verrept of Peeters and his staff 26th June, 2020 Oegstgeest, The Netherlands,

PART I

OUTLINE GRAMMAR

AN

§ 1

OUTL INE GRAMMAR OF BIBLICAL ARAMAIC FOR BEG INNERS (I)

Text

Biblical Aramaic (BA for short) is found in Ezr 4.8 - 6.18, 7.12-26; Dn 2Ab 7.28; Jer 10. 1 1 ; Gn 31.47 (only two words). (') §2

Alphabet and vowel signs

The letters of the BA alphabet, their shapes, vowel signs and ofher cantillation marks (accents) are the same as in Biblical Hebrew (BH for short). § 3

Comparison of sounds between BA and BH BH sound I BA sound

BH

Meaning

BA

1

did

2

z/d

��J

�tJ'1

gold

3

z/z

iI"'F?!

music

4

tit

�1J f

'�1

�lP

he mote three

hand

"

'"

5

sit

Wi�'!i

6

sIS

n7�

��W

�mw

7

tit

�"

�"

8

� It

f'�

9

o,,�

o,,�

image

10

�/� ' I'

o.

o.

people

11

�I

n�

Y'1�

12

0:

dew

�:�

summer

earth, land

o�

�ilj

(longo) / a:

he heard

good

(1) The following abbreviations are to be noted: pf. perfect; impf. imperfect.; info infinitive; impv. imperative; pte. participle; m masculine; ms masculine singular; f, fern. feminine; fs feminine singular; mp masculine plural; fp feminine plural; abs. absolute; cst. construct; det. determined; sg. singular; pI. plural; sc singular construct; pc plural construct; act. active; pass. passive; D Daniel; E Ezra. 0) Because of this limited size of the corpus OUT knowledge of BA is severely curtailed. This applies not only to its vocabulary, but also to its grammar, resulting in many empty boxes in paradigms. The Aramaic of the chapters in Ezra shows features more archaic than that of the chapters in Daniel. The textual basis of this grammar is the text as published in Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia. =

=

=

=

=

=

=

=

=

=

=

=

=

=

=

=

=

=

=

=

=

=

4

A BIBLICAL ARAMAIC READER

Pay special attention to Rows 2, 5, 8, 1 1 and 12. These differences between BH and BA are systematic, not confined to the words given above as examples. Some more examples are: 2) BH �I:O 'lie' II BA 0�"T:l; 5) BH �W' 'to sit' II BA �n,; 8) BH "'�� 'rock' II BA '�b 'moun t�in'; 1 1 ) BH ,�* ' wool' II BA '�11 C'); 12) B H Qal ptc. �n:' II BA �n;o. §4

Syllable

As in BH, a syllable begins with a consonant or two consonants when the first consonant has a shva. A syllable which ends with a vowel is called open, and a syl­ lable which ends with a consonant or two consonants is called closed. S o �r1�� : 'he will write' has two closed syllables: :l' and �D. Also b" W 'having authority : ' Isa1/ and /li :t/, where both syllables are ciosed. In mi:o 'they wrote' we have two open syllables: the first syllable is n:o. § 5

Remarks about phonology

1) A short vowel may occur in a closed syllable or in a stressed open syllable. When the stress shifts away because of a new syllable is added at the end, the short vowel is elided, disappears (4). E.g. �D:l' 'he will write' but l��n:o' 'they will write' because now p- carries the stress. Similarly O'l' 'eternity' (singular), but l'�'l' (plural). This affects a short vowel immediately before the new stressed syllable. In this respect, BA differs from BH, so cpo BA ":>'0 palace' « ':60 ' ) D 4.27 ( )' with "'70 « ''7�) Ezk 16. 14. On the other hand, a long a indicated with a qamats in BA remains stable, e.g. det. ���W 'the remainder' D 7.7 and cst. �:�� '�W 'the rest of the peoples' E 4.10, with which compare BH '?"1 > cst. rl�rl� "�1 'the word of the Lord.' The vowels marked with a patach (c-), seghol (,,), and qibbuts (cc) are consid­ ered to be short. But tsere often behaves as if it were short. So �tJ� 'writing' (ptc. ms) changes to 0�n;o (fs) and pn;o (mp); "�\0n 'you will destroy' D 2.24, but p"�M; 'they will destroy' D 2. 18. 2) A short e or i vowel changes to a before a guttural or Ir/. E..g. *\)�o/ (6) 'hear­ ing' (ptc.) changes to \)�o/ and *'�� ' saying' (ptc.) to '��. 3) The e vowel marked with seghol or tsere and the i vowel marked by chiriq often alternate between themselves: ,�, 'he will fall' D 3.6 II -,�, E 7.20; ,�� 'he received' D 6.1 11 1:OW 'he set' E 6.12, both Pael forms; Hafel tlP ' 0 D 3.2 II OP ' 0 o Ni?"1� Jer 10.11 is the only BA example of the older correspondence BH M BA /qf. (4) Contrary to many scholars, we do maintain that even the so-called vocalic shva marks a zero vowel. e) From this point onwards the names of the two biblical books will be abbreviated to D Daniel =

and E

Ezra. (6) The asterisk (*) means that the form is a reconstructed or hypothetical one which does not actually occur in BA. =

AN OU1LINE GRAMMAR OF BIBLICAL ARAMAIC FOR BEGINNERS

5

4) As in BH, gutturals tend to take a compound shva instead of a simple one, Kg, ms "TM ' one' D 231 > fs n1M D 2,9; G pL 3ms �n:p C) 'he wrote' D 7,1 II "T�l) 'he made' D 3 , 1 , Cp, n:1""' 'to inform' D 2,10 wifh n:)lIin, 'to change' ib, 6,9, A comp Ollldl shva, any of the three varieties, can occur also with other con­ sonants, e,g, "A 'it was revealed' D 2,19 II "� D 230; nrr '��,-'?;> fhis' D 2,12, CL BH �m� 'and the gold of ,,' Gn 2,12, 5) Occasional fluctuations between compound shvas are inexplicable: e.g. rll?� 'anger' D 3,13 II ��n vs, 19; "A 'it was revealed' D 2,19 II "� vs, 30, 6) Diphthongs layl and lawl, especially fhe latter, often become contracted to le:1 and 10:1 respectively, Kg, ,�'" 'he transported' < *'�;n (see below § 13,10); cst. 1"1�� 'house' < 1"1:�; I:I�� 'day' < *1:I1�; Hafel pf. 3ms �.t!�rI 'he settled' < *�tl1o (see below § 13,10), 7) The 1'1 in a sequence /V'CI is often syncopated or elided: *'N�� > 'n�? /ba :tarl ' after' D 7,6, 1�n? ' after you' D 239; *'��' > ,��, /ye :marl 'he will say' D 2,7, cL BH *'b�, > .,��, 'to say,' 8) A doubled consonant at the end of a word is simplified, but the moment some sOlllld, a vowel or a consonant, is added in the course of inflection, the dou­ bling returns, Kg, 'II 'he entered' < *,y,'II, ( )' but mp �"II < U� 'fhey entered'; �\l� < *u� /bgawwl 'inside' D 3,25 but M�,l� /bgawwe : h! 'ins'ide it' E 5,7; '?:l 'all,' but 1�"'?;> 'all of them' D 7,19; O� 'palm' D 5,5 but det, �9� D 5,24; tl� 'mouth' D 6 , 1 8, but M��� 'in its mouth' D 7,5, 9) The nasal I n!, when not immediately followed by a vowel, may become assimi­ lated to fhe following consonant, This often happens wifh Pe-Nun verbs (§ 13,9), but less consistently than in BH. rI'1� 'tribute' E 4.20 as a variant of rl11� E 4,13 attests to this phenomenon, 10) Though some gutturals, especially M and II, do not take a dagesh, they appear to allow virtual gemination, Otherwise rp'M' 'distant' E 6,6 should be rp'M' in accordance with the rule (1) above, An example of virtually doubled n is 1�'"�; 'let them alarm you' < *1�'"�; D 5,10, For more examples, see below § 13,15 (b), 1 1 ) As in BH, sibilants (I, o, �, iii, iii) swap fheir position with n in the reflexivel passive conjugations: e,g, '?:lnlli� ' observing' (,y,:PIli) D 7,8, The voiced con­ sonant t causes -tJrl to change to -"Trl, thus 1�tI��'1o 'you conspired' D 2.9 ('i) �I), and the emphatic consonant causes n to change to its emphatic counter­ part, to: lI�to� 'will become moistened' D 4,12 (�II��), For more examples, see below at § 13,1, 12) The phenomenon of "compensatory lengfhening" is common to BA and BH: e,g, 1'? 'he blessed' < *1'� D 2,19; 'n?n� 'alarmed' < *'M�n� D 5,9,

(') In the MT we actually find �lJ�, because it is immediately preceded by a vowel-�lJ� N1?71J, but such a detail is here and henceforth ignored, when the point beinS made is not affected. C) A series of consonants with no vowel sign and preceded by 'V means the root of the fonn concerned.

6

A BIBLICAL ARAMAIC READER

13) The first of two word-initial shvas change to chiriq. E.g. n�'?o* 'it ascended' > n�'?o D 7.20. This applies also when the first shva belongs to a one-letter word, e.g. �"M��* 'immediately' > �'?'M�� E 4.23. When the second shva is attached to Yod, the shva is not written and the Yod is not pronounced, e.g. o,?I!i�';�* 'in Jerusalem' > o,?I!i�'� E 4.24. 14) When the first shva is attached to the conjunction � 'and' and the immediately following consonant is a labial, one of �, �, �, and tJ, the conjllllction is pro­ nounced jul, e.g. r,in ';�� * eyoung bulls ! E 15) When a shva is followed by a compound shva, the first is partially assimilated to the latter, thu �� > ��, �� > �� etc. E.g. ,��* 'like wool' > ,��� D 7.9. Where the consonant with a comp Olllld shva is Alef, phonetic simplification may occur, the Alefbecoming silent, e.g. M7/!'? 'to the god of' D 2.19 but 1l�711,? 'to the god' ib. 5.23. The three above rules, 13), 14), and 15), also apply to BH.

MORPHOLOGY § 6

Independent personal pronouns Person

sg.

1

I

2m

you

3m

he

3f

she

pI.

iI� � ilf;1� � ,f;1�� K1i1 K�;:1

we you

iI�r;Tj� ,K�r;T� � 1'","

they, them

��� ,��;:J ,;�;:J

they, them

P"

Accidentally no forms for the second person feminine, neither singular nor plural, actually occur in BA. So also with verbs. MMlll is a Qre; its Ktiv, Mnlll, probably represents rlN�. The third person pI. pronouns can also be used as the direct object of a verb other than a participle. E.g. llry�' l\�M llipl 'the wind carried them away' D 2.35; lUll \�, 'they threw them' D 6 .25; \�M �n\M 'he caused them to dwell' E 4.10. With a par­ ticiple the preposition Lamed is used instead: the first example above would become

llry�' � M'? lll!il. § 7

Suffix pronouns

The pronouns for 'me, my; you, your; him, his; her; us, our; them, their' may be directly attached to nouns and prepositions ("), just as in BH. They appear in two alternative sets. C) For suffix pronouns attached to verbs, see below at § 13.18.

7

AN OU1LINE GRAMMAR OF BIBLICAL ARAMAIC FOR BEGINNERS

a)

Pronouns of the first set as sho\Vll in the table below are for singular nouns, femi­ nine plural nouns, and some prepositions. They are attached to the st. cst. fonn of masculine singular nouns or prepositions, or to the st. cst. fonn of feminine nouns, both singular and pluraL (10) E,g, M!:l'� . . 'their queen,' . 'his king,' tlMn:o'� and tlMn;>'� 'their queens,' (11) The so-called segholate nouns do not confonn to this rule, see below at § 1 1 E,

Person

-� to

sg,

+

+

WN1

pI,

head

-� to

+

1

me, my

-i:

,�

�lPN"J.

us, our

-ana:

2m

you, your

-a:k

17

10/"'

you, your

-Kom, -kon

3m

him, his

-e:h

i1?

"WN")

3f

her

-ah

::17

i1WN")

b)

Person

�. on

sg,

+

me, my

2m

you, your -a:1i

3m

him, his her

c)

WN!.

head

"I?

N�WN')

�'7 ,0'7

��o/N') ,tljo/N")

them, their

-hom, -hon �i17 ,tlh7

�ilo/N') ,tli1o/N")

them, their

-he:n

ro7

T("Jo/N")

The addition of suffix pronouns to prepositions is much simpler compared with BH, in which we have a pair such as �l��O and u:;, tl�O�O and tl�?, tl9�O and tle?, This simplicity of BA applies also to -�, W and tl�, So BA lq� II BH u�; ' BA 3ms Ml� II BH u��; BA lq6� II BH �l��, Pronouns of the second set are attached to masculine plural nouns and certain prepositions (2), CL BH 'O�O 'my horse' II 'O�O 'my horses' ; and" 'to me' II �7� 'on me.'

1

3f

+

-ay

�7}7

1 7� '

WK"J. head

+

�WK"J. us, our 'TWK"J.

-6:hi: �;:J;?� �;:J;WK"J. -ah

i1�7�

i1�WK"J.

�. on

p I,

you, your

+

-ana: -e:liom, -e:lion

K��7}7

WK"J. head

+

K��WK"J.

���?� ,Oj�?� ���WK"J. ,0j�WK"J.

them, their -e:hom, -e:hon �il�?� ,0 i1�?� �il�WK"J. ,0 i1�WK"J. them, their -e:he:n

r(J�?�

r(J�WK"J.

The letter Yod in the forms for 2sg, 3fs and Ipl is not pronounced, So pho­ netically there is no difference between 1O/�'1 'your head' and l'o/�'1 'your heads,' between rllPN). 'her head' and rl�lPN'1 'her heads,' nor between N�$N). 'our head' and N��$N'1 ' our heads.' Occasionally we even find purely phonetic spellings: 1l\'�' 'your thoughts' D 2,29, 5,10, The vowel deletion rule (§ 5 [1]) needs carefully to be noted, Thus tlM"T' 'their hand,' but '"T; 'my hand' (lydi:1 < */yadi : j) just as " � 'my son' « ,� 'son');

(1 CJ Here 'masculine' and 'feminine' refer to typically masculine and feminine forms. Hence, in this paragraph, jt7� 'word,' for instance, is treated as feminine, but its plural, r7�, is treated as masculine. Sg. �:;:c 'father' is masculine, whereas pl.l;:t?� 'fathers' is feminine. (11 ) The symbol n above a vowel letter indicates that the vowel is stressed, pronounced with a raised pitch. (1 2) Though not a preposition, the particle of existence, 'lJ'l:\ /'i:J;1y/, is inflected in the manner of l;>�, hence li�'lJ'l:\ 'you (mp) are' D 3.14.

8

A BIBLICAL ARAMAIC READER tlMn"� 'their word' «

d)

n"� sg. cst. of M7� 'word'), but M�"� 'his word' (lmill!e: hi < *lmilla!e: hI). "When these suffix pronouns are added to feminine noun, there is no difference whether the nouus are singular or plural. This is an important difference between BH and BA. Take, for instance, a fem. noun rT��1� 'province,' which also occurs in BH. Person

1 my

f)

§ 8

PI.

BH

BA

�J:'irm

BH

BA

�f:'J��!�

�1J;.l�!,?

�J:1��!�

9��;.l�!,?

l���!'? i1m�"T�

2m your

9J;1J�!1?

3m his

i1'lrm

"1���!'? i-1N�!�

3f her

i1�J��

i-1N�!�

���;.l�!�

1 our

�9���!�

1.l��;.l�!�

i11JJ�"T� KJ�t'T�

2m your

1.l�J�� I:l�N�!�

I:ljJ;1��-m

1:l��J];.l�!�

tljJ;1J� �

3m their

tl{1t'T�

ci1J;1��-m

I:ltJ�J];.l�!�

tli1J;1J�

r()J;1��! 1?

Try�J];.l�!,?

r(JJ;1J� !1?

3f their

e)

Sg.

T{1J�!, ?

'�J;I;.l�!�

The 3fp morpheme /he:n/ occurs only as Qre, and its Ktiv �M- shows that in this particular case the masculine fonn serves for both genders, e.g. l�m� 'out of them' D 2.33, �0'?;> ' all of them' D 7.19. But l'l�, fern. both in K and Q, occurs, referring to a fern. pI. noun, N�'�lJ 'the animals' D 7.17. BH fonns such as !:Iv�tJ��� 'their forefathers,' which occur alongside the shorter t1t1���, are uneconomical in that the fonner express the notion of plural twice over. Demonstrative pronouns

There are two series of demonstrative pronouns: one for things or persons phys­ ically or mentally near-this, these, and the other for things or persons physically or mentally far-that, those. Gender

sg. this

m

KrT

f

K7 sg. that

pI. these mjf "��

,"?� ,f""

pI. those

m

11

1""

f

11

?

p1 Kji1

?

mjf m

1""

AN OU1LINE GRAMMAR OF BIBLICAL ARAMAIC FOR BEGINNERS

9

Any demonstrative pronoun can be used substantivally, i.e. on its own as in rlti ��'n 'this is the dream' D 2.36, Mn ''1�� 'after this' D 2.45, or like an attributive adjective with a noun as in ��,� ��M 'that image' D 2.32 and 1'?� �:,�� 'those men' D 3.12. § 9

Relative pronoun

The BA equivalent of BH .,W� is �'1, the usage of which is more varied than its BH counterpart. 1) Joining a noun or its equivalent to the following clause: ��,�, nry�-'''T �p� 'the stone that struck the image' D 2.35; M,?-M'� MN� '''T 1ry7� 'your god, whom you serve' D 6.21. 2) With no antecedent : �� �7 '''T 'he who does not know' E 7.25, but also with l�, originally an interrogative pronoun, 'Who ? ' or rr� 'What? '-��: N7 �1'� ' who­ ever does not fall (and prostrate himself)' D 3.6; ��.i],? '''T M� 'what is going to happen' D 2.28. 3) Joining a prepositional phrase: tl,?Ili�'1'� '''T �7�0 'the temple, which is in Jeru­ salem' D 5.2. 4) Joining two nouns, an analytic construction instead of a synthetic one with status constructus in BH: ·m�1 "0� 'a river of fire' D 7.10; N��1 �1 rlo/N'1 'the head of gold' D 2.38. 5) The first nOllll may take a suffix pronoun referring to the second noun (proleptic or anticipating pronoun) : �ry7� '''T M�1li 'the name of God' (literally : his name, of God) D 2.20; �:�,� '''T �M'�\' 'the days of the kings' D 2.44. 6) Introducing a content clause, that: n�! pnl� �n� '''T Ml� � 'I know that you are trying to buy time' D 2.8; J'M7� M7� ��M li�"7� '''T bIliP-l� 'it is of truth that your god is god of gods' D 2.47. 7) Introducing a purpose clause with an imperfect, in order that: ,�, '�1� M71'lM' ����iirr; N�7ry "W�-�1 ��� ����m 'to bring in before me all the wise men of Babylon so that they might let me know the meaning of the dream' D 4.3. 8) Introducing a direct speech, equivalent to the double quotation marks, " .. " : ,�� M:6IliM-'''T M,?-'�� 'he said to him, "I have found a man'" D 2.25. 9) Introducing a causal clause: 1? rlli'''T� J'M7�-m' '''T '0;> Mnl� 'you can (do it) because the spirit of holy gods is in you' D 4.15. 10) Combining with various prepositions to express a variety of more precise nuances: [aJ ''T.?-��OM-tl� �'l'M �7 �7n� "�-�0 'just as iron does not mix with clay' D 2.43; �n� ,� �:���-,;> r��o/ '''T� 'when all the peoples hear the sound of the horn' D 3.7, cf. BH ,\ti��; [bJ '''T l�-�:�Ili M7�'? �lliry?� �thM '''T-l� 'because our forefathers had angered the god of heaven' E 5.12; l)"Tln '''T-l� �:�Ili lb"lli '''T 'from the time when you know that Heaven rules' D 4.23; [cJ '''T "T�-�;nlli' �l"J� '''T "T� 'until the time changes' D 2.9; [dJ �n'l� '''T '��-'?;> 'because you have seen' D 2.8. 1 1) Elaborating and explaining a preceding noun, e.g. �n� ,� pl)?llin-'''T �nl)� 'at the time when you hear the sound of the horn' Dn 3.5.

10 § 10

A BIBLICAL ARAMAIC READER

Inflection of the noun and fhe adjective

The noun is inflected in respect of gender, number, and state. There are two genders: (masculine, feminine), three numbers (singular, plural, dual), and three states (absolute, construct, determined [13]). The determined state is unique to Aramaic; it has the same value as the Hebrew article, but the Aramaic determined state is marked by a suffix. The dual is confined to a very small number of nouns and numerals as in BH. The adjective is inflected in the same way as the noun except that the adjective has no dual number. The inflection of fhe adjective �" 'good' is as follows: state

m. sg.

abs.

o�

cst.

o�

det.

�91t

m. pI.

p� ��� K;��

f. sg.

f. pI.

il�� 1I��

l�� 1I �� K���

K{1��

1) The sg. det. ending and f. sg. abs. ending l-a:1 are sometimes spelled with M­ and �- respectively and indiscriminately. E.g. both M:;>'?� and �:;>'?� 'the king' D 2.1 1 ; M���'?� 'the kingdom' D 2.44 for ����'?� 2.42; Ml"T Mn 'this mystery' D 2. 1 8 II Mn �n D 2.30; �"l) 'advice' D 2.14 for M"l). Note ��o� �?u"T 'gold and silver' D 5.2, but ��o� M?u"T E 5.14. 2) The dual is preserved only in the following words, and it can be recognised only in the abs. state as I-ayin/: "T' 'hand' > r';; in 1'+� 'wifh hands' D 2.34; r'l' ' feet' D 7.4; l'illi 'teefh' D 7.7; l'li? 'hom' > rh � D 7.7 e4); M�� 'hun­ dred' > l'li�? E 6.17. In ill. cst. ''1n 'two' and f. abs. l'�'n the original diph­ fhong I-ayl has been simplified or contracted to le:/. But note l'l;11 'eyes' D 7.8 II BH tl'i'l). The dual has a special form only in fhe st. abs., and elsewhere its inflection follows that of the plural: det. �:l'� 'fhe horns' D 7.8, + suf. 'M\'l' 'its feet' D 2.33. 3) A feminine sg. abs. ending other than l-a :1 is l-u :1 as in ��'?� 'kingdom' D 2.39; ��� 'matter' D 6.18. The fonn of infinitives in non-basic conjugations changes its ending from l-a:1 to l-u :1 when a suffix pronoun is added. This probably belongs here as an allomorph of such infinitives: e.g. rl�1�rl7 'to infonn' D 5.8 > 1��I1']\M'? 'to inform you' E 5.10. Another is l-i:1 as in �:�\' n" ��� ' at fhe end of fhe days' D 2.28; �?� n'I1'� 'the bottom of the pit' D 6.25; ��'�\'Ili� 'the pipe' D 3.5; Mn" 11 'his upper chamber' D 6 . 1 1 . In all the four cases the original ItI is visible in forms ofher than fhe abs. sg. (15) "O� in "O� l'li? 'another horn' D 7.8 is a special case, because its masculine fonn is l"1tHt (1 3) Also called 'emphatic.' (1 4) In ,tp� l:hf( 'ten horns,' where the dual is doubling for the plural as in BH c:��f wr.p 'six wings,' for more examples, see lotion - Muraoka, A Grammar ofBiblical Hebrew, § 91 e. (1 5) A possible exception is 'tP"� 'punishment' E 7.26. Egyptian Aramaic attests to its det. fonn in N1'I'W"O.

AN OU1LINE GRAMMAR OF BIBLICAL ARAMAIC FOR BEGINNERS

11

4) Though the ms cst. has no special ending, some BA nouns, as in BH, have a sg. cst. fonn phonetically different from fheir abs. fonn, e.g. "'Ii 'force' D 4.11 II cst. "'M D 4.32; cst. n'� 'house' D 5.3 + , 1'1) 'eye' E 5.5. Cf. BH abs. n'S 'house' II cst. n'�; I'll 'eye' II cst. rl). The basis for addition of pronominal suffixes is the det. form in the case of ms nouns unlike in BH, hence r!?;lJ 'his force' D 3.20, cf. Mn;� 'his house' D 5.23 II BH \ n'�. (16) These two nouns, both IqatV segho­ lates (§ 1 1 E-l), constitute exceptions to fhe rule mentioned above at § 7 a. 5) Some adjectives indicating an ethnic grouping and ordinal numerals from "first" to "tenfh" end in l-a:YI except tln ' second.' In theory their mp det. fonns should end in l-a:yayya:/, but they actually turn up in BA as l-a:ye:1 or I-a: 'e:/: e.g. �'?�? 'Babylonians' E 4.9; �'1iV�'? 'to the Chaldaeans' D 2.5. As fhe second example shows, l-a:yVI (17) often changes to I-a: 'VI. This added change also occurs in forms such as fs abs. �����! ��7� 'a fourth kingdom' D 7.23, and in M'\)"�' ��'?� D 2.40 fhe Qre indicates M�l"'�" But in the fs det. we find fhe expected fonn such as ��;\,'�' ���'M 'fhe fourth animal' D 7.19 and also in fhe fp det. as in ��:?"T� �:l'� 'the first horns' D 7.8. 6) Mismatch in form and grammatical gender is as common as in BH: ill. in fonn, but f.: sg. det. �\"� 'the earth' ; pI. abs. r�� 'cubits,' n:o 'win­ dows,' r"� 'words,' niV 'years' (BH O'lo/), M?� 'people' II �:�� etc. f. in fonn, but m.: sg. abs. Mry� 'governor' ; pI. 'nry?l! 'my forefathers' D 2.23. When these nouns are used in context, they must agree with a numeral, verb, adjective or a pronoun in their grammatical, syntactic gender, not in their form. Thus 1ry'n� l'�:O 'doors opened' D 6 . 1 1 , not l'M'n�; r �'n � l'n iV niV ' sixty-two years' D 6 . 1 , not 1''1�. 7) Some nouns occur in both genders indiscriminately: ffi. Nry�" 1��0 No/� 'the wind carried them away' D 2.35 II f. 1ry'l� �:�iV 'm' l)�'� 'winds from fhe four comers of the sky are stirring up' D 7.2; ill. ��u b,?iV-�? 'fhe fire did not over­ power' D 3.27 II f. ��"TP: ��u 'fhe burning fire' D 3.6+. 8) Irregular nouns �� 'father': '�li 'my fafher' D 5.13, '��l! 'your f.' D 5 . 1 1 , 'mSl! 'his f.' D 5.2, 'n�?l! 'my forefathers' D 2.23. The pI. takes a feminine ending : abs. 1�?l!, cst. n�?�, cf. BH n\��. *M� 'brofher' : pI. ,'ry� 'your brothers' E 7.18 (18). *MN� 'woman; wife' : pI. *riVl; l\M'IPl 'fheir wives' D 6.25, cf. BH Mo/� I l:l"iV) with a m.pl ending ! M" � ' lion': pI. ��l:l� D 6.8+. *n'� 'house' : cst. n'�, but M�;� 'his house' D 5.23 (19), unlike BH 'n'�; pI. 1'n?; ���? 'your (pl.) houses' D 2.5, cf. BH tl'n? .,� 'son': pI. *'��f ' cst. ��f ' �0�jf 'his sons' E 6.10. e 6) (17) (18) (19'j

Irregular is 'l:'I'� D 4.1. V vowel; C consonant. The sg. 'your brother' would be 1�n�. ct. BH "�l5 'his brothers' II "1:1� 'his brother.' ct. 'l:\'� 'my house' D 4.1, where there is a variant reading '1:':;1, which is preferable. =

=

12

A BIBLICAL ARAMAIC READER

0\' 'day ' : pI. r�\\ cf. BH o'�:; pI. cst. ,�\, D 5 . 1 1 , also n�\' E 4.15, 19, cf. BH n\�\ *Ml:P m. 'colleague' : pI. *m:p (f. ending), M�ll:P 'his colleagues' E 5.6. ��';o (korse:/ cst. 'throne' : M'O,);> 'his throne' D 7.9, pI. 119';0 ib. ��'?� f. 'kingdom' : cst. n��'?� D 4.14, det. ����'?� D 7.22, pI. det. ��1�'?� D 7.23. �·W 'lord, master' : cst. �'1� D 5.23; ,�,� 'my lord' D 4.16 (Qre : ',�). M?l�l f. 'gift' D 2.6: pI. 1�:�m 'your gifts' D 5.17. o\) 'people' : pI. det. �:��\) D 3.7. Mry� m. 'governor' : cst. nns E 5.3, pI. det. ��lrys D 3.3 (f. ending). 1li�'1 'head': pI. rlli�'1 D 7.6; or1'\t;�� 'their heads' E 5.10 is probably a partial Hebraism. �, 'great, large' : m.det. �?' D 7.2, mp.abs. P'�' D 3.33, f. l�'�' D 2.48. From this reduplicated form a new noun has been coined by adding /-a:n/: 1�'�' 'magnate, chief,' e.g. 'M\i�'�' 'his chiefs' D 5.2. \�, 'myriad': pI. l��' D 7.10 (Qre 1��') (20). OW 'name' : M�1li 'his name' D 2.20 ; pI. abs. *1��1li (f. ending), cst. n ��1li E 5.4, OM���1li 'their names' E 5.10. M\,W f. 'hour' : sg. det. M � l)1li D 3.15. § 11

Patterns of noun and their inflection

NOllllS (and adjectives) can be grouped under various patterns, and their inflection can be studied with reference to these patterns. (21) A) Long vowels are stable and not subject to elision (§ 5 [1]). Thus sg. abs. l� 'mystery,' det. �n, pI. abs. l'I�, det. �:n- Likewise short vowels in doubly closed syllables are stable: sg. abs. Ili'''� /qaddi :s/ 'holy,' pI. abs. rlli'''�, B) qVl (22) B-1) /qal/: sg. cst. ,� ' son' D 3.25 , + suf. M'1� 'his son' D 5 .22 ; sg. cst. 'T' 'hand,' det. MT; D 5.5, duo abs. r-;; D 2.34, + suf. is ''T; D 3. 15 ; fs cst. nllli 'year' E 4.24, cf. BH M1W. B-2) /qil/: fs cst. + suf. MNIli 'his sleep' D 6.19. B-3) /qul/: ms cst. oW 'name,' + suf. 3ms M�1li ' D 2.20 , pc n��1li E 5.4, + suf. 3mp OM���1li E 5.10. C) qVll C-1) /qall/: sg. O\) 'people' D 3.29, det. M�\) E 7. 1 3 ; sc os 'palm' D 5.5, det. �9S D 5.24; \� < *��� 'inside,' + suf. 3ms M�.� E 5.7 (see § 5 [8]). 0CJ Ktiv is maybe ml"'1.

e) No complete classification of BA nouns and adjectives is presented here, but our approach i.E prac­ tical, the focus being on the more important of the patterns. We follow the traditional practice by represent­ ing the triconsonantal root as /q-t-l/. Our classification is synchronic, mostly based on data actually attested in our COlpUS. No systematic attempt is made here to reconstruct Proto-Aramaic or Proto-Semitic fonns. Because of the limited COlpUS of BA, many words occur only once or twice, and we can assign a particular word to a certain pattern by consulting other related Aramaic dialects and cognate Semitic languages such as BH. E.g. pI. cst. '�?tP 'tribes of" E 6.17 is the only BA attestation of the noun. BH ��tP and cst. ��'tP Dt 29.7 Targum Onkelos indicate a segholate pattern /qitl!. (22) V short vowel. =

AN OU1LINE GRAMMAR OF BIBLICAL ARAMAIC FOR BEGINNERS

13

C-2) /qill/: + sf. I s ,�, 'my heart' D 7.28; (cf. BH �,); dU. 1'illi 'teeth' D 7.7; f. M7� ' word' D 2.9, pI. abs. 1'''� D 7.1, det. �:"� D 7 . 1 1 . C-3) /qulV: sg. cst. �j 'pit' D 6.8, det. �?� D 6 . 1 8 ; sg. O � 'mouth' D 7.8, + suf. 3fs M�� D 7.5; fs abs. M�� 'nation' D 3.29, pI. det. �:�� D 3.4, but anomalouslly �:�� 3.7+. D) qV:I D-1) /qa:l/: sg. abs. '� ' sound, voice' D 4.28, cf. BH "'p; sg. abs. �\l 'timber' E 6.4, det. �\'\l D 5.4 (BH 1'1)); mp det. �:l�� 'vessels' E 5.14, cst. 'l�� E 6.5; pI. + suf. 'Mlpo/ 'its legs' D 2.33; f. M\,O/ 'period of tirne; point in time' D 4.16, det. ��l)1li D 3.6+, irregular for ��l)o/. D-2) /qi :l/: sg. abs. 1'" 'justice; judgement' D 4.34, det. �l'" D 7.10; f. abs. Ml'� 'understanding' D 2.21; fs det. ��Ili'�� 'wicked' E 4.12. D-3) /qe :l/ sg. cst. 1li�'1 'head' D 7 . 1 , det. Mo/�'1 D 2.38, + suf. �MIli�'1 'their h.' D 3.27, pI. abs. 1'1li�'. D 7.6, + suf. OM'Ili�� 'their heads' E 5 . 1 0, cf. § 10 (8); f. �"I) ' counsel' D 2.14. D-4) /qu :l/: sg. '�b 'mountain' D 2.35, det. ���b D 2.45. D-5) /qo :l/: sg. abs. 01' 'day' E 6.9, sg. det. ��I' D 6 . 1 1 , pI. abs. l'�I\ cst. '�I' D 5 . 1 1 , n �I' E 4.15, det. �:�I' D 2.28, + suf. 3mp �M'�I' D 2.44; �I� 'birds' D 7.6, cst. D 2.38. E) qVtl Nouns belonging to this pattern are called segholate. In comparison with the corresponding BH segholates, in which the sg. abs. and the sg. cst. are mostly identical and show the shape qVtVI with the first vowel stressed (e.g. 1,�M vs. '��Ili' 1'�), some BA segholates show a similar shape, e.g. abs. �, 1'� 'a great king' D 2.10 II cst. ,�? 1'� 'the king of Babylon' D 7 . 1 , but most of the others are of the shape qtVI, e.g. abs. ,�� (BH '�i) 'man' D 2.25, cst. ,n:o 'wall' D 5.5 (BH '�:;). Some nouns come in both shapes: abs. Ol)b 'order'D 3.10, cst. 0�6 E 6.14; abs. o,�. ' statute' D 2.31, cst. O,�. 'look' D 3.19 il ��0" 0,* 'the golden statute' D 3.5. When segholates are inflected and receive a suffix for i) the fern., ii) the st. det., iii) for the plural, iv) the dual, or v) have a personal suffix attached, they all show the shape qVtl-. This vowel is one of the five: fa, i, e, u or 0/. However, which of these six vowels appears in the sg. abs. and cst. is not predictable, e.g. "�l) 'servant of' D 6.21 but �Ilil) ' grass of' D 4.12. When the last consonant of a segholate is one of the Bgadkphath letters, it receives a dagesh lene with the addition of an ending or a pronominal suffix, but only when the noun is singular. E.g. �:;>,� 'the king' D 2.37, ��p� 'the strength' ib., ��OM 'the clay' D 2.35, ��O:O 'the silver' ib., �?Ili� 'the grass' D 4.29, but P '� 'kings' D 2.21, 'MI';�� 'his servants' D 2.7. E-1) /qatl/: abs. P:\ ' stone' D 2.34, det. �p� D 2.35; abs. �,� 'thousand' D 5 . 1 , cst. �,:\ D 7 . 1 0 , det. ��,� D 5 . 1 ; det. �\"� 'earth' D 2.35; abs. '�M 'wine' E 6.9, det. ���M D 5 . 1 ; abs. �OM 'clay' D 2.33, det. ��OM D 2.35; abs. 1'� 'king' D 2.10, cst. 1'� D 7 . 1 , det. �:;>,� D 2.4, pI. abs. P '� D 2.21, det. �::o,� D 2.37, fs det. ��:o,� 'queen' D 5.10; cst. "�l) ' servant' D 6.21, pI. + suf. 'MI��

14

A BIBLICAL ARAMAIC READER

E-2) E-3) E-4)

F)

F-1)

F-2) F-3)

G) G-1) G-2) G-3)

'his servants' D 2.7 (23); abs. ni? 'horn' D 7.8, det. �n� D 3.5, duo abs. r h� D 7.7 (24), det. �:l'� D 7.8; duo abs. r'l' ' feet' D 7.4, det. �:lm D 2.41, + suf. 3m 'M\'l' D 2.33. When the second radical is Yad, it is vocalised with chiriq in the ·sg. abs., but with shva in other forms of the sg.: "Ii 'force' D 3.20 but M"M 'his army' ib. Their sg. cst. form shows a contraction of the diphthong (§ 5 [6]): n'� D 4.27, r!l E 5.5, "" D 4.32. /qitl/: abs. 'Wl 'eagle' D 7.4, pI. abs. r'Wl D 4.30; cst. 'W� 'meaning' D 4.3, det. N']W� D 2.25, + suf. 3ms M'.I!i� 'its meaning' D 2.9; cst. �W!) 'grass' D 4.12, det. �?WI) D 4.29; fs cst. nl)p� 'valley' D 3 . 1 . /qetl/: sg. abs. tl'?li 'dream' D 4.2, det. �?'?" D 2.4, + suf. I s ,�'?" D 4.6, pI. abs. l'�'?" D 5.12. /qutl/ or /qotl/: ms abs. '�l 'man' D 2.25, pI. abs. l" �� D 3.12, det. �:,�� ib.; sg. cst. '?n:p 'wall' D 5.5, pI. det. �:'?n::> E 5.8; abs. bWP 'truth' D 2.47; sg. det. ��ll ' dawn' D 6.20 (cf. BH Mll); pI. + suf. 3ms 'M\l.ho/ 'its roots' D 4.12 (cf. BH W"1ib); fp + suf. 2ms 1�ry'� 'your ways' D 5.23; fs abs. M?:Pry 'wis­ dom' D 5 . 1 1 , cst. M:Pry ib., det. ���:Pry D 2.20; sg. abs. �pn 'strength' D 4.27, det. ��p� D 2.37. qVtVI Since the first vowel is liable to elision (§ 5 [1]), it is often impossible to say with certainty whether a particular noun is to be assigned to this pattern or E) qVtl, and help is sought in cognate languages. /qatal/: sg. abs. 'n� 'place; trace' D 2.35, + suf. 3ms M'.n� ' its place' E 5.15; sg. abs. �M"1 ' gold' D 2.32, det. ��M"1 D 2.38 (BH �� ); sg. det. M�"TM ' splen­ dour' D 5.18, + suf. I s " "T M D 4.27 (BH '1�); pI. + suf. 3ms 'M\i�M 'his associates' D 2. 1 7 (BH '�ry), fp + suf. 3fs Mn��M D 7.20; sg. abs. 'Ml ' stream' D 7.10, det. ��Ml E 4.16 (BH '�l); pI. + suf. 3ms 'M\�ll) 'its branches' D 4.9 (BH �ll'); sg. cst. 'I)W 'hair' D 3.27, + suf. 3ms M"1I)W D 4.30 (cf. BH 'l'W). /qatil/: fp + suf. 3ms M�?"1' 'its thighs' D 2.32 (BH M?"1'). /qital/: sg. abs. 'W� 'flesh' D 7.5, det. ��W� D 2. 1 1 (cf. BH 'o/ ?); sg. abs. l� l 'time' D 7.12 11 1?l D 2.16, sg. det. �l�l E 5.3, pI. abs. n�l D 7.25, det. �:l�l D 2.21; fs abs. M�"T:l 'lie' D 2.9 (BH �)?); sg. cst. ��'? 'heart' D 4.13, + suf. 3ms M��'? 'his heart' ib. (BH ��'?); fp + suf. 2ms 1��Wl 'your breaths' D 5.23 (cf. BH M?o/l); pI. abs. l'I)'?1) 'ribs' D 7.5 (BH 1)7�). qtV : I /qta:l/: sg. abs. '?�M 'damage' D 6.24, det. �7�M E 4.22; sg. abs. n7� 'three' D 7.20, fs M�7� D 7.24, pI. l'n7� D 6.8. /qti :l/: ms det. �:�l 'prophet' E 5.1, pI. det. �:�'�l ib.; mp cst. " '� � 'he-goats' E 6.17; fp abs. n'M� 'riddles' D 5.12 (cf. BH M1'M). /qte: l/: fs cst. n')l ' decision' D 4.14; fs det ��'?�W ' question' ib.; fp + suf. 2ms 1�l"'? 'your concubines' D 5.23; fs abs. M'1'!ll ' small' D 7.8. .

(23) Note', not "I , but we also find lijt'�9� 'their libations' E 7.17 just as in BH C?';l9� Nu 29.39. (24) But used as plural.

AN OU1LINE GRAMMAR OF BIBLICAL ARAMAIC FOR BEGINNERS

15

G-4) /qtU:l/: mp + suf. 3mp l\M" W ��'? 'their clothes' D 3.21 ; fs det. ��"f��� ' strength' D 2.20; cst. n���l 'prophecy' E 6.14. G-5) /qto : l/ : ms det. �?\I!i� 'darkness' D 2.22; ms det. ��\Ml 'light' D 2.22 (K �'l'Ml). H) qV:tVI H-1) /qa:tal/: ms cst. 'l�9 ' scribe' E 7.12, det. ���9 E 4.8 (25) ; ms abs. tl'?\, 'eter­ nity' D 3.33, cst. tl'?\, 'eternity' 7.18, det. ��'?\' D 2.20, pI. abs. 1'�'?\' D 2.4, det. �:�'?\' D 7 . 1 8. H-2) /qa:tel/: ms cst. �'1� ' lord' D 5.23, + suf. I s '�'l� D 4.16 « *'�'l�). I) qVttV : I 1-1) /qatta:l/: m s abs. tl:� ' stable' D 6.27; mp abs. l'l:'" 'judges' E 7.25; mp det. �:'l�l ' singers' E 7.24, mp det. N:�"'!t1 'gate-keepers' ib., N:lJ�'Q 'executioners' D 2.14, a pattern to indicate occupation or habitual activity or state. 1-2) /qatti : l/, a pattern common for adjectives: mp abs. l'�'�M 'wise' D 2.21, det. �:��M D 2.13, cst. '�'�M D 2.12; fp det. ���'�� 'profound matters' D 2.22; ms abs. �'�I!i 'many, much' D 2.6, fp abs. l�'�1!i D 2.48. 1-3) /qitta:l/: ms abs. "f1M ' white' D 7.9; sg. abs. lip'? 'tongue' D 3.29, pI. det. �:lip'? D 3.4; ms abs. n� 'time' D 7.25, det. �n� D 2.8, pI. abs. rl"J� D 7.25, det. �:n� D 2.21; cst. ''1?� ' strong men' D 3.20. J) Consonants reduplicated J-1) Last consonant reduplicated: Jl�'l 'vigorous' D 4.1; mp abs. rM\M'l ' sweet­ smelling sacrifices' E 6.10. J-2) Two consecutive consonants reduplicated: pI. + suf. 3ms �mt;�7� 'its wheels' D 7.9; ms det. �:'?,'? 'night' D 2. 19; mp abs. l''lr,'lM ' imagi;'ings' D 4.2; ms det. ���'l�1!i 'dawn' D 6.20; mp abs. p'l�'l 'great' D 3.33. K) Prefixed with � : ��'l� 'four' D 7.2, M ��'l� D 3.25; ms abs. �,.,� ' arm ' E 4.23 " (BH �"l�) II pI. + ;�f. 3ms 'M\II�'" b' 2:32; fp abs. W��� f;�gers' D 5.5, cst. n\,��� D 2.42; pI. + suf. 3ms Mn?�'l� 'his knees' D 5.6. L) Prefixed with � : ms abs. �l� 'knowledge' D 5.12, det. �\Ml� D 2.21, + suf. I s 'lMl� D 4.31 (26); fs cst. nl'''� 'province' D 3 . 1 , det. �N'''? E 5.8, pI. abs. Jl"T? E 4.15, det. �N'''� D 3.2; fp abs 11M ' gifts' D 2.6, + suf. 2ms 1NM D 5.17. M) Prefixed with n: ms det. ��,.,n 'constant' D 6.17. N) Suffixed with /-o:n/: ms det. Ml\'l:tT 'memorandum' E 6.2 II mp det. �:n� E 4.15; pI. abs. l'l\''?!) D 7.27; pc 'l\'�'l 'thoughts' D 2.30. 0) Suffixed with /-a:n/: ms abs. no� 'other' D 2.44; ms abs. l"'?ip 'rule' D 7.6, cst. D 4.31 (II pc 'lb'?l!i D 3.2 [27]), det. �l"'?ip D 7.27, + suf. 2mS 1l"'?ip D 4.19, pI. det. �:l"'?ip D 7.27. P) Suffixed with /-a:y/, see above § 10 (5). Q) Suffixed with /-i :/: fs abs. ''lo� 'another' D 2.39; fs cst. n''l�� 'end' D 2.28; fs cst. n'�'l� 'bottom' D 6.25; fs abs. 'l��'� 'frightful' D 7.7. 05) Probably *'�9 with the application of § 5 (2), cf. BH i�b. (26) On the extra In!, cf. l:"TJ' -'" 'he will know,' § 13.10 below. en) Hebraising.

16

A BIBLICAL ARAMAIC READER

Suffixed with j-u :/: fs abs. �"M? 'haste' E 4.23; ��? 'request' D 6.8, + suf. 3ms Mn��? D 6.14; fs det. l!��'� 'exile' D 2.25; fs abs. ��,� 'kingdom ' D 2.39, cst. n��'� D 3.33, + suf. 3ms. Mn��'� ib., det. l!���'� D 2.37, pI. det. l!�1�'� D 2.44, cst. nl�'� D 7.27; fs abs. r-l'Ml 'brilliance' D 5.1 1 ; fs abs. ��� 'matter' D 6.18; fs abs. ��, 'greatness' D 4.33, det. l!���' D 5.18; fs det. l!��"ui!' 'tes­ timony' Gn 31.47; fs abs. �l��i!' 'intelligence' D 5 . 1 1 ; fs abs. �'i!' 'negligence' D 6.5. These are mostly feminine nouns of abstract meaning.

R)

§ 12

a)

Numerals Cardinal numerals f.

m.

il7tl

7

iI��W

*y�w

*T"J.f;1 i1 {1?f;1 iI�f"')�

rD"1"

8

n7�

9

��"')�

10

5

*ilo/1?1J

*w� 1J

11

*iI;��f;1 *iI�lPf:1 illtr� ,ip� 'tl *

*iI�'tf;1 *YWf:1 ,ip� o/ *iI). � il70

6

*il{1W

!1W

12

,ip� �')f:1

*iI"J.tr� �J]",!f:'i

,n

2 3 4

20

ni;'� fn7�

30 40 50 70 90

il tt1? rJi"� il tt7? Y�l�

1 ,000

t� ;�"'!

10.000

*r�� W *P'tf;1 *r�o/f:1

80

100 200 400

*r�fl� *rW1?1J f" W

60

b)

f.

m.

1 ,000,000

0'"7" t�

100,000,000

l�?' ;0' (Qre) TI?' ;0' (Ktiv)

Ordinal numerals Only the following are attested (28): m. abs. 1st 2nd 3rd 4th

m. det.

*�'t7� *ttf:1 *���7f:'i

* tt�'t7�

*����!

tt��:;!"'!

f. abs.

f. det.

*iI;'t7� ilJ;tf:1

K{1;'ti�

Qre il tt{1�7!1 Ktiv iI;{1�7f;1

tt���:;!!

K{1;�:;l"'l

(23) Other forms of this ordinal do occur, e.g. fs det. l'\J;'I;i?"1� D 7.4. The same applies to the remaining asterisked forms in this table.

AN OU1LINE GRAMMAR OF BIBLICAL ARAMAIC FOR BEGINNERS

17

In indicating a date, cardinal numerals in the abs. st. are often used instead, e.g.

niP nliP �'M ''r ''''� "" , M�,?n 0\' ' (the) third day of fhe monfh of Adar which (was

in) the sixth year' E 6.15. § 13

The verb Conjugation system

§ 13.1

The scheme of inflection of fhe BA verb is basically identical with that of BH. Differences are in prefixes, suffixes, and vowels, which can be best studied from the paradigms at the end. Another important difference in the inventory of conjugations can be seen below: Active

-t conjugations

BA P'a!

�

Pa'el

�

Hafel 0

G D

�

H

BH

BA

Qa!

HiJp'el

Piel

HiJpa'a!

Hifil

*Hilhaf al

�

tG

�

tD =

tH

Passive BH

BA

BH

0

P'il

Qal passive

Hitpael

*Pu'al

Pua!

0

Hu/ofa!

Hu/ofa!

Nifa!

The -t conjugations are often passive or reflexive as in �0:l:10 'to be given,' but not always, e.g. �l:I tp0 'to observe.' The so-called metathesi� �ccurs in BA just as in BH: e.g. tG impf. 3fs p��Wn 'will be left' D 2.44; tG pf. 3ms "��WM 'was found' D 2.35; tD impf. 3mp plmnW' 'will heed' D 7.27; tD ptc. ms '�nW� 'observing' D 7.8; tD ptc. ms ''rnW� 'endeavouring' D 6 . 1 5 ; tD impf. 3ms M�.n W' ' will be set' D 3.29; tD impf. 3mp l\lnW' 'will change' D 7.28; tD ptc. mp l'''�W� 'becoming disjointed' D 5.6; Etpolal pf. 3ms o�\nW� 'was stupefied' D 4.16. See also above at § 5 . 1 1 . On the peculiarity of Ayin-Waw/Yod roots, see below at § 1 3 . 1 3 (h). Occasionally we come across Afel forms instead of Hafel. There is no difference in meaning : e.g. M�'P� 'he set it up' D 3.1 II M�'P0 'he raised him' D 5 . 1 1 . Likewise there occur -tl� or -tl� fonns instead of - tl 0 fonns: e.g. to 3fs tI'1j�l:10 ' it was hewn' D 2.34 II n,j�n� D 2.45; tD ���l1n� (29) 'they were uprooted' Ii '? :8. P'il passive, especially in the perfect, is only sparsely attested: e.g. " top 'he was killed' D 5.30, n"top 3fs D 7 . 1 1 , 2ms ��"P� 'you were weighed,' 3mp �n�� 'they were bound' D 3.21. It never occurs in the imperfect, but is rather common in the participle: e.g. 'r'� 'blessed' D 3.28, fs M�" � 'divided' D 2.4 1 , mp p'Wn 'con­ sidered' D 4.32, fp lry'n� 'open' D 6 . 1 1 . The passive is often expressed through -t conjugations, especially tG and tD.

18

A BIBLICAL ARAMAIC READER

§ 13,2

Perfect

The suffixes of the Perfect can be seen below as applied to the root �-n-�. Note carefully the position of the stress marked with and where the dagesh lene is present or absent:
'?�-W �\'� '?�'l11 ill "T�11" 1iV'� 1'''TiV'? '?�? Ml'''T� '''T 'and Daniel put in a request to the king, who appointed Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego for the administration of the province of Babylon' D 2.49. Imperfect The imperfect indicates an action which will take place after the point of ref­ erence: " Q� ��'?� tl�P� 1���� 'and after you there will arise another kingdom' D 2.39; or an action which will take place after the moment of speaking as in N1. w7 �'TrI� ,�irl N:!,� N?� 'one who reveals mysteries has infonned you what is going to happen' D 2.29. The imperfect is also used in a graphic description of a scene in the past, introduced by a perfect: e.g. "Thus were the visions of my head upon my bed: I was looking (M'�.0 mry), and, behold, a tree in the midst of the earth; and its height was great. 8The tree grew (M�'), and became strong (�P��), and its height reached (�tl�') unto heaven, and its sight to the end of all the earth. 'Its leaves were fair, and its fruit abundant, and in it was food for all: the beasts of the field had shade ('?'?lIn) under it, and the birds of the heavens dwelt (1��;) in its branches, and all flesh was fed (rm') from it" D 4.7-9. The imperfect also expresses a number of modal values, e.g. a pledge or obli­ gation: mMl M�iV�� 'Mi"T�II'? ,��, ��'?n �;>'?� 'the king is to tell the dream to his servants, then we shall show the meaning' D 2.7; 1'�� ��7�-'''T M�iV ��.i],? 'the name of the god ought to be blessed' D 2.20. lI"Tll!� 'and let me know' D 2.9 is reminiscent of the Hebrew cohortative, rI��1· Capability : ����.t, tit;'! �'1o/� �1 'that you are capable of telling its meaning to me' D 2.10. The jussive expresses a wish of the speaker: nS�' 'May they perish' Jer 10. 1 1 , 170:r '? � 'Let it not alarm you' D 4.16, 1�'?0�; '? � 'Let them not alarm you' D 5 . 10, ilniV' '?� 'Let them not change' ib.

28

A BIBLICAL ARAMAIC READER

C) Participle C-l) The active participle expresses actual present, namely an action which is tak­ ing place at the moment of speech: n�! l�nl� �nl) 'you are trying to buy time' D 2.8; M"-M'� N� '''T 1�7� 'your god whom you are serving' D 6.17. C-2) The active participle may be used in a way similar to the imperfect as described above, B-2: e.g. "Belshazzar held (pf. "�11) a grand banquet .. and (fbere he was,) drinking wine ("�o/ ���M) in the presence of the thousand' D 5 . 1 ; "at that moment fbere came out (pf. ���l) fingers .. and (fbere they were,) writing (ptc. l?n?�) on fbe plaster of the wall" D 5.5. C-3) The active participle also expresses truths which transcend time: N�W0� N�rl1 " l'� 'I)"T;' � lMl�� l'�':OM' ���:ory �"; P'� tl'P��� P'� ""1) "� �:l� n �:m �?i llin� "� 1)"1; ����O�� ���'�I) �,,� ��"" ' 21And he changes the times and the seasons; he removes kings, and sets up kings; he gives wisdom to the wise, and knowledge to them that have understanding; "he reveals the deep and secret fbings; he knows what is in the darkness' D 2.21-22. C-4) Two verbs of saying, "�N and �)�, are often used as participles to introduce a direct speech made in the past, often with the two verbs combined in the manner of BH ,��;� 11);� : ,��� �;>,� "l\' 'the king answered and said' D 2.5. But cf. �;>,� n'1��� ��:o,� n l l1 'the queen answered and said, "0 King'" D 5.10. When the subject is plural, only fbe second verb is put in the participle: 1" ��� ill1 'fbey answered and said' D 3.9, but �;>,�, 1" ��� l'i\, 'fbey answered and said to the king' D 3.24. C-5) The participle is often used in conjllllction with the verb ��rT 'to be.' Such a participle can precede or follow ��rT. This compound verb form expresses a continuing, durative or repeated action. E.g. '"i61�.-W r'�T! rl);! i� u 'they were shaking and being terrified in his presence' D 5.19; n�.u n;ry 'I was watching' D 4.7. C-6) The participle is sometimes substantivised and has fbe value of 'he who .. ' or 'fbat which .. ' : e.g. 1�7� '�1 'l)"!:-'?' 'to all those who know fbe laws of your god' E 7.25; �:n �,,� 'he who reveals the mysteries' D 2.29; ����O� 'fbe hidden matters' D 2.22. C-7) The passive participle indicates a state which has arisen from a past action: 1�'�1li l'llli "n M"�� "l� �lrr'''T ��;� ri?� 'we are rebuilding the house, which formerly stood built many years' E 5 . 1 1 . By contrast fbe G pf passive indicates an action: �M'li� r'�o 'documents were opened' D 7.10 as against lry'n� n:o ' windows were open' D 6 . 1 1 . (43) D) Infinitive D-l) The infinitive complements an auxiliary verb such as ':>': "n "n �"l�' �,�, 'you were able to reveal fbis mystery' D 2.47; M'l�' n;n 'appropriate to heat it up' D 3.19; "��:O, ,�� 'he ordered .. to bind (th�m)' D 3.20. D-2) The infinitive also indicates a purpose of an action: "7��' p�l 'he had gone out to kill' D 2.14. (43) English is ambiguous here unlike Gennan: Urkunden wurden aufgetan vs. Die Fenster waren offen.

AN OU1LINE GRAMMAR OF BIBLICAL ARAMAIC FOR BEGINNERS

29

D-3) An infinitive clause can function as the subject: �m�'? �l' 1" � �? 'it is not proper for us to look' E 4.14; M:1M'? '�1� '�IV 'it pleased me to show' D 3.32; tlM''?11 ��,�'? to" 1V �? 'it is not permissible to impose on them' E 7.24. § 16

1)

2)

§ 17

1)

2)

Verb phrase The verb can be modified and expanded with various types of constituents: an object noun-rl!� 1:176 'he saw a dream' D 7 . 1 ; a prepositional pbrase­ V�l �'�11 '?�� 'he cried in a sorrowful voice' D 6.21; with a pronominal suffix­ ��l,?�IV' 'he will require of you' E 7.21; with a pronominal suffix and an object noun-�l�1Mi M �;>'?� n'� 'you made the word of the king known to us' D 2.23; an adverb-'?�·.l1'? 1i" � lMiM ��,� r"r� 'then Arioch apprised Daniel of the matter' D 2.15; a content c1ause-N�tJ� t1�W'T�" ::n� 'he learned that the docu­ ment had been signed' D 6 . 1 1 ; an Tad�erbi�l �la��e-l:I�w·r�'1 �; �� �N.��ll Mn;�'? '?� ���:;, 'when Daniel learned that the document had been signed, he entered his house' ib.; an inf.-�?r1� M�9lM'? ,�� '?�'.l1'? 'he ordered (them) to bring Daniel up out of the pit' D 6.24; an object noun and a ptc.-�M:6IVM M"?� tl1� JlMM� �l)? '?�'l']'? 'they found Daniel pleading and supplicating before his god' D 6.12. The direct object of a verb is often prefixed with the preposition Lamed: e.g. 'Mi'?l'-� ��'?� M� 'it struck the statute on its feet' D 2.34; .. ��rrn-��o� 'M'?�'? �''i'M �? .. .:.., �ry?�7! �MSIV 'the god of silver and gold .. you pra;;�d' an'd'the god who .. you did not glorify' D 5.23; '?�� '�':;'M '?�'? M1�iM'? 'to destroy all the sages of Babylon' D 2.12; 1"� �:�ip'? �l'?:\1V 'we asked those old folks' E 5.9, followed by tlM' �l'?:\1V 'we asked them' E 5.10, where i�M could have been used. Miscellaneous syntactic remarks When the independent personal pronouns are added as the subject of a finite verb, i.e. not a participle, they often have a focusing function. E.g. M,?-M'?� Ml� ,., 1 ry?� '��1�W; N�rr N"1�"'!'t;'I� 'your god, whom you are serving all the time, he will rescue you' D 6.17, where the heathen king utters his credo; �:�'?�'? tl�VM �'M� 'it will endure for ages (whilst all the other kingdoms will be destroyed)' D 2.44; Ml� tll)� ��ip �;>'?� 'you, 0 King, have issued a decree' D 3.10, where the court;�rs are reminding the king of his responsibility, maybe pointing their fingers at him. The third person independent personal pronouns may appear as the third con­ stituent of a nominal clause, and they are also functionally marked. E.g. N�rl-t;1�� '?�'l'] 'so it is you, one who is called Daniel' D 5.13; M?�-'" 'Mi';�� i�M �lMl� �l" �� �:�IV 'we are the servants of the god of heaven and earth' E 5 . 1 1 , where a note of pride may be heard in ��0; likewise rlHr�'1 N�f"1 ��� N�0-N1 N7ti Mn;l� 'surely this is the great Babylon, which I have built' D 4.27; ��M ��0?� p'?� �'1�� l'M?� M?� 'it is your god that deserves the title "God of gods and lord of kings'" D 2.47.

30

3)

A BIBLICAL ARAMAIC READER

A third person pronOllll may follow the predicate of a nominal clause either in the second or third slot: '''!;-w ��l�I'W; ''r M'n� ��M-W 'who is a god who could rescue you out of my hands? ' D 3.15; ��M N� .. �l'r� 'the tree .. is you, i.e. symbolises you' D 4.17-19. The particle of existence, �.t1��, in addition to its use in the sense of 'there is, there exists' as in N:�o/� �7� �.t:1�� 'there is a god in heaven' D 2.28, can take a pronominal suffix and is used to confirm the veracity of a statement cast doubt on it: ��'?n 'll1l'1iM'? '?i1;> 1�'�M 'is it true that you are able to make the dream known to me? ' D 2.26; rn'?� li�'�'� �7 'M7�'? .. �1�M 'is it really so .. that you do not worship my gods? ' D 3. 14, cf. vs. 12 without 'n'�. Cf. also 1:I�t? I:I�W N�7� w"1.i'6-F�-�1 : �tN� 10 'if it is really the case that an edict was issued by Cyrus the king' E 5.17. In 'Min'� �7 ��if'�-tll1 liM',,!? ''r J'M7� 'gods whose residence is not with humans' D 2. 1 1 , however, we find the particle used with the value of a plain copula. A predicatively used adjective takes the st. abs. form: M'1'P' '?�o/ M;>'?�-'" ��'?� 'the matter which the king is asking about is difficult' D 2. 1 1 ; M�l�� " �if' M'�\' �'�if' 'its leaves (were) fair and its fruits (were) plenteous' D 4.9; ��'?n �,�, �'1o/� l�� m �� 'the dream is certain, and its interpretation reliable' D 2.45. This applies to participles: �'\'M �7 �7n� 'the iron does not mix' D 2.43, but ��.,p: ��u 'the burning fire' D 3.6. The verb is quite often found at the very end of a clause, probably a legacy from an earlier phase of Aramaic in which such a word-order was most likely influ­ enced by Akkadian. E.g. n'?bl �:�if''? 'l;11 '�n���l Ml� M:�i' n�p� 'and after those days J, Nebuchadnezzar, lifted my eyes to heaven' D 4.3 1 ; ��'?n �;>'?� m.tp }� rI�o/�� �0i"��7 "�N� 'the king is to tell his servants the dream and we shall show its interpretation' D 2.7. The object of an infinitive often precedes the latter: N�!W�1 N�f7 rI�i N�;� M77�if''? M)"T 'to build this house and complete the foundations' E 5.3 (44); '?�'11'? M�9lM'? ,�� 'he ordered (them) to bring Daniel up' D 6.24; 'IN'''JiM'? M'if'�� M:1M'? ��'?�-'if'� r'?0?-�� 'to make its meaning known to me and they cannot show the meaning of the matter' D 5.15. A third person masculine plural form of a verb is often used impersonally: �lif'; �O/l�-W M��'? 'they [� one] will change his heart from (that) of humans' D 4. 1 3 ; r"'li 17 'they expel you' D 4.22. or

4)

5)

6)

FURTHER STIJDIES

The following reference works may be recorrnnended:

F. ROSENTHAL, A Grammar of Biblical Aramaic [Porta Linguarum Orientalium 5], Harras­ sowitz: Wiesbaden, 22006, an introductory grarrnan r for beginners.

AN OU1LINE GRAMMAR OF BIBLICAL ARAMAIC FOR BEGINNERS

31

H. BAUER and P. LEANDER, Grammatik des biblisch-Aramiiischen, Georg Olms: Hildesheim, 1927, an advanced grannnar, in need of updating, but still the most author­ itative reference grarrnan r for Biblical Aramaic. S. SEGERT, Altaramiiische Grammatik mit Bibliographie, Chrestomathie und Glossar, Enzyk­ lopadie: Leipzig, 1975, a grarrnan r covering Biblical Aramaic and its earlier phases. T. MURAOKA and B. PORTEN, A Grammar of Egyptian Aramaic [Handbuch def Orientalistik 32], EJ. Brill: Leiden, 22003, an advanced grarrnnar covering the period of Aramaic irrnnediately preceding Biblical Aramaic. T. MURAOKA, An Introduction to Egyptian Aramaic [Lehrbiicher orientalischer Sprachen III/I ], Ugarit-Verlag: Munster, 2012, a begiIlllers ' grarrnan r based on the above work. T. MURAOKA, A Grammar of Qumran Aramaic [Ancient Near Eastern Studies Supplement 38], Peeters: Leuven, 201 1 , an advanced grammar covering Aramaic irrnnediately fol­ lowing and closely related to Biblical Aramaic. HALOT L. KOEHLER and W. BAUMGAR1NER, The Hebrew and Aramaic Lexicon of the Old Testament, vol. V, Aramaic, translated and edited under the supervision of M.E.J. Richard­ son, E.J. Brill: Leiden, 2000. E. VOGT, A Lexicon of Biblical Aramaic [Subsidia biblica 42], Gregorian & Biblical Press: Rome, 201 1 . P. 10VON and T. MURAOKA, A Grammar of Biblical Hebrew [Subsidia biblica 27 ], Gregorian and Biblical Press: Rome, 22CXXi , the most up-to-date comprehensive reference grarrnan r of Biblical Hebrew. 1.A. MONTGOMERY, A Critical and Exegetical Commentary on the Book ofDaniel [The Inter­ national Critical Corrnnentary], T. & T. Oark: Edinburgh, 1927. R.H. CHARLES, A Critical and Exegetical Commentary on the Book of Daniel with Introduc­ tion, Indexes and a New English Translation. Oxford, 1929. 1.1. COLLINS, Daniel. A Commentary on the Book of Daniel [Herrneneia]. Fortress Press : MiIllleapolis, 1993. 1. BLENKINSOPP, Ezra-Nehemiah [The Old Testament Library] . The Westminster Press: Phil­ adelphia, 1988. BL

=

=

PART II

PARADIGMS

PARADIGMS (I)

I

The regular verb Perfect

G

D

H/A

('D') �J]�

('D- ,�·!P �) �.!PtJ

11�f;1� l �� P

lI �f:1:;JtJ

rqf:1� 1 ���

f:1:;!D:;JtJ rq f:1:;JtJ 1J�:;J tJ

(Ktiv 'JlI�) iI�Jj:p

il���

iI��itJ

l'D ?",?

l'D ?n'

T1 !1�DitJ K��DitJ

�lP

3ms

n;llp

3fs 2ms Is 3mp 3fp

(i1f;1�Jjf ,�9Jj:P) f;1�Jj:p rqJP 1�Jj�

2mp

KpJj�

Ip

Imperfect

G

KP� �

D

H/A

3ms

J� ?

('D-) 'n';

('D- ,J·!P�) J.!ptJ;

3fs

JJ]�f:1 JJ]�f:1

JJ] :;ltIf:1 JJ] :;ltIf:1

Is

J��f:1 J��f:1 J�� �

3mp

11Jf;1?

JJ]�� T1Jf;1�;

1jJ I;9tJ;

2ms

3fp 2mp Ip

Imperative

T�f;1?

T�f;1;l;

�'�?D

�'"'"

J ���

JJ] ;l�

G

D

JD:;JtJ� 1�f;1�iJ; 1J j' I;9t1f;1 JDitJ�

H/A

ms

J�:p

JJ]�

JD:;JtJ

fs

�:;!�:p 1J �:P

�:;!�� 1J��

�:;!�:;JtJ 1J��� , 1J��tJ

l Jp�

il�f;1�

iI �f;1i� ,iI�{1�tJ

mp Infinitive

(1 ) Many of the fonns, even without an asterisk, have been reconstructed.

36

A BIBLICAL ARAMAIC READER

Participle

G active

passive

active

passive

active

passive

ms

�1'1� �1'1� iI�J;1f PN 1m

��J:'i� iI��1) f r:;!�1)� T��l) f

�f:1�1? ,�J]�1? iI�f;1 ��

�t1�� iI�f;1�� P�'� l�N�

�J]�tl1? ,�f:1�� ,�Di� iI�f;9t1� r:;!f;1�t11? T�f;9t11?

�t1�tJ 1? iI�f;1�tJ � Pf;1�tl1? T�f;1�iJ1?

fs

mp fp

" T

'

D

"

T

H/A

P�'� 1��'�

Perfect

Imperfect

tG 3ms 3fs

2ms Is 3mp 3fp

2mp Ip

�Jjf J;1� ,�JjfJ;1;:J rq.1)�1) tl f:1:;!�:PJ;1tl rq1)�1) ;:J 1 ���1) tl iI���1) tl T1f1 �1J:PJ;1;:J KP��J:1 1J Infinitive

tD

tG

tD

-J;1 � ,�t1�J;1;:J 1I�I:1�1);:J f:1:;!��J;1;:J rqf;1� 1);:J 1���1);:J il���1);:J j'1 !1�f:1�J;1;:J KP��1);:J

�1) - ,�Jj fJ;1: � P1)f:1 '! � P1)f:1 '! �Jj�1) � ��J;1�J;1: T�J;1�J;1: �ON�" �Jj:PJ;1�

�t1�J;1: �t1�J:1f:1 �t1�J:1f:1 �f:1�J;1 � j'1�f;1�J;1: T�f;1�J;1: �ON�" �f:1�J;1�

tG

tD

il��:p1);:J

iI�f;1�J;1;:J

�Jj:PJ;1� il�J;1�J:1� P�O�" l�N� "

�f:1�1)� iI�f;1�]W P� O�" l�� O�"

Participle ms fs

mp fp

II Lamed-Yod verbs Peifect G

D

3ms

ilp

3fs

lip

2ms

�;�;l 1'1�� :;l ;�:;l

Is 3mp 3fp

2mp Ip

(7)

H/A

tG

���

���ltI

n'l O

( ? ) lI�PtJ

���;J 1'I��;J '��;J

-:d:;!o 1'I��:;!tJ ,��:;!tJ

tD

��:;l1) tl 1I� , -J;1 � PJ;1tl ��� fJ;1 tl 1'I��;JJ:'i ;:J '��;JJ:'i ;:J

��;Jl:1 ry ( ? ) !I��;JJ;1ry t1��;Jl:1ry n�p l:1ry '��;JD ry

7

7

7

7

7

T111�� f �9��;l

T11'1��� �9���

T11'1�PtJ K���:;!tJ

T11'1�� fJ;1 tJ K����1) tJ

T�1'I�� �J;1ry Nr�� J;1ry

37

PARADIGMS

Imperfect G

D

H/A

tG

tD

iI.�:;l1):

n��l:1:

3ms

iI.�:;!:

iI.��:

iI�.;ltl:

3fs

;-q�f:1

n��f:1

iq:;!tJf:1

n�fJ;1f:1

n��l:1 f:1

2ms

n.�:;!f:1

n��f:1

il�:;!tJf:1

iI�:;lJ:1f:1

n��l:1 f:1

Is

iI�:;!�

i1�� �

;-q:;ltI �

;-q;l1)�

n��l:1 �

�.lfJ;1:

���J;1:

3mp

�.l�:

� J�;

�.l�tJ;

3fp

tP:

tPO;

T,'PJ;1':'

T,'PJ;1':'

2mp

� l?"

���; � lO�

�.l�tJf;1

�lO�"

iI�:;!�

iI���

�le�"

;-q� tl�

ilPJ;1�

n��l:1 �

Ip

Imperative and Infinitive Imperative

D

lIlA

IllS

G �� f

(���) ���

��:;! tJ

mp

i.lf

;��

i.l:;!tJ

KP�

i'I:p

Infinitive

iI;P tJ

Partic p i le G

D

H/A

active

passive

active

passive

K� f , iI� f i'I:H·

Kp , iI.p iI;p.

iI� ��

�a� 1?

iI;p�

mp

fi,

fio�

fp

m

fie ri o

i'I:P 1? fio �

rp�

rp �

IllS fs

tG

tD

��:;!m�

iI� fJ;1�

iI.� �1)�

iI:pm�

iI;PJ:1�

iI;p1)�

r.j�iJ1?

r.j�iJ1?

T,'PiJ1?

T,'PiJ1?

fie� " rp � "

fio� " r,O� "

active

passive

;-q�� ,ilp tJ 1? il;t�tl1?

SIMPLE EXERCISES I)

Write out 'I am good, you are good' etc, (§ 6 and § 10), Put �\l first like in

II)

Write out 'my day, your day' etc, and 'my days, your days' etc, (§ 7, Table I and 2); day 0\'; days 1'�\\ Write out 'before me, before you' etc,; before 0"J�, This preposition is like 'II (§ 7, Table 2), Write out 'my riddle, your riddle' etc, and 'my riddles, your riddles' etc, (§ 7 Table 3); riddle M"J'Mll, Write out 'my word, your word' etc, and 'my words, your words' etc, (§ 7 Table 3 and 2); word sg, M7� , pI, 1'''�'

III) IV) V)

BH 'l� �ito,

�

�

�

�

38

A BIBLICAL ARAMAIC READER

VI) Write out 'god' and 'gods' (§ 10): god Mint VII) Write 'the god is wise' and 'the gods are wise' (§ 10; § 17, 4); wise O':on, which should be put first. VIII) Conjugate fully the verb G (Peal) llil::> 'to gather' (§ 1 3 . 1 ; Paradigm I). IX) Conjugate fully the verb D (Pael) '�n 'to damage' (§ 1 3 . 1 ; Paradigm I). X) Conjugate fully the verb H (Hafel) I'::> 'to announce publicly' (§ 13. 1 ; Paradigm I). XI) Conjugate fully the verb tD (Hitpaal) �"1l 'to volunteer' (§ 13. 1 ; Paradigm I). XII) Conjugate fully the verb G (Peal) "'l 'to reveal' (§ 13.14; Paradigm II). XIII) Conjugate fully the verb tG (Hitpeel) "'P 'to call' (§ 13.14; Paradigm II). XIV) Conjugate fully the verb H (Hafel) ��n 'to return' (transitive) (§ 1 3 . 1 3 ; Paradigm II). XV) Rewrite 'n;�� ";7�' "l� ':0; �'? ' I cannot pray in my house' to 'you (ms, mp) .. your house,' 'he / she .. his / her house,' 'we (mp) .. our house,' 'you (mp) .. your house,' and 'they (m. and f.) .. their house.' �

READER

READING ANNOTATED BIBLICAL ARAMAIC TEXTS DANIEL Chapter 2

4) n'��� 'in Aramaic,' probably an editorial gloss indicating that here begins an Aramaic text. ��;>'?� det. for fbe vocative; segholate (§ 1 1 E, E-l). �r�'?\' § 1 1 H 1). �"n Pe impv. ms < -Y"n. �,�� impv. II ,�� pf. D 7.1. ���'?M Iqetl/ segholate (§ 1 1 E-3). W1�1) Iqatl/ segholate (§ 1 1 E-l), pI. * sg. T!�I) (§ 7). ���I!i� Iqitl/ segholate (§ 1 1 E-2). ��)Ml D impf. IpI. Lamed-Yod. 5) ,��� . . n)\' § 15 C-4); ,�� < *'�� § 5 (2). ��'1I!i:O Q; § 10 (5) ���'?� fsd, pI. 1''?� § 10 (6); 'matter,' not 'word,' cf. BH '�1. �'l� simpler in declension fban H 1�, § 7 (b). Note the gemination of Nun, likewise in 1l� D 2.23 and �01 � ib. 2.33. � �11� Old Persian? a) 'irrevocable, certain'; b) 'promulgated, made known' ��7 H �'? § 3, line 12. �'ll�lMinn impf. H 2mp + Nun energ. and 'l 'me' § 13.18 (c); Pe-Yod, § 13.10. �tl1n 'member; limb' (Old Persian?) ��:o'n? 'your (mp) houses,' irregular < M'S, cf. BH tl'M? �,lm 'waste-tip, rubbish­ heap' II �'?)l E 6 . 1 1 . �p�ip�' impf. tG 3mp, § 13.13 (h). 6) �Mn H D (vs. 4); retention of /hi, § 13.4. �n?l�l 'gift,' a word of uncertain etymology. �'�1� § 7. � 1"7 'therefore.' 7) r'��� " ill1 § 15 C-4). �nU;ln 'for a second time'; not cst., but archaic absolute state used adverbially, cf. § 1 1 R. �,��, § 13.12 � mMl II ��m vs. 4. ��:O'?� 'm"T�I),? ,��, ��'?n, cp. 1'"T�I),? ��'?n ,�� (vs. 4): indire�t �ddress·vs. direct. Are fbe Chaldeans deliberately changing the parlance for better effect? 8) �'ll' 'firmly established'; 'it belongs to a firmly established trufb, I know, that you are .. ' Cf. '''T bI!iP-1� 'it belongs to fbe trufb fbat .. ' vs. 47. �I)"T; *\l1; § 5 (2). �'''T introducing a content clause, § 9 (6). �'?�p-'?:o '?�p'?:o :0 + '? + '?��. �'''T in conjunction with a preposition(s), § 9 (9). �1in'm many MSS read pn. 9) �1 introducing a content clause, the content of the royal decision (vs. 8). � �:om �'n n"Tn 'only one .. '; numerals, § 12 (a); �'n focusing on n"Tn; m 'royal edict; sentence, verdict'; the value of the suffix in ��J711 is 'concerning you, over you,' not 'issued by you'; a cst. form or a noun with a suffix can indicate more than just possession; e.g. BH �li?tI� can mean either 'he loves someone' or ' someone loves him.' � rT�"';l rT7�, cf. N��� w�� the first term being of generic character. �1�t1��'1o Q 'you have agreed among yourselves': reciprocal value of tG; metathesis + partial assimilation, § 5 (11). �,���'? info G § 13.7; Ime:-I, § 13.12. �'''T "TI) 'until,' § 9 (9). ��;nl!i' metathesis, § 5 (11). �r16� (> sg., vS. 4), cf. BH �,,��; note the different positions of the stress. �lMl� § 13.10. �'lll.M n Nun energ. § 13.18 (c); Lamed-Yod § 13.14. This impf. indicates a potential modality, 'you are capable of inforruing me,' § 15 B 3). �

�

�

�

�

42

A BIBLICAL ARAMAIC READER

10) �'1iV�, see vs, 5, �'n'� BH iV', �iVl�; many MSS read iV)l:t ���iV�' 'the dry land' II BH Mo/?" cL Rosenthal *�o/�\ Not �l" � in Mesopotamia, a land criss­ crossed with the two major rivers, their tributaries, and canals. Cf. Jonah's con­ fession (Jon 1.9): rlW�-"WN N"� ��N tN�Wrl �M�N mrl�-tJN� ���N �.,�� t1rl��N "�N"� :Mo/?'M-n�� c:M-n� �;"T r�l prZn § 9 c 1) � �;; BH ��e�d i� �< ;� 3 29; often with an inL, § 15 D (1), On the dagesh in the mph, see § 13,10, � M:1M'? inL H, § 13,7, ��;>'?� n"�, an object before fbe inL, § 17 (5), ��, 'qualitatively great' II BH �' 'quantitatively great many, much', ��'''iV 'powerful', Iqatti:l/ § 1 1 I (2), � Ml"P � + Ml"T BH m;>, ��, categorical negation with a singular, indetenninate noun, �Cb'M with a faulty dagesh, 'magician'; fn, (e) is missing in the apparatus of BHS,; an Egyptian loan-word, ��iV� 'enchanter, sorcerer' < Akk a: sipu, �'1iV� here 'astrologer,' forerunner of fbe fbree wise men; § 10 (5), 11) M�'P' fs abs, Iqatti:l/ § 11 1-2; predicative, § 17 (4), �Ml�M; D; obj, suL, § 13,18 (c), �1"? 1" �? 'except' * 1M'? 'therefore' vs, 6, 9, � ��iV�, of Iqital/ pattern (§ 1 1 F-3) unlike BH 'o/?, but used in fbe same sense of 'living being,' here collectively, 'living beings,' �'Mili'� copulaic, § 17 (3); mode of suffixation, § 7, Ln, 12, Cp, a copula-less nominal clause in English: "Four legs good, two legs bad" a slogan which Snowball, a pig, teaches animals to chant in G, Orwell's Animal Farm (1945), 12) Ml"T '?��-� 'because of fbis,' '?��-� being used here as a preposition as agains '''T '?� �,-� (vs, 8) 'because,' a conjunction, � �'�iV Iqatti:l/ § 11 1-2), �,�� G pL II vs, 4 ,�� impv,; 'to command, order,' � M1�iM'? inL § 13,7 + 13,12, �'�'='M'?, of Iqatti:l/ pattern, § 1 1 I (2) and substantivised, §14 (2a); -'? BH n�, object marker, § 16 (2), so Cb'M-'?�'? '?�iV vs, 10 above, 13) n��l n��l § 5 (3), �l''?b�;'�, in ptc, mp used for a graphic description of a mass murder taking place, § 15 C-2), � ill� �II� G pass,? pac 00 I;I;T]T1']8T], but TH I;I;1']TT]0uv, Reference is also made to Jon 1,4 '�o/M'? M?iVM M:l�� > Trg, ���n'�'? �:11? 'the ship ran the risk of breaking up,' 14) r';�� vs, 15 1'';�; < *1'';��, cL BH C'h"�� , �Cl)�� �\ll) �'N) 'responded to the situation wifb a piece of sensible counsel to Arioch'; �\ll) fsa, cL BH M�l) (§ 3); �'n " H, § 13,13 (i), BH �'iV", § 3, ���'?� '''T �'M�� �' analytic: § 14 (4)-instead of li;>'?� 'M?� �'; �, substantivised, §14 (2a); M?� Iqatta:l/ § 1 1 1-1 'butcher, executioner'-'the captain of the guard', � M?��'? D inL, § 13,7, multiplicative D wifb many victims? but how about tG M?\lpnM'? vs, 13 II tD l''?b�M ib,? 15) �\l'''iV adj, msd 'empowered, carrying aufbority; high-ranking officer'; Iqatti:l/ § 1 1 1-2, vs, 10; substantivised, § 14 (2a), ���'?� '''T �to''?iV analytic, § 14 (4), ���1 'fbe edict' fsd, see ��m �'M M1M vs, 9, �M��MM� H ptc, pass,(?), with the subject also ��'?� n"� 3,22; 'harsh; hasty, peremptory, not carefully considered'; predicative, not attributive-�m sfd, �"Arioch explained the matter to Daniel" : \)"TiM H § 13,10, for *ll1iM or *IM\M § 5 (2), 16) '?II § 13,15 (a); simplification, § 5 (8), � Ml'� § 13,14, �Wl 'time,' an anomalous long a: , perhaps influenced by Hebrew; better WI 7,12, Ofberwise the elision of fbe a vowel in �:l�l mpd vs, 21 would be inexplicable, �lN'; the n is not always assimilated (perhaps degemination?), § 13,9, �M:1M'? H inL, §§ 13,7, 13,14 (a), �

�'

�

�

�

�

�

�

�

�

�

43

READING ANNOTA1ED BIBLICAL ARAMAIC 1EXTS

the verb found at fbe end, § 17 (5). �'m'�M; Rosenthal, *'�M, § 1 1 F-(l), for '�M, cpo BH '�ry, § 5 (2). �IM\M vs. 15. 18) 1'�m 'mercy,' always pI., so BH o·�m. So �:�IV. �M7l!: unlike in BH, the God of Israel is always referred to wifb fbe sg. ��,? ., final, 'in order fbat .. not,' § 9 (7). �1mM; Pe-Alef, § 13.12. 19) �llM msd < *�lM < *(hezwl (lqetll) < a typically Ar. root v,m I ...j·m BH M�'. ��:,? , msd < *�,., (Rosenfbal, rather < .,.,). �.,?� G pf. pass., § 13.1, end. 20) Ml\': none had asked him a question; reaction to a situation. ���M'? § 13.14 (d). ��M'?�'" M�IV proleptic, anticipatory § 14.4. �" ?� . . ��M'? compound, periphrastic § 15 C (5), note ��'?� .,�� ��'?� 1�. �" ?� compensatory lengfbening (§ 5 [12]); lal marking fbe ptc. as passive (§ 13.8). � . . �M�M •., : causal, 'because wisdom .. ' . �M, "'T, possessive pronoun, GEA § 13 and GQA § 40; N"M sg., �n'��l� �M�M treated as a single notion. ���,�� 'moral strengfb,' which Daniel needed to stand 17) 1'H� M�;�'? '?�'l"J 1'"%

�

up to fbe mighty king, not a military force. 21) M'1�M� . . �lIVM� 'changing .. removing,' the M of H ptc. optionally remaining, without being elided, § 13.4. �'IM: substantivised ptc., § 15 C-6. �����ry �": rI��� ��7 N���� r��lJ7: those who are wise owe their wisdom to God, not that He gives wisdom to those who are already wise, likewise the knowledgeable. 22) ����O� D ptc.pass. fpd, 'hidden matters,' § 13.8, substantivised; f.pl. so also �np·��. � M�� 'with him,' the final Mem doubled as in BH i�� . �IM: , G ptc. < *�1:, § 5 (2). ���\Ml; the vocalisation represents �'�Ml, Qre. ��.IV 'residing, nestling,' G ptc. pass., § 15 C-7 resultative. Possibly a picture of a beast of burden 'resting,' after having its load removed and loosened at the end of a day's journey. 23) 'nry?� pI. of �� + Is: irregular pI. 1ry?� with the typically fern. ending and an extra infix /hi, cf. BH n\�lJ. ��1iM� § 13.4, 13.10, 13.14. �M�IV�: D ptc., § 5 (2). ��l��"T\M II 'llilM�\M, dissimilation for avoiding the sequence la-a/? �The third ., probably means 'that which (we have sought), but the fourfb ., is of obscure function. 24) '?� 1° is better deleted. �'?� 2° 'towards' a person wifb verbs of movement; -'? 'to, towards' a place. Despite fbe position of fbe disjunctive accent, athnach ('???), -r" � '?� is better joined wifb '?1 �. �'l� D § 13.14 (b). �"��Mn H, vs. 12, 18. �'l7liM H impv., § 13.15 (b). ��m� ��'?�'? �'IV�: Object - Object - Verb, § 17 (5). 25) M'?M�M� § 13.7; 'to becom� mentally unsettled, agitated, confused', cf. Ge 43.30 Kat £TUpax811 = "0�;1 , describing a reaction of Joseph on seeing Benjamin. �'?!)lM II 'l,?liM vs. 24, § 13.15 (b) on degemination. �'?�'l"'?, object marking, vs. 12. ��., 1° recitativum introducing direct speech, = " . �"�;f 'a man, male,' a qutl segholate, § 1 1 E-4, cf. pI. abs. 1" �� D 3.8. �lMiM\ impf. of potential modality, 'could inform,' § 15 B-3. 26) l'n'�M § 17 (3). Like its BH equivalent, M introduces a question. �'?";>, G ptc.: impf. '?�:o' > '?�� > '?M�, cf. Arm. 10M' 'to run' (BH 1'�')' Arm. M� 'to be asharned' (BH IV��). �'lnl'-rM'?, § 13.7. 27) '1�, G ptc. substantivised § 15 C-6: 'diviner; soothsayer', an addition to the list in vs. 10. Note the position of N� : 'it is not sages, magicians .. that can infonn •

•

"

44

A BIBLICAL ARAMAIC READER

28)

29) 30)

you .. '. In vs. 10 we find a different syntactic structure: �Ili�� tlb,n-'i? '�Ili �'? �1O/� 'he did not ask any magician, sorcerer or astrologer whomsoever,' with a sg. indeterminate nOllll preceded by �? and in a negative statement. �1�7,:?�, G ptc. m. pI. < ,�;, synonymous with 'o;> in vs. 26. �'�Ili� "'� II �'�Ili "'� (cst.) vs. 18. ��,� G ptc. subst., cst. st., 'a revealer of .. ' ���.iJ' '"T "� 'that which is going to happen,' § 9 (2). �n" M 'the end of,' sc of " n�, § 1 1 Q). � �:�\' mpd; BH tl'�: derives from a different pI. stem. �'�.l n, pI. cst. of �ln < Hn 'vision,' e-segholate. � Ili�'. 'head' II BH Ili�', but cf. n'Ili�'. 'beginning.' ���" § 17 (2). "nl�, casus pendens to be resumed with the suffix in 'l\'�' II ell! vs. 30. �'l\'�' : even the K is spelled without Yad, but is pI. as shown by the pI. verb �P'O, same 5.10. rr��, casus pendens, see above on rrt;1�� vs. 29. �rr�,:?ry� N7 'it is not with wis­ dom'; the negator, �'?, is away from the verb, " .l" that follows, cf. �' in vs. 27. ��:'n-';>-l� 'more than (in) all (other) living beings'; with 1� of comparison as in BH, and �"n mdpl. < 'n , simplified from "n of Iqalll pattern, § 1 1 C 1), and on the doubling of the first ', see § 5 8. �" "" a v�iant spelling of " l G pf. 3ms, vs. 19. �1"' 'except' 'only.' �'" m?.,-,� 'in order that,' cf. BH Ec 7.14 n'�.,-,� rr��N� ��"1t!� t11�� N��: N�W 'so that man may not find out anything after him.' ��ln, § 13.10. �,��, < ��, (jqitaV pattern, § 1 1 F [3]), BH ��" �;�n mry 'you were gazing,' a periphrastic construction, § 15 C-5. � "In tl,� �'l!� is a complete clause, 'and behold, one statue ! ', cf. BH rI'1O/� .,�� m01 N!�1 Gn 29.2. � �'llli removed from �', st. abs., hence predicate; 'this image (was) very large.' N��ip means 'quantitatively great,' here used adverbially, 'to a great extent, very,' but not 'large in size, great in value or status,' which �"') means. ���! 'brilliance, brightness.' �.,�t:1�, 'excessive, extraordinary,' an adjective of Iqatti:l/ pattern, § 1 1 1-2, and in st. abs., because it is predicative, § 17 (4). �tl�� § 13.13 (e). N��� N�rl, casus pendens, resumed with a suffix of rttpN'1. N�rl is here a demon­ strative pronoun, 'that (statue),' § 8. ��� �""T '"T MW� �� �""T '"T Ili�' M W� 'its head was a head of pure gold.' �'ni"Tn, 'its chest,' sg. ! , (1) and note lQ20 XX,4 in a Qumran Aramaic document in which the author is mentally contemplating his matriarch Sarah's physical beauty: "'"Tn ", ��, ��� 'how pretty her chest is ! " Cf. BH mry 'breast.' But 'nill� 'its belly' is most likely plural or dual as in BH. � '"i�Tr 'its arms,' < �Tr, cf. BH Ili'l (§ 3, lines 2 and 12). ��O� ' silver,' an a-segholate (§ 1 1 E-l), cf. BH ��:> (> 'SO:» . � M�?" pI., 'its thighs,' < * "?'" cf. BH K 1'1:. �IliN 'bronze,' cf. BH nWhl. '"ipip 'its legs,' < pip II BH pilli, § 3, line 12. �')"Ts; also among Aramaic dia­ lects both /brzl/ and IprzV are attested, cf. BH ')"T�. ��O� 'tile', Iqatl/, § 1 1 E-!. ��01 � '(some) out of them.' The prep. l� with a pI. suffix attached followed by a noun indicating more than one thing or person or something consisting of a large quantity can be used with 'some' or 'part of' unexpressed. Called partitive �

31)

32)

�

33)

or

e) Cf. GQA p. 230. f.n. 17.

READING ANNOTA1ED BIBLICAL ARAMAIC 1EXTS

45

So in BH, e.g. Ex 16.27 o�ry W �ll�: 'some of the people went out'; Gn 4.3 M�1l!ry " �� ll�:� 'and he brought some of the fruits of the earth.' Note LXX

w.

here: al 1I:60ES ).tEpaS ).tEv CHoljpaD, ).tEpaS M oCHpuKlvav. 34) n,.j�M tG pf. 3fs 'was hewn out,' a non-standard vocalisation for nil�M. � riP';; M, H pf. 3fs < -VPP"T 'to crush, pulverise'; the first radical gemin�t�d, § 13.1 5 (b). The subject, PI! 'stone,' is fern. as in BH, hence the two verbs here are also 3fs. The vocalisation is comparable to 1"I'1j�1:10 and 1"IlJ�T:1W0 tG 3fs 'it was found' D 5.11. �1'"T'� ll?-'''T 'without hands.' �i1ry�, G pf 3f; of Mry� 'to strike' II BH Mry�, used only to express 'clapping hands out of joy' as in ni'ryl ��-�lln�' Ps 98.8. � ll?n� '"T 'Mi'�' 'its legs of iron,' an analytical construction; the notion here cannot be expressed by means of a synthetic structure with st. cst., § 14 (4). �l\�M, object, § 6, 13.18 (e). 35) �pi: better to read �P"T, § 13.1 5 (a). � M1n:o 'altogether'; the numeral is f. of "TM, not det. of the masc. fonn, although the nouns of all the metals mentioned here are of masculine gender, because this is an idiomatic expression; cf. BH "ry�:p Ezr 2.64+. � *'''Tll Akk. adru, idru 'threshing floor.' �b'� 'summer,' BH r�, § 3. �"l}� �, categorical negation with a sg. indetenninate noun and reinforced with ':':0, cf. BH Ex 12.16 MiV�'-16 M:Oll1m-':':o 'no work whatsoever shall be done.' �":O�iV M, tG with metath�;i�, § 5 (1 1),'< �M:OiV. �ll�'?�'?; the Lamed marks a direct object. �'lb 'mountain' II BH ,�� 'rock,' see § 3, line 8. �n?� Lamed-Alef, § 13.14 (f). 37) 'You, 0 king, are the king of kings of the god of heaven. He gave you . . . ' or ' .. the king of kings to whom the god of heaven gave .. ' or 'for the god of heaven has given you'? On 1l::O'?� 1'?� 'the king among kings, the most powerful king,' cf. BH O'"T�I1 "T�li 'humblest servant' Gn 9.25. �lllOM 'power,' a qitl segholate, § 1 1 E-2). �ll�p� 'might,' a qotf segholate, so pronounce Itoqpa:/. �ll��; 'glory,' § 1 1 G-l) II BH ,�;. 38) 'wherever they might live, he has given into your hand humans, wild animals and birds of the sky' rather than 'wherever humans live, he has given .. ' �K r'll"T, Q r�"J § 13.13 (e). A shva can not be used with II in the middle of a word. �'l� llo/ll!, sg. iVl � '� D 7.13, cf. Jesus' title applied by him to himself, (, Dlos TOO uv8pamoD, e.g. Mt 9.6, but articular! � ll�? m'n collective fs, cf. BH M1o/ n O M, but pI. also used TI'n, ll�l'n. �ll�?, ms det. < ,�, a qall noun, so that the short vowel is not subject to the vowel deletion rule (§ 11 C-l) unlike '� 'son' (§ 1 1 B-1), hence ll�� 'the son.' The qamats is due to compensatory lengthening, /barra:! > /ba:ra:1 as in BH �, ms 'evil,' but fs M�� < -V��,. �1li'?iV M H pf. 3ms + 'you (ms).' The verb takes �- like BH '?iV�, e.g. Gn 1.18 O\'� '?iV�'? �l\M'?��: like BH ':':0 the word is of qull or qoll pattern, hence the dagesh in the Lamed: BH o� 'all of them.' �On Il�M in Il�M MNll, see § 17 (2); it is more than a copula, 'you are .. ' 39) 1�n? 'after you' < ,n? < 'nl!�; ,nl! 'place.' � �:O'?� § 1 1 (R). �" O� § 1 1 (Q), a rare feminine word ending with li:/, and an irregular fonnation from ms 1"11J�. ��'l! 'inferior, lower': K perhaps ll�':\ like 117li 'higher above' D 6.3, ll� 'altogether' D 2.40. � �,�,'?� § 10 (5). �b'?iVn, a-impf. § 13.3. n

n

�

46

A BIBLICAL ARAMAIC READER

40) M:l"'�" an inconsistent spelling compared with �'�" n vs, 39, hence Q M�l"'�'; abs, sg, ' a fourth kingdom,' not 'the fourfh kingdom,' �Vl� 'will emerge,' not 'will be'; 'fhere will emerge a fourth kingdom, strong as iron, ' ��7S 'altogether' ; fhough it looks like the det, form and can be translated ' everything,' fhe accent on fhe penultimate syllable speaks against such an analysis, This is an adverbial ending attached to a sing, form, Likewise ��'li' 'exceedingly' 322, �P'1M�, see above on npiM at vs, 34, ���·W 'to pulverise,' D ptc, act, BH '-I'f"!'1 § 3 (11); compensatory lengthening (§ 5 [12]), lei > lal § 5 (2), ��.,�, § 13,15 (b) end; 101 for lu/, 41) '''I'] introduces a theme of a later clause: 'as regards the fact fhat you saw ", (fhis means that) there will be a disparate kingdom, ' So also vs, 43 (emending ''T to '''n), 4,20, 23, �'ry�, a variant vocalisation for 'ry� 'potter,' of Iqatta:l/ pattern, § 1 1 (1-1), which explains fhe non-deletion of the first short voweL �����l l� ' something of the fimmess' wifh a partitive 1 � (see above on vs, 33), which explains the rnasc, form �V!'?, ��'\'� D ptc, pass, hence lal, not lei, § 13,8, The ptc. is in st. abs., because it is basically predicative: 'you saw that the iron was mixed,' not ��'\'� �'?n� 'the mixed iron,' § 17 (4), 42) N:7�"1 tI�f�� 'the toes' in casus pendens, to be resumed with a suffix of1�m�. �����,� n¥P W 'part of the kingdom' ; fhough W here also is partitive, we have a fem, verb form, miJ�, probably because n¥P f 'part' was felt to be the real subject, � Ml� 'part of it,' also taken as fem, in line with what precedes, 43) Q '''I']; on "T, see above at vs, 41, �p'\,n� tD ptc, ; tG would be p'�n�, for fhe long a: of the tD form is due to compensatory lengfhening, which would not hap­ pen in tG, § 5 (12), The D pass, ptc, (vs, 41) indicates a condition fhat has resulted, whereas the tD ptc. indicates an act of getting mixed. The periphrastic construction (§ 16 C-5) in conjunction with liiJ'? points to repeated actions in the future, a historical allusion to political intermarriages between the Seleucids (iron) and fhe Ptolemies (tile), See D 1 1 ,6, 17, ��O/lll �'l� the preposition Bet here dif­ fers in meaning than in the earlier N��� t"j�t!� �·W� 'mixed in miry clay,' so locative, but in the second case it is instrumental, 'by means of the seed [= male semen] of men,' � Mn tl� Mn 'this (m,) with fhis (m,),' a reciprocal expression, Cf G UAAT]AOlS, �''P-�M, a wrong word-division for ''T 1�M, 1'M is a particle of comparison, 'as'; the combination is akin to BH .,W�. 44) �M'�\' 'fheir days' with a proleptic pronoun, § 9 (5), �Pl� 'those,' a demonstra­ tive pronoun, § 8, not 'fhey,' �v�nlVn, tG with metathesis (§ 5 [ 1 1]): 'it will be left,' ��'�� instead of �'O� AL irnpL 3fs, 'to bring to an end, exterminate'; on fhe non-standard stem vowel e: and the prefix vowel a :, see § 13,13 (i), U), ���l�'� fpd < ��,� 'kingdom,' § 1 1 R), �tl�pn �'M� 'but it will stand' ; the pronoun serves to highlight the contrast wifh all the other doomed kingdoms as in BH, § 17 (1), 45) n'1i�n� n'1i�n M vs, 34; Itpeel is later than HitpeeL ��1�b� ���b 1 � ' out of fhe mountain, ' The combining of the preposition W with the following noun and the assimilation of the Nun of the preposition occurs far less frequently in BA than in BR See als 'b� 'from dew' D 4,22, bu �:;>,� 1 � ' from the king' �

�

�

READING ANNOTA1ED BIBLICAL ARAMAIC 1EXTS

46)

47)

48)

49)

47

D 2.49. ��"1\M H pf. 3ms for *�;\M, § 5 (2). �Wi1� not a pure Hebraism as shown by fbe patach; H ptc. pass., 'believable, trustworfby. ' �0���� 'his face', duo (because of the symmetrical shape of a nose in the centre with two nostrils and two eyes) as shown by the dagesh, but �rl�S!� 'his knees' D 6 . 1 1 . � "1l0 G pf. of qtil type, § 13.2, cf. 'mosque' < Arb. masjid. �l'Mh'l 'offerings of incense,' < BH lJ�t1��. The two direct objects are preceding the infinitive M?9l'? 'to pour,' § 17 (5). toilip W; 1 � of source, origin-'fbe following originates from the truth, fbe fol­ lowing is true . . ' �N�t1 gives prominence to the preceding: 'there is none other fban your god who deserves to be called .. ' ��:M,?� M,?� 'fbe very true god,' cf. on �:�'?� 1'?� vs. 37 above. ��'.� st. cst. � M,?� G ptc. act., used substantivally and in st. cst., 'revealer (of mysteries)'. � t1�; �1; �1 gives an argument, a grOllldl for the conclusion reached by the king. � �'?:;;, a qtil G pf.; fbe corresponding BH �'?�: /ya:kolta:/ represents qtol type. ,�, '?�'l"J'? �?'?� 'the king promoted D.': word-order (§ 17 [5]) and nota objecti, § 16 (2). �l�'lili 1�'�' 11M 'many great gifts' : 1�'�" reduplication of the root, § 1 1 J-2). The plural of this adjective, �', is consistently formed through redu­ plication; 1?' 11 M � would not have occurred. (') �'?�? nl'"1� ,??: with '?�? prob­ ably the entire Babylonian Empire is meant rather than fbe district of Babylon, cf. 3.1 and 2. �nlO < Akk. (LB) saga:nu < saknu, 'prefect, governor.' �'M BH '�iIi, metathesis; a /qatl/ segholate, § 11 E-1. �

Chapter 3

1) r�� f. § 10 (6), cf. BH n\��. �nili § 3 (5, 6). 2) t'i7W ' sent a notice, envoys carrying a notice,' cf. a similar use of the verb without object in BH, e.g. Gn 27.45 tlo/� 9'liry�'?� 'liry'?o/� 'I will send and get you from fbere.' � �'l�"'iliM�'? to go wifb ilil��'?, not M'?iIi, as its direct object. ���lM�, irregular mpd of Mry� 'governor,' an abbreviated loan-word from Akk. bel piMti 'governor.' The noun is masculine, but has a fern. pI. ending, § 10 (6).

�l�"'iliMll < OP 'protector of the empire,' satrap. Various ranks of administra­ tion arranged in descending order of rank? �N�"1H!1� 'advisor, counsellor' < 'adarziigar (Persian). �'�"p 'chief treasurer' ,�p. �'��"1 Pers. (n"!), ' someone versed in law'; HALOT 'judge'. Not 'legal counsellor' ? If 'judge,' why not use 1:"1? �'��n Pers., 'magistrate, police officer (law enforcement officer).' ����'? 'to come,' G inf., § 13.14 e). �tl'P0 II M�'Pll vs. 1 , § 13.13 (i). 4) 1\,? not Gk. dipus, but OP arausa. �,?,(!� 'with energy, loudly' ; "'ry is a pausal form of "'Ii, a /qatl/ segholate. �1" �� ��'? 'they are saying to you,' fbe 3mp being impersonally used, i.e. 'this is an 3Illlouncement to you.' �N:��� mpd, but sg. det. spelled ���. ��:�l! fpd, mismatch, § 10 (6); ethnic groups within a nation, a political unit? The Republic of fbe Union of Myarnmar (���) vs. efunic groups, not just minority groups-Barnar alongside Shan, Karen, Mon, Chin etc., 135 in �

0) See our "Three grammatical issues in Biblical Aramaic," Ancient Near Eastern Studies, 57 (2020) 53-58.

48

5)

6)

7) 8)

9) 10) 12)

13) 14)

A BIBLICAL ARAMAIC READER

all! �ll:lo/', languages as a parameter of demographic demarcation as in Belginm, Switzerland, Canada, Indonesia, the Philippines, People' s Republic of China, Myanmar wifh 108 distinct languages, and India with 780, 10/' of Iqitta: V pattern (§ 1 1 1-3) differs from BH 1i1li7, but note la:1 as against 10:/, § 3 12, All the three nouns are in the det. state, functioning as vocative, ' 0 peoples, nations, languages,' see above on ll�'� D 2A, ll�'pi'lIi� 'pipe' ; Oi'M'P 'zifher,' Gk KieUP1S; ll��O 'four-stringed harp' ; variant spelling ll��1Ii vs, 7, 10, 15; l" NO�, Gk, 'l'UhljplOV, kind of stringed instru­ ment, also spelled with b vs, 7 ; M:lb��O 'double-barrelled flute' (bagpipe?), < Gk CJD).Hproviu, �*n P, zana 'sort' ,� basically interrogative 'Who?,' but here used in conjunction with �'1 with the value of generic relative pronoun, 'whoever . . ' . ���: 'he will fall down' with a stem vowel different from that of BH 'b\ �ll�1111i M� 'at that moment,' Note with which word the athnach is found, Though the 3fs suffix of fhe prepo­ sition agrees with the following noun, fs, it is not the usual suffix meaning 'in it,' but a residue of an archaic demonstrative pronOllll of far deixis, 'that,' and by the time of the vocalisation its historical origin had been forgotten and reinter­ preted as a usual possessive suffix. So translate 'at that hour, at that moment.' The sarne occurs in lll�l M� 'at that time' (vss, 7, 8) and M���'� Ml� 'from that kingdom' (7,24), � ll�"TP: G ptc, fsd 'burning,' to go with ll��l, common gender (§ 10 [7]), but pn II masc, ll:�� fpd, Mem wifhout dagesh, also 331, 5,19, 6,26, 7,14, hardly a scribal error, but twice (3A, E 4,10) wifh dagesh; not noticed in BL! Ml"T ,�� � 'thereupon'; no good reason for deleting this, �r'��, redundant, cf BH Lv 21,9 10:0 lIi'll, �liM'�'P, with a proleptic suffix, § 14 (4), '�'P ,�� is an idiomatic expression meaning 'to accuse (someone). ' r'��l ill1, § 15 C-4), ��i!' G pf 2ms; the la:1 of 0/ for iii is influenced by fhe simplest form of fhe conjugation, 3ms 1:10/. On fhe redundant p,��, see above at vs, 8, �liM�:, fhe only case in BA of fhis object marker used in lieu of plll 1 1i�M 1 i�M, �tll)b ' attention, heed,' but 'command, order' at vs, 10, �1'�7� 'your gods,' cf 'M7ll" 'my gods' vs, 14 as said by the king; in BA a distinction is strictly maintained between the mono­ fheism and polyfheism, although, in theory, 1'�7� can be analysed as sing,; cp, vs, 17 lll:i7� on the lips of Daniel's colleagues, for fhem fhe king worships 1'�7� vs, 18, but on the lips of the born-again, enlightened king ll�7� '''1 'Mi"T�l) �',?l) 'the servants of the highest god' vs, 26, vs, 29, See also 1�7� 6,17, ll�7� 1�7� ll:n 'the living god, your god' 6,21 on the lips of Darius, another born­ again monotheist. This is a subtle, but vital distinction maintained even against fhe orthographic practice of BH, cf tl"n tl'h"� Dt 5,22 (in the epilogue of fhe Decalogue ! ), though we do find also lljp 'll 'r,;;"� M1M; 'Si� Ex 20A and tl'h"� 'n 2Kg 19 A, but in a compromise mixture of sg, and pL ! M:�;M' § 13,14 [eJ, ��'�'0 H pass, pf 3mp, < -I'M ll, ll1� 'truth,' prefixed with an interrogative Heh; delete the dagesh from fhe Dale!' �rn'� 11�'M'll, cf l'n'� ll' vs, 12 without the particle, see § 17 (3),

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49

15) ]r1: the apodosis is deliberately left out for greater effect; it would come over as more fhreatening and intimidating. �r,.,nll 'be prepared, willing,' complemented by fbe following '"I-clause, in which the main verbs are 1n�on� l�'�n. �'1, clearly an error for '''T. �'1;: emend to sg., cf. vs. 17. �li�l�IW\ § 13.16. 16) rMIliM, read wifb a few MSS l'Mlliry, G ptc.; Vogt's MIliM is an impossible form for Arm.; you need a compound shva. �1����0' tl���: �'M tllM as a whole is a single transitive verb, 'to render account, argue a case for one's position' ; fbe suffix i s accusative. Cf. lKg 12.6 '�"I MlM tlllM n� �'IIiM' > ��II n: �? N �' ��lM r'lry Targum Jonathan. 17) lrl prob. introduces a protasis without its apodosis. You are casting doubt : Is it really the case fbat our god . . . ? Perhaps '"I inadvertently fell out after 'n'�. RS V' s 'if it be so' is unlikely for this Aramaic phrase. ��: �: § 5 (3). ��Fi��!'W 'to rescue us,' § 13.16, 13.7. 18) �' lM 'even if not'; we're putting our lives on the line. �17 �V!' \)""1; 'let it be known to you'; a diplomatic, indirect fonn of address instead of �1�J:1. Likewise E 4.12, 13, 5.8. �"I�Ol �, 1'M'� �l'n'� �,: just in case, fbey are co;Uirming the veracity of the report fbe king had heard (vs. 14), drawing fbe king's attention to their religious stance and independence, which they had been maintaining ever since, and they are declaring fbat they will not change their stance now wifb the appearance of the new, attractive object of the alien religion. N� lrT is no indication of the confessors' scepticism or 01.,1 ,¥OTC1CrrlU in their God's onmipotence, but they know that He may not intervene the way they wish or when they wish. Even in such an eventuality, fbey say, fbey are not going to toe fbe line and change fbe tracks. 19) " �M: Lamed-Aleph > Lamed-Yod, § 13.14 [f]. ��?n 'fury,' vocalised slightly , differently than M?n vs. 13. �tl'�, here no ' standing image (tl,*) as an object of worship, but 'appearance, countenance'; note a differentiation in vocalisation. The K of fbe following verb is spelled as pI., fbough fbe Q indicates sg. /'estanni:/, tD pf. 3ms, 'changed' (intransitive) < '-i'llli. The pI. is attraction to the preceding 'MI!il� 'his face,' as in BH ISam 2.4 tl'nM tl'"1\�� nwp 'the bow of the mighty men is broken,' JM § 150 n. �'II lO is different from 'II in 'MI'II riip 'MI\1 'his facial appearance was different (than before)' 5.9 and " II �lnlli' '�'l 'my facial appearance is going to become different' 7.28; though the preposition expresses an effect on the person affected, its suffix refers to the same person as indicated by the suffix of fbe subject noun. Here fbe king was glaring at the fhree. ��;�, § 13.12. � M��IIi-"lM lit. 'one seven,' idiomatic for ' seven times as much.' �'II 'ove� and above' ���t! G ptc. pass. ' seen, i.e. seen to be appropriate.' �rl�F�7: on the Yod, see § 13.14 raj; G info + 3ms. 20) '?� ' strong man,' cf. BH 'I��. BH also has fbe same combination as here, "1\�� "'Ii, e.g. Jdg 6.12. The combination is an example of frequent accumulation of synonymous words as in rT�t!1 t�! 'anger and wrath' vs. 13, so 'very strong men,' cf. LXXoG iiviipaS (O"XOPOTUTOOS. � M"'M 'his army,' an army as a symbol of "'Ii ' strength.' � M���' 'to bind' D info ���,�, G inf. 'to throw in.' 21) M:'��; fbe final Heh is a misprint for Alef. ��n!i� G pf. pass. 3mp. 'were tied up.' �*'?'O an item of clothings. �*IIi�� meaning? �*n7�'� 'cap'? ��,�, /rmi:w/, G pass. pf. 3mp. �

.

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50

A BIBLICAL ARAMAIC READER

22) ''1 1� 'because.' � M��ry� A ptc., cf. M��MM� 2.15. � m�, strange for mll or m�, G ptc. pass. � �'1'li' adverbial, ' exceedingly' ; note the penultimate accent, see above on �� 2.40. �1�� �:,��, in casus pendens to be resumed later with l\�M. ��pOM 'they lifted up,' § 13.9. 23) l\Mn?n, a defective spelling for �M'n,?n 'the three of them, they three' not 'three of them.' �rn��� D ptc.pass., though indistinguishable from its active form, § 13.8. 24) �?'�' ' firm, certain' ; either md 'the certainty, truth,' elliptically for 'that is the truth,' or fa with ��'?� or some such thing understood, 'the matter, what you say, is certain.' 25) 1';1li G ptc. pass. mp ' set free' < .y,'Ili. �l�'?M� H ptc., to be emended to D r:o'?M�. �lJ'�'�' " m.'.: with a proleptic suffix, 'the look (�,) of the fourth,' § 9 (5), 14 (4). 26) l1,n 'the gate of'; the noun is cognate with BH '11!V with a metathesis of the last two consonants. ��7� N�7� �1 �0�'i�� 'his servants of the supreme god,' with a proleptic pronoun. ��p�, § 13.9. �\n� 'Come ! ', G impv. mp, § 13.14 (e). 27) On the syntax of the verb riry 'they see,' cf. �\� � '\�ry-n� O'h"� �.� 'and God saw the light, (noting) that it was good' Gn 1.4. ��,?Ili; here ���l is used as a masc. noun. �l\M�Ili� 'their body,' cf. 4.30 M�Ili�. �1'ryn M tD 'to be singed.' �1\M''??'9; read l�rl���"� as at vs. 21. � "-�'1 ' smell,' is a mas. noun, but is in agreement with a fern. verb, n')� 'had reached,' probably influenced by the immediately preceding ">n, which is mostly fern. in BA. 28) �M'?�, the king's recognition of their monotheism, 'their god (sg.).' l\M- is proleptic. �'M\'?� BH �''?l' 'on Him,' § 7 (b). ��'lili �;>'?� n'?� 'they changed the word of the king, i.e. went against it,' cf. rltr N��l;"I� N� 0/ 0; ' changes this word' E 6 . 1 1 (Hafel). �l�n'?�' �'? ''1 'in order not to worship' ; on expressing a purpose, see § 9 (7). �10,? 'except,' as in 2. 1 1 . 29) ''1 O!)� 'an edict to the effect that . ., ' a ''1-clause elaborating the preceding noun, § 9 (6). � M,?o/, also spelled �'?o/, e.g. E 6.9; 'negligence, want of caution,' hence an improper utterance. �rl�l:Io/: tD impf. 3ms < --v��w; D is used as a synonym of 00/, hence l��o/n' in a penalty announced for those incapable of helping the king out of his conundrum, 2.5. � M,?�, error for M,?�. � M,?�M H info 'to rescue,' < ��l, cf. BH Hifil '?'�M. 30) n'?�M H pf. for n,?�M 'promoted,' § 5 (2). 31) "A (writer/sender) to (-,?) B (recipient, addressee)" is a standard epistolary introduction. For another example, see E 7.12. 32) �:nlJ mpd < nlJ ' sign,' BH n�. ��:M�n mpd < *M�n 'astounding happening, miracle, wonder,' of qitl pattern, cf. BH l\M�n 'bewilderment.' �'�I1, meaning not 'in association with me,' but 'experienced and witnessed by me,' cf. ���-rlW� M?\�'? n\� 'Show me a sign of your favour' Ps 86.17. �'�Ili with the following info as the subject, not the preceding N:0�l:11 N:N�� 'the sings and wonders,' which constitute the fronted direct objects of the info �The pf. '�Ili can be assigned its preterite value : ' it has been judged to be appropriate. ' 33) Both �0�li� and �0�:i�l:1 are given prominence by being fronted and positioned outside of the clause where they belong. � M?:P: unlike BH M�:P, which is also compounded from the prep. -:P and the interrogative M�, the /m-/ of the BA form �

READING ANNOTA1ED BIBLICAL ARAMAIC 1EXTS

51

lacks secondary gemination. Here it introouces an exclamation, not a question 'how much ? ' . n�'�': in BA the adjective �, 'great' forms its plural only fhrough reduplicating its radical consonants, see also 1?'�' fp D 2.48, 7.3, 7, ��?'�' fp det. D 7.17. In other words, one does not say p' p'?� or fhe like, but sg. �, ,'?� 'a great king' 2.10. �, in Aramaic, not only BA, signifies 'quali­ tatively great,' unlike its BH equivalent indicating quantitative greatness, i.e. 'many, much.' For the latter, Aramaic uses �'�iV. Hence ��iV' ���7iV vs. 3 1 , which, in Hebrew, would be M�" tl��\'?iV or �':!' --. Chapter 4

2) 'li,?ry"l'� : the vocalisation of the beginning part shows the form to be D, not G, which latter would require 1:1, and the context also requires D "to make me fear," cf. the end of the vers� ���?��;. �'�!:'!0 ' apparitions,' cf. Syr. harha: ra: 'fata morgana; mirage.' 3) M7\,lM'? H info < -i'?'?1I 'to enter,' § 13.15 (b). �'''T followed by an impf. can indicate a purpose, § 9.7. 4) r'?'\, G ptc. mp, Q /'a: lli :n/, § 13.15 (a). � l'IM\ M� H ptc. mp 'making known, informing. ' 5) r'.o � "Ill; the context suggests 'in fhe end, at last' for which both "Ill and fhe second word as it is vocalised are difficult and unusual. The latter cannot be derived from " O�, f. of n o � 'anofher.' In Egyptian Aramaic texts we find "Ill l' M � in fhe sense of 'at last.' �'?1I 'he entered.' �tll!i; for the u vowel, cf. tl� 'mouth', and cpo BH tllP and M�. �'M7� 'my god'; it is not being suggested that fhe king had been converted to monotheism, but he had a god especially close to him in fhe Babylonian panfheon. Cf. fhe innnediately following l'iV'''T� )'M7�. Had he forgotten the edict he had issued earlier (3.29)? 6) Nt!':: not necessary to give the pf. the present sense, 'I know,' for 'I have come to know' makes good sense. �'? r iV'''T� l'M7� m, 'fhere is a spirit of holy gods in you,' an existential clause; �l}�� can be optionally added, but not any less obligatory is its addition than iV' in BH. �'7, § 13.18 (f). �'�,?ry 'nry 'the visions of my dream (that I saw),' which does not make sense; for he is being more reasonable than his father (2.2) and is about to tell Daniel what he had seen in the dream. Vss. 2b-6 are totally absent from LXXoo, whilst LXXTH starts vS. 6 with UKODGOV Tflv 0pUG1V TOO �VD1CVioD, 06 doov, adding thus ��o/ at the begin­ ning of vS. 6b. Or something like �'m or �'?m 'and behold' may have accidentally dropped out. Another alternative, suggested by Montgomery (ICC ad loc.), is to emend ��m to �!� impv. ms., 'See! '. 7) 'iV �'. '�.l m; add fhe preposition to read '�.l ry�i as in vs. 10. �1'r� 'tree'; Arm. has a separate word for 'wood, timber,' 1I�, cf. BH fl', which denotes bofh 'wood' and ' standing tree.' �N"�iV MP� 'its height (was) great'; height is a quantity, not a quality (�'). 8) �17'�; the determined form often refers back to what or whom has just been mentioned, 'that tree,' mentioned as 1'r� in vS. 7. � �tl�': though spelled with

52

9)

10) 11)

12)

13)

A BIBLICAL ARAMAIC READER

an Alef, the verb is conjugated as a Lamed-Yod, hence tsere unlike BH ���\ See n�� pf 3fs (vs, 19) like np ' she built,' § 13,14 (a), Arm, M��, etymologi­ cally related to BH ��� (§ 3), does not mean 'to find,' for which H n�IVM is used, n'�l' < '�1I, though sg" used collectively, 'its leaves,' Pronounce /'ofye:h/, � �� W 'beautiful,' of qatti: I pattern, common for adjectives in Aramaic; see § 1 1 1-2, � n�l� < *�l� 'fruit,' qitl pattern; also used collectively, Cf Ct 6 , 1 1 ,nlM M�� 'th� fresh biossoms of the river,' ��7S, 'for everyone, for all'; on �,� stressed on the penultimate syllable, see above at 2AO, Syntactically, the fonn here cannot be analysed as adverbial, because it is attached to the prepo­ sition, but it retains the meaning ' everything; alL' �'Mllihn 'under it (ms)'; like 'II and tl"J�, this is a preposition which takes the masc, pi , set of suffixes, § 7, So BH nnli > �'�ryn, �" t?n Af impf 3fs 'it seeks shade,' cf BH ,� and § 3, mn, though sg" is being collectively used, 'animals,' ���? msd < ,� 'field; 'area outside of residential quarters,' qall pattern with compensatory lengthening, § 5 (8) and (12), �'MI�lll 'its branches,' < *�ll1, qatal pattern, cf BH �l\', ���; Q G3fp < -I,�., 'to live, inhabit,' �'!�� fpc < *,s� 'bird,' cf BH 'Is�, nm ' tG 3ms < -I�1 'to eat'; tG 'to feed on, to feed oneself,' § 13,13 (h), cf 111� 'food,' ��IV�-� 'the entirety of animate beings,' no 'IV� � 'every animate being,' IV'''�� !'II: the Waw is explanatory, so 'a holy watcher,' followed by the sg, n nl 'descending, ' On !'II, cf BH 'lI 'awake,' n5 G impv, mp < -I.,." 'to cut down, fell, ' § 13,15 (a), � �,li� A impv, mp < -I, nl 'to shake off' n instead of n or n because of the following /r/, § 5 (2), �"i. n G impf 3fs, butjuss, in value < -I.,u 'to move away,' � 'Mllinn < nnn, similar t o BH tllJ�, cf. �0�lihT:1 in vs. 9. '�II 'the main part, the tap-ro�t,' �'m\ho/ 'its roots,' /!or!6 :hi:/, cf BH 1V,.ib , ���n., msd 'grass,' a qitl segholate, cf BH �IPi, �II���' tD impf 3ms < -III�� 'to wet,' with metathesis accompanied by partial assimilation: *::.7��li� > *::.7�li� > II���, § 5 (11), �nv7n 'his portion, lot, destiny' < P7n of a different pattern than BH p,?r;, ��IVI1, cf �?IVII 4,22 and BH �IP;\, a qitl segholate, n��' 'his heart,' from ��, (later in the verse), a noun of qital pattern, cf BH �?'?, ��O/�l�: K represents a Hebraised form of the originally Aramaic form with /a:/, which corresponds to H /0:/, e,g, A �� II H �I�, Though sg, in form, it is col­ lectively used: 'people' ; for sg, '�l or 1V1l! '� is used, �llllV\ factitive D impf 3mp, 'they will change, alter' II G 11llV' 'they will differ,' The 3mp is often used impersonally : 'they, one ,' § 17 (6), �p�'n' G impf 3mp, not H; the a vowel of -, is due to the guttural n, cf BH '�ry' and M IPI1\ ,���: the parallelism demands ,����, ,��� is a G inf in form, but here it is a substantive meaning 'pronounceme�t.' �N�7�O/, in view of the parallel rI"1�;f, probably means 'the decision (taken on a question), ' � n'�"-"II either 'until, in the end' ( ,., "l) or emend to n'�"-'l) 'in order that' a; in 230, � '''-1�' 'to whomever'; 1� is primarily an interrogative, ' who? ', but here, in conjunction with �." a relative pronoun of generic reference. �tN�;��, which is H; emend to 1V1l!' '�IV is in the cst, st,: 'lowly among men,' cf BH Ezk 7,24 tl'l, '11� 'very wicked nations'; Isa 29,19 tl"J� 'll'�� 'the poorest men' ; �'l? lbP 'the youngest of his sons' 2Ch 21,17, "

14)

�

READING ANNOTA1ED BIBLICAL ARAMAIC 1EXTS

53

15) M�ll� Ml� contrasted. ��'1I1i�; emend to M'1I1i�. 16) tl�lnlli� Etpolal 'he was appalled' BH tl�lnIliM. �170�; D juss. 3ms, for which the pI. 1'?0:r is expected. � ,�,� 'my lord' ; the Alef is an etymologi­ cal, historical spelling, cf. p'?� �'1� 'fhe chief of kings' 2.47, where also fhe Alef is silent. This Alef is a root letter. �1'�li!' 'those who hate you, your ene­ mies,' G ptc.mp, used substantivally. �1'�\' 'your enemies'; on ,\" cf. BH ,¥, § 3, line 1 1 . The preposition -'? means ' (to come) to, (apply) to.' 19) N�7� N�ry-rltl1�: as shown by a conjunctive accent with N�ry, better to translate 'you, 0 King, are the one who .. ,' not 'you are the king who .. ' � tI��! is impos­ sible for 2ms, which must be meant here; emend to either �;�! or ���!. ���! suggested in the BHS apparatus is impossible, for fhe verb is not of qti: l pattern, § 13.14 (c). �n9� G 3fs < 'M, originally ��� BH ���; on the convergence of Lamed-Alef verbs wifh Lamed-Yod verbs, see § 13.14. 20) '"1'1; see at 2.41. ��:;>'?� M)� for 'you saw,' a language of courtesy, cf. LXXLxx 1] o pucns, ljv dOEs 'fhe vision that you saw.' �'m'�M 'Destroy it,' D impv.mp + 3ms. 21) ,�,� '?II n9� 'reached (and affected) you; on '?II indicating a personal desti­ nation, see at 2.24, and with a place as a destination -� is used, as N:�o/7 1"It?� 'it reached the sky' vs. 19. 22) 17 BH ,n�, see § 13.18 (f). �1''''9, 1��11�\ rll���, all impersonal, § 17 (6). ��i!'1�-1� 'from among men.' �1�'m, cf. M',I"� 5.21 and 1IM'1� 2. 1 1 . n'1\n� 'like cows'; 'lIn, cf. BH '1\1Ii. 23) �17'� ''r 'Mil.!i'1i!' lit. 'its roots of fhe tree,' § 14 (4); proleptic, anticipatory suffix. ��'Tl� 'from the moment that.' �N:�o/, a surrogate for 'God,' as is common in post-biblical Judaism, so also in the NT, e.g. 1] �UcnAEiU TroV oupuvrov Mt 19.14 1] �UcnAE(U TOO 8wo Mk 10.14. 24) 1"7 'therefore.' �'�IIi' G juss. 'may my counsel be acceptable to you.' �1:9�, Q 1�9�; most likely pI. 'your sins,' cf. the parallel 1�:111 'your iniquities.' � M�"� 'alms,' a sense typical of post-biblical Hebrew and Aramaic, cf. LXX £v £AET])1006vatS and To 12.9 TCOloonES £AET])1006vuS KUt OlKU1006vuS. �lM� G inf. < ,1PM 'to show mercy. ' n.ll1 mpa 'poor, indigent' ; if fhe qamats is due to pausal lengthening, the basic form would be ��� lI�b�. � M�' r,llil:> M'1I1Ili, an elliptical expression frequent with the preposition - � instead of "�W:p �).�W M�' l',llil 'his hair grew like the hair of eagles. ' Cf. Ps 95.8 tl:P��, ;Ilipn-�� ,�.,�� M9� tli':> M�" �:> 'Don't harden your heart(s) like (at) Meribah as (on) the day of Massah in the wilderness,' see JM § 133 h. �'M\'�b . 'his nails' < *'�b. Cf. BH n�� 'nail' ; BA b II BH �, § 3, line 8. '�l'J:p��l MIl! is in casus pendens, to be taken up with the suffix of 'l;1I 'my eyes.' �'II"Tl� 'my intellect, knowledge'; a gnostic « yvrocnS) Christian group in Iraq is c�lled Mandaean. ���li: �7�. 'it comes back to me'; �� indicates a person as a destination. �w BH �;Ili;' ���,� 'n 'the living one of eternity, the one who lives for eternity' ; a diphthong ay of an llllstressed construct fonn nonnally changes to e: as in BH: n'� > n'�, cf. tl'{illry 'n 12.7. �tl'� W'o/ 'eternal rule,' a similar cst. phrase to the preceding; the reason t17� is in st. abs. is that the phrase as a whole is indeterminate. Cf. BH 1'?� n'� 'a palace' but 1,?�M n'� 'the palace.' " �") Q " ;") , G ptc. mpc 'those who live,' § 13.13 (e). �M'?2 prep. :> + M7 �7, cf. Isa 40.17 ;':r��llinl �MMl O�l!� ;"Tll r�:p tl��M-�. �M'��� G info + 3ms < ,;,�� 'to desire, wish.' �.,��; ��M must be supplied as subject. ��:�Ili " n� 'he treats the host of heaven as he pleases' ; the preposition -� does not indicate a place or an instrument, cf. Est 1.15 'nlli� M;>'�� nillil1'-M� 'how to deal with Queen Vashti. ' ��l" � ''1�1\ cf. LXXTH KaT" TO 8CAT]).la ai'lToG 1M, an adjec­ tive of the pattern /qatti:l/. There are many adjectives of this shape in Aramaic: P'�II 'deep' (BH P\�l'), �'�IV 'many, much,' ,,1m 'few, little,' '1'�1V 'beautiful' �

�

�

�

(4) There is a measure of uncertainty over the precise pronunciation of the noun; e.g. A. Dotan's

Biblia Hebraica Leningradensia (Hendriks on, 2001) appears to be a more accurate reading of the Len­

ingrad manuscript here: i'1lJ�"1� .

57

READING ANNOTA1ED BIBLICAL ARAMAIC 1EXTS

("Sappirah" Acts 5.1), �,�, 'firm,' " P' ' difficult; honourable,' �'pn 'mighty,' P'N' 'ancient,' 1li'''T� 'holy' (BH Ili\"�), b" 1li 'powerful,' P'M' 'distant' (with virtual doubling), "1'OM 'defect,' "1'n' 'excessive; extraordinary. ' �'''T. The first

occurrence of this particle in this verse introduces direct speech in the manner of Eng!. "that" , or simply double quotation marks. �Ilil� 'person,' BH Ili\l�. The BH nOllll is nonnally used collectively in the sense of 'people,' not 'person,' for which latter it says t]""!� If. or w��. Aramaic does not use w��. In Hebrew the root W�N occurs only in W��� and in the plural of w�� as I:I�W��. � :"I).V: = BH ��p'. See § 13.14 (f). �nl"T n��:p 'this writing. ' Unlike in BH, demonstra­ tive pronouns in BA can either precede or follow their nucleus noun; § 14 (1). Again, unlike in BH, such a pronoun itself is not put in the detenninate state. I-a: / of nl"T is different from the sarne vowel of ��l! �;>'?� 'the good king.' �M'1Ili� 'its interpretation,' from 'Ili�, an i-segholate. Cf. BH 'W�, and a Dead Sea document called P�P�M 'Ili� 'Pesher Habakkuk,' a commentary on the book of Habakkuk. �'li�M' 'he tells me,' D impf. 3ms + Isg. < ';'�M. Note the energic Nun, § 1 3 . 1 8 (c). �i.t;�'?' 'he will wear,' G impf. with /a/ as in BH, § 13.3. '?? Ili�'?' �m'� .. Ilil� ' every person .. will wear the purple robe' : the word order , see above on verse 6. � M'.��� 'his neck,' < ,��� (BH ,�)�). �'n'?n, usually emended to N�7J:1, a form that occurs in vs. 16 and 29 in similar context and is traditionally interpreted as meaning 'triumvir,' a man of the third rank: or the ruler of the third part of the empire. �b'?Ili' 'he will rule,' see on Ili�,?, above. 8) r"\, 'entering,' G ptc. mp, § 13.15 (a). Qre /'a: llin/, Ktiv /,a: l-lin/ r'?'?\,. BH uses two alternative forms even in Qre: e.g. ����� 'they surrounded me' Ps 18.6 II 'l���O ib. 88.18. �r'?0;> 'able,' G ptc. mp. There is also a root '?�, as in BH. The first root occurs only in the ptc., while the latter appears also in the pf. and impf. as well as the ptc. � �'1P�'? 'to read,' G inf., formed as if the root were ';',p, like n)��'? 'to build.' Cpo BH �'p'? and n\l�'?, in which the Larned Alef verb and the Lamed Yod verb are kept apart. ��'.Ili�, the Qre in the margin indicates M'.Ili� ' its interpretation.' � n\,']\n'? 'to make known,' H inf., § 13.10. On /lio : -/, cf. BH I)'i\n'? 9) '?n�n� 'being alarmed,' tD ptc. with compensatory lengthening (§ 5 [12]), which is not mandatory as seen from m��tI�; D impf. at vs. 6, not ����tI?;· ��0i�� ,:�o/ �0i�! 'his facial expression was changed (to his embarrassment),' see aoove on vs. 6. �l'lli�nlli� 'getting confused,' tD ptc. mp < ';1li�1li (with metathesis, § 5 [11]). Without the dagesh forte of � the form would be tG. The opposition in vowel­ ling between tG Ili�nlli� /mistves/ and tD Ili�nlli� /mistabbas/ disappears because of the phonological rule of vowel elision, § 5 (1), but the presence or absence of the dagesh in � shows which is meant. 10) ,�� 'the words of,' p!. cst. of f. n7�. On the mismatch between form and gender, see § 10 (6). �N;nlli� 'the driuking, banquet,' ms det. < 'nlli� BH nnlli�. �n"� ' she entered' ; on the Ktiv with a double Lamed, see above on vs. 8, 1'''\,. Here is the pause as marked by an athnachta. A new clause begins with 1'1�� ' she answered. ' She hadn't been spoken to or asked a question; ��� can mean 'to react to a situation. ' � 1'1"1.�� ' she said,' an alternative form for 1'1���. ��:n 'Live,' �

�

�

58

A BIBLICAL ARAMAIC READER

G impv. ms < ';"n. �1�'c�; 'May they not alarm you,' D jussive 3mp + 2ms. Cp. M;�'M�; 'they alarm him,' D impf. 3mp + 3ms. The principal difference between the two forms is the energic Nun of the second form, § 13.5 and 13.18 (c, d). �1l\'I1' 'your thoughts,' pI. The spelling is phonetic; it could have been spelled 1'l�'I1', cf. the following 1'1'1, § 7. The form, taken in isolation, could mean 'your thought,' but the plural verb speaks against such an analysis. In 1�'M�; the 2ms suffix is /-k/, because it is immediately preceded by a vowel /u:/, and in Aramaic and Hebrew two vowels cannot follow each other without being separated by a consonant : /-lu :a:k/ is not tolerated. Likewise 1��� 'your father' (vs. 11). �\lnlli' 'May they change,' tD jussive 3mp < ';'llli; the ordinary, non­ jussive fonn is l��l:1o/:. 1 1 ) �" Ml 'enlightemnent,' fs, < *" Ml 'bright,' a qatti: i-type adjective (§ 1 1 1-2) C'). Related to BH 'l 'lamp.' The suffix /-u :/ marks abstract nouns. So also U�'�i!' /so!,Jla:nu:/ 'intelligence,' and ��,� 'rule; domain, kingdom.' These are all femi­ nine nouns, § 1 1 (R). �MSnIliM " was found,' tG pf. 3fs < ';n�lli. For the active voice, 'to find,' this root is used in Afel or Hafel, so 'he found' l"I�tP �, l"I�W tl . The form MSnlliM is analogous to n'_�M 2.34; the vowel sequence /a�a/ inst�ad of /e-e/ is due to the guttural n. Though we have three subjects-'enlightenment, intelligence, wisdom'-they are perceived as one single whole, hence the verb is in the singular, and feminine, because the tlrree nouns are all feminine in gender. �'�l'P�l < Akkadian Nabu kudurri u,ur 'Nabu, protect the boundary ! ' �M�'pc 'he �pp�inted him,' H 3ms + 3ms < ';o�p. 12) M�'n' ' extraordinary,' fsa adjective of qatti:i pattern, § 1 1 1-2. �'Ili�� to be emended to 'Ili��, 'to interpret,' G info followed by another two infinitives. Cf. vS. 16. �n'ln� 'ielling,' A info cst. < ';'�n . On the use of the cst. form, see § 13.7. ��'1i!'� to be emended to �'.Ili�, G info < ';',Ili 'to untie, loosen.' Cf. vS. 16. ��N�.trf �� 'in him, in Daniel,' with an anticipatory pronoun which refers for­ ward to Daniel. Likewise �:'?',,� M� 'on that very night' 5.30. This is not the same structure as what occurs in N��t.P r!� ' at that moment,' on which see above at 3.6. �" .p�' 'let him be summoned,' tG jussive, cf. LXXTH KAT]81jTOl, impv. 3sg. The indicative Che will be summoned') would be spelled M'pn' or X"i'tI\ Cf. m.�tl; at the end of the verse. 13) '11M 'he was brought in,' H passive < �'11 with virtual gemination, § 13.15 (b). �'�'.l'] ��M Mnl� 'Are you Daniel .. , ? ' . A third person pronoun in the middle of an equational statement-A is B-accords prominence, singles out for exclu­ sive identification the preceding A, 'A, and nobody else.' Likewise in BH, e.g. I:l"M'�M ��M M�M' 'it is Yahweh who is the true God' lKg 18.39. (6) -c, which introduces a question, unlike in BH, is rather sparingly used in BA. ���� 'my father,' an irregular form with the accent on the first syllable as, shown by the Masoretic accentuation ('��); one anticipates '�� (vowel elision, § 5 [1]) as in �1; 'my hand' < "�. =

e) Rather than *" ;:t� in HALOT, cf. Syr. nahhir 'bright.' (6) For details, see lotion - Muraoka, Grammar, § 154 j.

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59

15) �"�M 'they were brought in.' On the dagesh with the Lamed, see § 5 (8), 13.15 (b). �'�1� /qoda:may/ 'in front of me,' not '�1�. This as well as 'I) are preposi­ tions which behave like masculine plural nouns when pronominal suffixes are attached to them, § 7. �'" followed by an impf.-li,P' here-may indicate a purpose. �'lli�l1"JiM 'to let me know,' H info Ml'"JiM (vs. 8 above) + suf. On /-u:-/ before the suffix, see § 13.7 end. 16) ��t:1 'you can'; the Ktiv must be an error influenced by its Hebrew counterpart, ':>:i�n. On the dageshed Taw, see § 13.10. �1" 1li�; though, as in BH n��� ni� 'you will surely die,' a cognate object « 'Ili�) can be used and LXXTH sup­ ports MT with cmYKpiJlUTU cmYKpivUl, it is preferable to emend the word to r�'n, cf. vS. 12. ���'n, which must mean the same thing as 'n,n at vs. 7. 17) r�0' 'they shall be,' G impf. 3fp < "';'�M BH "';"M. See § 13.14 (d). �1�:�m 'your gifts,' an irregular pI. of2.6 M�m. ��M 'Give,' G impv. ms < "';�M'. § 13.10. BH uses this verb only in the impv. : �0, rI��, ���, �� �. 18) �'?I) 'the (most) high,' ms det. < '?I) /,illa:y/; the ms det. should have been /'illa:ya:/, § 10 (5). 19) The word 10/' is cognate with BH lilli\,; the correspondence BA /a:/ - BH /0:/ is regular (§ 3 [12]), but they are of two different patterns, as shown by the doubling of Ili of the BA form. Cf. Arabic /lisa:n/. A multilingual society is in view. �1���! ��� 'they were trembling,' a compound or periphrastic tense, § 15 C-5. 1'1)�!, G mp ptc. of "';I)�l, represents Qre /za:y'i:n/, § 13.13 (e). In this verse we have 8 more examples of the compound tense. Their meaning is that of habit, frequent occurrence: 'every time he wanted, he would kill . .' n'n,,) 'fearing,' G mp ptc. The first component of the following compound preposi­ tion, like BH ���� in ���;N ���� N� 'he feared his enemies,' indicates the notion of 'away from,' i.e. running away from someone's presence out of fear. �N1j� Afel ptc. < "';"M 'to be alive,' § 13.15 (c). �O',�, 'lifting, raising,' H ms ptc. < "';o�'. /ma:-/ is irregular for /m-/, § 13.13 U). Cf. BH O" �. 20) 0' 'it became exalted,' G 3ms < "';O�" § 13.13 (a), cf. BH Mn6 ' she died' Ge 35.18. C) �M1!0' 'to act arrogantly,' H info < "';-m, § 13.13 (k) . �Ml � 'was lowered, brought down,' Hofal < ...; nMl 'to descend.' ��o� ms cst. 'throne of,' < Akkadian kussu. Cf. BH ��:O. Sometimes /r/ is inserted instead of gemination/ doubling. Cf. BH PW�" 'Damascus' II pW6'" in Late Biblical Hebrew, e.g. lChr 18.5. ��''i1)0 /he'di:yu:/, a misprint for �'''1)0 /he'di:w/, H 3mp < "';'"TI) 'to move away.' The prefix /he-/ instead of /ha-/ is due to the initial guttural. How­ ever, the variation is optional, hence H impf. 3mp li"I)M; D 7.26. � M)� /minne:h/ 'from him' ; on the gemination of /n/, cf. BH o:o�, and § 5 (9). 21) ')� 'sons of, children of,' irregular mp cst. of ,�; § 10 (8). Cf. BH p, O'l�, ')�. �.,.,,� 'was expelled,' G pf. passive, 3ms. �M��' 'his heart,' < ��" a qital noun, § 1( F-3. Cf. BH �?'. In BH, when a suffix pronoun is added, fue vowel two syllables away is elided, hence i�?' 'his heart,' whilst in BA the vowel imme­ diately before the suffix is elided. ����'n fs det. < M)'n. Though singular, it is �

(') Cf. also examples like :r� 'it was good' and 'r"ilW� 'you (fs) died'; Muraoka - Porten, GEA § 35 f.

60

22)

23)

24) 25 ) 26)

27)

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A BIBLICAL ARAMAIC READER

used as a collective noun; 'the animals,' and not 'the animal. ' �:1 t.P 'they placed,' D pf. 3mp < +Wi . Q is /sawwi:w/, § 13.14 (b) and Paradig� II. Note that in all the non-G conjugations the pf. 3mp ending is /-i : w/. �ll:n� mpd < .,�� 'wild ass,' cf. BH "1\'�. � M;����; 'they would feed him,' D impf. 3mp (1����;) + energic Nun + 3ms. § 13.18 (c). �''T'1�'? 'whomever': -'? + 1�, which is originally an interrogative pronoun 'who ? ' (BH ��), is used with the following relative particle �'1 as a generic relative pronoun: ' one who, one whom; he who, he whom' etc. The general sense of the clause, which is about an absolute divine prerogative, is comparable to N�� rl1� �1 vs. 19. In the fonner, it is about what customarily happens, whilst here it is about God's volition and dispensation, hence impf. rl��:' The preposition Lamed indicates a direct object, so not 'to whomever,' but' 'whomever.' �tl'P�; 'he would set, appoint,' H irnpf. < -Ytl�p. On the retention of -rl, see § 13.4. � r!�7�. 'on it' ; the suffix is fs, referring to a feminine noun, m�'?� 'kingdom,' cst. < ��'?�. '?��-'?;> /kol qovel/ 'in spite of the fact that.' Though it looks as if we have two words combined, the first has nothing to do with /kol/ 'all, every,' but in real­ ity we have a combination of /k-/, /1-/, and /qovel/. Hence, when /k-/ is missing, we normally find '?��7 /loqovel/ 'in front of' 5.5. ll'.� 'lord of, master of,' ms cst.; irregular noun, cf. 'll'� Qre /ma:ri:/ 'my lord' 4.16. �� �6\'nM Hitpolal pf. 'you exalted yourself' < -Ytl�,. ��'M;M /hayti :w/ 'they brought,' H pf. 3mp < -Y'Mll, § 13.14 (e). �l'liip 'they drink' is preceded by four co-ordinate subjects. There is no conjunction -� between the second and third; the four are divided into two groups, notionally distinct from each other: 'you and your nobles, your wives and your concubines. ' � �ry� W 'you praised,' D pf. < -Y"�'Ji. Note /-ba-/, and not /-be-/, § 5 (2). �1��'Jil 'your breath,' < M�'Jil, a qital fern. noun, cf. BH rI�o/�. � �1"� 'in his hand' < *�1;�, just as in BH �!.�� 'in the hands of' < *'':r;�. �1�ry'� /'orha :ta:k/, p!. of Mry'�, a fern. u-segholate, cf. BH ",i\. � �";M 'you glorified,' D pf. On /-da-/ instead of /-de-/, see above on �"S'Ji. l)�7o/ 'was sent, extended,' G pf. passive 3ms. The first patach is a scribal error. �tl''Ji' 'was inscribed,' G pf. passive. N?�� :"ItT 'this is the writing. ' Note the different word order in comparison to M)"T ll��� 'this writing' in vs. 24, but see § 14 (1). llMlm 'the matter.' Like BH '�"T this BA noun can mean 'matter' as well as ' ( ;p�ken) word.' � lll� ' counted> G pass. ptc. ms < -Y'l�, as interpreted here by Daniel: Ml� 'he counted.' � M'?'Ji M 'he exterminated it, brought it to an end.' or 'he handed it over,' H pf. 3ms + 3fs < -Ytl'?'Ji. '?pn '?pn 'it was weighed,' G pf. pass. < -Y '?pn. Cf. BH '?pip, § 3. �ll:m��; we should probably accept a variant reading in some manuscripts, N:�p�� 'the scales,' a dual or p!. det. Cf. BH tl'i!N�. � nn�n'JiM 'you were fouud,' tH pf. < -Y"�'Ji, cpo M�n 'JiM 3fs. at vs. 1 1 , 14. Th� acti�e f�r� is Hafe!' On the ending /-kahat/, cpo BH �"'ip 'you (fs) sent' for the expected *�ry'?ip. �"1'O" 'defect,' a qatti: /­ pattern adjective; § 1 1 1-2. O'1�, meant as sg. of l'O'� vs. 25. All the three enigmatic symbols engraved on the wall (vs. 25), including this one, are said by some scholars to be three �

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different monetary units: mirra, shekel, one half of shekel or some such. How­ ever, the interpretation offered by Daniel has nothing to do with it, but derives each from a verb in its passive fonn. Here, too: tI��!� 'it was divided,' G pf. pass. 3fs < .yo,�. �n�'M'� 'was given,' G pf. pass. < .y�M'. On the initial -,� for *-;1, see above on r!1�� vs. 23. 29) �1li'S'?M 'they clothed,' H pf. 3mp. �'?�'111?, the Lamed indicates a direct object, not 'to Daniel' or 'for Daniel.' ��l'i�M 'they publicly armounced,' H pf. 3mp. Cf. �)\� 'the herald' D 3.4. Some scholars relate these words to Greek KT] poo"ro 'to proclaim. ' � ��.i],? ' shall be,' G impf. 3ms < .y"TM. See § 13.14 (d). On the preceding �." see above at vs. 7. 30) �:'?',?� M� 'on that very night,' cf. '?�·.l·P M� 'in him, in Daniel' D vs. 12 above. ��'1Ili:O 'the Chaldaean,' ms det. instead of *�:1Ili:O, § 10 (5). Chapter 6

1) �'1� : K �:1�, msd 'Mede, Median' < '1�; see § 10 (5). �-� ' at the time of.' �,� 'son': like BH p indicating one's age; 'at the age of.' �nlli fp abs. < M)1li � BH M)o/; pI. m in form, so BH tl'lo/. See § 10 (6). �rn'n� l'nlli '60 and 2 ' ; § 12 (2). 1'n,n : f.du., cf. BH tl'nlli ,tl'llli. On the sequence , § 14 (3). 2) tl'pu: H pf. .ytl�P, § 13.13 (i). �''': with an impf., introducing a purpose clause, § 9 (7). ��i],?: G impf. 3mp < ";'�M; on the prefix IV instead of /y/, see § 13.14 (d). 3) l\Ml� �7;\ 'above them': la:1 of �7l) is an adverbial ending with the stress on the preceding vowel, so �� 'entirely, altogether' D 4.25 and K 1)� �l" :\ 'lower than you' (Q 1l"1/l) 2.39, and 1� always receives a dagesh in the Nun when a suf­ fix pronoun is added, likewise ��� 'from me,' �� 'from you (ms),' �q� ' from him. ' Otherwise it is much simpler than its BH equivalent. Its value here is that of comparison: 'higher than. ' �P'9 'high officials, chief ministers' < *1'9 , possi­ bly a Persian word. �.,": in Aramaic the first syllable is always elided, cf. BH "�l!. So fern. M1n, simpler than BH M� as against ms. "�l!. ���l)to msd 'report' of qati pattern, § 1 1 (E-!). �pu: .. ��i],? and Pll �m'?: a periphrastic tense, (§ 15 C-5), 'so that they will regularly submit a report to them [� the three senior staff] and he will not suffer losses, damages'; Pll G act. ptc. 4) "�lM �)u, periphrastic : §15 C-5. "�lM 'to distinguish oneself, excel' tD ptc. IDS. �t'!�., ' spirit,' fsa, hence fsa N"1�t:1� 'exceeding. ' �tI�W� 'had detennined, made a plan,' G pass. pte. IDS, expressing a result rather than an action itself, § 15 C-7. �M����u 'to appoint him': H info + 3ms, § 13.7. 5) rll? �\u 'they were there seeking,' periphrastic, as in vS. 4; l'l)? G act. ptc. mp < .y'l)�, Para. II. � M7l) 'a pretext, ground (for accusation),' fsa, qUi pattern, § 1 1 C-2. Though the noun comes immediately after l'l)?, it is the object of the next word: 'to find a pretext,' see § 17 (5) end. � M�;>IliM'? 'to find,' H inf., § 13.7. �'?�'11'?: the preposition indicates disadvantage. �����'?� .,��, lit. ' from the side of the kingdom,' i.e. 'looked out of the perspective of the kingdom' : .,�, so BH. � M7l)-'?? lit. 'every pretext' : as in B H '?� is used to express emphatic, absolute negation with a singular noun in the st. abs. and a negator-' (no)

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pretext whatsoever.' � rl��l:!o/ 'corrupted,' G pass. pte. fs abs., used here as a noun 'corruption; fault.' n�: G ptc.mp 'are/were able.' �W0� 'deserving to be trusted, faifbful': H pass. ptc. ms < .y1�� , § 13.12. For /-ma-/, see § 13.8. ��'ip 'negligence,' § 1 1 R). � MSnWM 'was found,' tH pf. 3fs, wifb a metathesis, § 5 (11), the form is an alternative for *M�nWM. The sg. form of fbe verb is used because rl��l)o/� ��o/ is perceived as a single notion, 'any sort of negligence and fault,' and that is why ,� is not repeated. 6) �:,�� 'the men,' mp det. < �,��, qutl pattern, § 1 1 E-3. BH '�$ is of qatl pat­ tern, hence ,�.,�� 'Gabriel.' Probably because the vowel u is phonetically close to the labial con'sonant b. �1'� 'those': the morpheme /k/ is typical of demon­ strative pronouns of far deixis: 'that; fbose,' § 8, and cf· 1·'� 'these.' �r'�� pf. �,6� 'fbey said,' § 15 C-4. �'''T, here fbe first of fbe double quotation marks and int�oduces direct speech: 'they said, "we shall not .. '" �10,? < 10 �'? 'unless,' 10 'if.' �n"J ' legally binding decision or command,' fs cst. The long a: is stable in Aramaic, § 1 1 (A), so fbat n"J does not change in the st. cst. to n"T. In BH we note ttr > 1:11; .,o/� > -'Wf etc. Here the object follows the infinitive; there is no rigid rule as to when to select and when , cf. vs. 5. 7) �Wj'M pf. 3mp, 'fbey rushed (to). ' The preposition 'II combined with a personal refe�ent expresses direction of movement, 'towards someone,' whereas -� indi­ cates a place as a destination. �r�'\' mp abs., 'for ages' < o,\' with the short a, which has been elided, § 5 (1). 8) �bl1:n� tD pf. 3mp, 'they consulted one another' < .yb !1' BH Y!1', § 3, line 8. The form is not tG in view of the long a of �, a result of compensatory length­ ening, § 5 (12). The t-conjugation has here reciprocal value, 'each other, one anofber.' � M�:� D info 'to establish' < .yo�p, cf. § 13.13 (f). The second radical, w, has been replaced with y. �o:p, ms cst. ' statute.' ��;>,� had best taken as in vocative. Alternatively it could be the grammatical subject of M�:�', so c.P. Keil in his commentary. (') �M��n D info 'to strengthen, enforce.' �•.,..,? .., 'that every­ one who ' : fbe first ·., explains fbe contents of '9l! (§ 9 [11]), and the second is an ordinary relative pronoun. � rT�-t\ combined with a noun from the same root. Similar to a common BH construction as in ��i? ��i? 'he was very indignant' Zech 1.2. So perhaps 'anyone who would dare supplicate.' �Wl� ms abs. 'person' BH WIll!, cf. § 3, line 12. n�\' mp abs. 'days' < 0\': Heb. has two separate bases-sg. 01' /yo:m-/, pI. O'�: /ya:m-/. �10,? here more specifically 'except.' ��;>,� ms det. used here as the vocative, ' 0 King ! '. Cf. BH '\"�M 10!:lM lIipM; ' 0 Joshua, high priest ! ' Zech 3.8. ���'n' tG impf. 3ms < .y.�, 'to throw, cast.' ���1:'� mp det. < M" � BH 'lion.' The noun is grammatically masc. in gender, but in the pI. it has a fern. ending, cf. ��1�� above. The use of the st. det. form here does not necessarily imply that it is about specific lions, but the detennination relates to the construct phrase as a whole, in effect 'the den.' Cpo BH W'!pM 'M 'the �

�

�

�

�

C) See OUT "Three grammatical issues in Biblical Aramaic," Ancient Near Eastern Studies, 57 (2020) 53-58.

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9)

10) 11)

holy mountain.' That this verse is still part of the direct speech introduced in vs. 7 is manifest from ,�� 'from you'; otherwise we would expect �q� 'from him.' N�7�, vocative; cf. vss. 7 and 8, repeated as indicative of their persistence. �tl'pn H impf. 2ms, 'you shall establish.' In vs. 16 we find tl'P�; �;>'?�-'''T tl:p, also a causative binyan. Thus the D fonn t1�i? rl�:j? in vs. 8 means something different; there the courtiers are instigating and trying to get the king to establish an ordinance, 'to have an ordinance established.' �N;�o/07 N7 �1 ' which is not subject to alteration'; alteration here signifies transgression, not legally, duly adopted revision or amendment; by going against a royal edict, you are virtually and effectively changing its intent. Likewise "any man who violates this edict (MrT ���n� �)IliM;)" E 6.1 1 ; �:lIliM H info < -Y'llli 'to change; repeat' as in BH. � �"'l)n G impf. 3fs 'it shall lapse,' < +"Tl); 'it shall not lapse, it ought not to lapse.' On the seghol of the prefix with a guttural as the first radical, cf. BH Nt.?n�, �ry> The subject of rI.,�tI is tJ1, a fern. noun. �n '?��.-'?;> 'because of this' : cf. '''T '?�p � 'because' as a compound conjunction, vs. 5. '?�'l''J' positioned outside of the following clause for the sake of prominence, a change of scene, the spot light now on Daniel on the stage. �,'T:l 'when,' a compound conjunction, cf. BH 'W/!�. �'''T �-r 'he got to know that' : '''T introduc­ ing a content clause, § 9 (6). �tl'Ili' G pf. pass. 3ms, 'had been put into writing. ' �'?� G pf. 3ms 'he entered' < .y,,?�, § 13.15 (a). �1'�� ' windows,' fp abs. < *M)�. �lry'n� 'opened, open,' G pass. ptc. fp. Probably a circumstantial clause without a past tense fonn of the verb 'to be' (rT1tI), ' whilst the windows were open for him.' Alternatively we have here a typically Aramaic syntagm , a compound conjunction, here 'just as.' �"T�� �lu, periplnasis, 'he used to do,' cf. vSS. 3 , 4, 5. �M"T� 1�, a compound preposition, 'prior to, before.' llMM tD ptc.ms < -Yll" 'to seek mercy, entreat,' like BH pM�. l'''r�� r"rl! 'thereupon; then,' cf. BH 1(1 and § 3, line 2. On the diphthong /-ay /, cf. BH 'I/!, a poetic synonym of 1(1 'then. ' ���'ip G 3mp, 'they approached'; the form is not passive, but a G fonn with an alternative stem vowel i or e, § 13.2. ����:,�, a scribal error for ��l:'� as in vs. 8. ��?'�' adj . fs abs., 'firmly estab­ lished.' On the use of the abs. form in spite of the det. st. of ��,,�, see § 17 (4). ���,,� fsd < M7� 'word,' used here in the sense of 'matter, issue' like BH '?'!. �

�

�

12) 13)

63

�

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14) Ill1 G pf.3mp < -I'll) 'to answer.' �1" �� G act.ptc.mp; on the combination of these two verbs, see § 15 C-4). �First '''T, introducing direct speech as shown by 1'711 and ��Ih later in the verse. �2° '''T: see § 9 (3). �3° '''T: see § 9 (4). �tlil' G pf. 3ms < -Itl'fJ) 'to put.' Not a ptc. as in BH. �tll)b, here 'attention.' 15) �;>'?� placed out of the following clause, see above 0;' '?�'l"l vs. 1 1 . ���'?� 'the oral report' here. �N"�ip 'many; much,' used here adverbially, 'to a great measure, exceedingly. ' An adjective of qatti:! pattern, § 1 1 (1-2). The final Alef is a root letter, so pI. l'�'�fJ). �fJ)�� G pf. 3ms < -IfJ)�� 'to be bad; to be disagreeable' ; here impersonal, i.e. the subject is not N���- 'the whole situation was not to his liking,' but not 'was angry,' cf. LXX £ADTC1j8T] 'he grieved.' The suffix of 'MI'11 refers to the king, not to Daniel. See also 'Mi'?l1 ��b �'�fJ) �;>'?� vs. 24. �'?? ms abs. 'mind; attention. ' � M���!'IP Safel info + 'him' : § 13.16 and § 13.7. �''?l'� mp cst. < '?l'� 'entrance' < '>!'?'?1I. Cf. BH fJ)�I#M �I�� ' sunset' Ps 104.19. ��iI'�fJ) sd < *fJ)�fJ) ' sun,' cf. BH fJ)�I#. Perhaps feminine. �,.,nfJ)� �10 peri­ phrastic �lM + tD ptc. ms < -I,.,fJ) 'to endeavour,' with metathesis. � M��'?�M H info + 3ms < -I'?�l ; assimilation of In!, § 13.9. 16) l)"! G impv. ms < -I!11" 'to know,' § 13.10. "Imperative" does not necessarily imply discourtesy or rudeness. In prayers to God one often uses imperatives. �O,�� '"I?'? n'): on the preposition, see § 14 (4), last paragraph; 'the legislation of Media and Persia (stipulates) that .. ' �tl'P�; H impf. 3ms < -Itl�p , § 13.13 (i-j). 17) �'n'M H pf. 3mp < -I'n � 'to come,' § 13. 10, 1 3 . 14 (e). �'?�'l"l'?: the preposition �rks a direct object. � �?�'?, cf. �j vS. 8, �I� vS. 13, a noun of qull pattern (§ 1 1 C-3), and see also § 5 (8). ���M 'he,' with focus and prominence. �1Pl'lP; Safel impf. 3ms + 'you ' : § 13.16 and § 13.18 (c). 18) n'�'u, an irregular H passive (Hufal) pf. 3fs for n'n'u 'was brought.' �p:\, like BH, of qat! pattern, § 11 (E- 1); fs, hence M']0. � Mil' G passive, irregular for MfJ). �tl� BH M� 'mouth,' with a u vowel as in tlil' BH tllP. �M�nM G pf. 3ms + 'it' (fs) < 0tlM 'to seal.' �M�Ptll 'his seal' < r.ptll. �' mi�'�' 'his lords, magnates' < *1�'�" cf. § 10 (8). ��lfJ)n G impf. 3fs < -I'lfJ) 'to change.' ���� fs abs 'desire, desired thing,' but here 'thing, matter,' cf. BH l'Pr\ 'desire' as in �M '?1I M�M '?� 'Do not marvel at the matter' Ec 5.7. 19) n? G pf. 3ms < -I n'� 'to spend the night.' �nlb 'in hunger, fasting' ; cf. Syr. I twa:!! 'fasting. ' �n0"T; one still does not know what it means. �,?l)lM H pf. 3ms < '>!'?'?1I 'to enter'; § 13.15 (b). �MNfJ) 'his sleep' < * Ml fJ) fern. ' sleep,' cf. BH M1 1P . �n"Tl G pf. 3fs. < -I"I"ll 'to move away, drift away,' § 13.15 (a). �'MI'11 ' on him,' where one could have expected �q� 'from him.' �� can indicate an effect produced on someone, cf. '?M� ''?l' M�� 'Rachel died on me' Gn 48.7 and for more examples in BH, see Jotion - Muraoka, A Grammar of Biblical Hebrew, § 133 f 'MI'?lI fJ)�� vS. 15 may belong here. 20) ���,�fJ) ms det. 'early morning' �tl�p; G impf. 3ms. Why the impf. has been selected is not clear. Possibly a residue from Old Aramaic, in which the impf. could be used as a past tense fonn as in BH. ���ll Inogha:/, ms det., qut! pattern, cf. BH Mll 'brightness; dawn. ' � M7��nM tG info < '>!'? M� 'to be in a hurry; to be alarmed.' �

�

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21) M�'p� G info + 'his'; -:p indicates a point in time, 'as he approached. ' � 1 0 '�'l'" probably goes with the following pill 'he shouted to Daniel' ; if it were to be connected to M�'p�, we would expect '�'l" 'II, see above on vs. 7 . �Plll G pf. 3ms, 'he shouted, cried'; on the i vowel, see § 13.2. �"�II ms cst., ' servant,' qat! pattern, § 1 1 (E- !). �':P;M: - M introduces a Yes or N� question like BH -0. ':P\ like pill. � 1� �:P!' W' : cf. vS. 15. 22) '�'l"T' emend to '�·l"T. ' 23) 'l�; for 'lO�, cf. Eli �m� Gn 2.12. �'l�':PM D pf. 3mp + 'me': 'they harmed me.' ��! fsa 'innocence': an abstract noun with /-u:/ suffix, § 11 (R). �M7�:PM fs abs. 'damage.' 24) �;>,� in casus pendens, resumed with the suffix of 'MI'II; the suffix refers to the king, not to Daniel, 'the king was very pleased.' �:P�to G pf. 3ms, used impersonally; cf. 'MI'II Ili�:p �llli vS. 15. �'�'l'" is to be co�ected with Mp9lM' and the preposition is an object-marker. rl i?l?�0 'to bring up,' irregular H info < -YP'O, § 13.9. �po� Hu. pf. 3ms, 'he was brought up,' see the preceding note. � '�M-'? 'no injury whatsoever' : on the absolute negation with '>:p, see above on vs. 5. �1�'" H pf. 3ms < -Y1��; see § 13.12, and on the e vowel, see § 13.10. � M "7�:p < M "7!P as in B H tl' h"�:p. 25) ,�� 'he commanded, ordered,' not 'he said.' �1'� �:,:p� must be the object, not the subject of the preceding �'n;M H pf. 3mp 'they [� security staff] brought.' ��0'I�!j?, part of a loan translation from Akkadian kar>?i aka: lu 'to accuse,' lit. 'to eat pieces. ' The suffix 'his' is proleptic, anticipating, referring to ' Daniel' ; § 9 (5). �lU� used here a s a direct object, 'them': § 1 3. 1 8 (e). ��M'l:P 'their sons, children' : irregular noun-sg. ':P, pI. l'l:P (BH tl'l?), § 1 0 (8). ��M'Wl 'their wives' : irregular noun; cf. BH tl'Ili), § 1 0 (8). �Ib� G pf. 3mp < -Y'to� < -Y�b� 'to reach' : § 1 3. 1 4 (f). �n'II'� fs cst. 'bottom' : § 1 1 (Qn�b'lli G pf. 3mp 'they overpowered': on the i vowel, see § 13.2. �lIM'�'l 'their bones' < *tl"1j, qat! pattern, § 12 (E-!). ��p"rM H pf. 3mp < -YPP" 'to crush, pulverise': § 13.15 (b). 27) 1\" 0/, qatla: n pattern, 'domain,' § 1 1 (0). �1'1I�! 11iJ'? G periphrastic impf. 3mp : § 15 C 5). On rll�! G act. ptc. mp < -yml 'to tremble,' see on r'll1 2.38 above. �'�1P.- W, a compound preposition, lit. 'from before me,' cf. BH ISm 1 8 : 12 1l1� ""1 'l�"� ,��O/ 'and Saul became fearful of David.' � M "7� 'his god,' with a proleptic suffix pronoun. �tl:� 'existing,' an adjective of qatta:! pattern, § 1 1 (1-1). 28) :P1' W � Safel ptc. act. ms, see on vs. 15 above. �,�� H act. ptc. ms 'rescues' < .y,�l, with assimilated /n!, § 13.9. �N?n mp abs. < *M�n 'wonder,' qit! pattern, § 1 1 E-2, see 3.32, 33. �." fs cst. Note that the short a is unstable, hence �1; 'my hand,' cpo BH �, cst. "", but �!� 'my hand. ' 29) M'�M H pf. 3ms < -YM'� 'to excel oneself'; /-la-/ instead of /-le-/ or /-li-/, § 5 (2). ��'9'� ms det. < '9'� 'Persian' ; the Ktiv would represent �:9'� ' § 10 (5). Chapter 7

1) '�Ili�'�' M1M nl lli :p 'in the year one of B . ' ; the use of the cst. of M)1li followed by a numeral for a year of reign in the fern. gender is idiomatic. So also in BH,

66

A BIBLICAL ARAMAIC READER

2)

3)

4)

5)

e.g. �9�'? o'nlli nllli� 'in the year two of Asa' lKg 15.25. � 1'''� Ili�'l lit. 'the head of words,' prob. meaning ' a summary of the main points. ' �:"''? Oil ' with the nightfall,' cf. Testament Levi 1 1 .7 �]Il' � 1l' nl"� Oil ' when the sun rose.' CO) The st. abs. form is ,'?,'? < Ilaylay/. The corresponding BH form is '?'" e.g. Isa 16.3, or contracted to '?''? as in '?,"�-"� '�Ili Isa 21.21, preceded by "'?;'�-"� '�Ili, but '?''? is also the cst. form as in tl" �1li '?,'? 'night of watching' Ex 12.42. That the form of a word which belongs to the basic vocabulary is different between two closely related languages like Hebrew and Aramaic is striking. �l�'l� A ptc. fpa ' stirring up,' < .ynu. tlo/ ' different,' G ptc. fpa < "lo/. ��1 1� �1 lit. 'this from this,' i.e. 'from one another.' The notion of reciprocity is expressed by repeating a demonstrative for near deixis, 'this.' Which fonn-masc., fern., sg. and pl.-to use depends on the noun in question and whether the referents are related to each other or one another as individuals or groups of individuals. Here four animals (n�1j, f.) are compared with one another individually, hence fs �1· In 2.43 l'P�1 )i::!,?-�,? rI�1-1:I� :"It! 'they will not stick to one another' it is about various solid sub­ stances, Aramaic words for which happen to be of masc. gender, hence ms rl�'" In 5.6 10/Pl �1'? �1 nn?2'� 'his knees were striking each other' "?2'� is a fern. noun. In QA we find l''?l �� 1''?� rll� 1��"'? 'they will be plundering one another' 4Q318 VIII,8 with two nations involved. Moreover, the two identical forms of the pronoun are joined with a preposition, and which preposition to select depends on which preposition the verb in question requires. n'? ,Ilil-'''T l'�l� 'and it (had) eagle's wings,' a nominal clause of possession, cf. Gn 29.16 n\l� '�Ili 1�'?'? 'Laban (had) two daughters.' � n'�l �to'i� ' its wings were plucked off': �b'i� G pf.pass. 3mp. From II�'� r�� 'four wings' (vs. 6) we see that the noun is of fern. gender. Elsewhere in BA a fern. pI. is pointed as Q differently from its corresponding masc. form as in ���l Infaqa :/, not Infaqa: w/, D 5.5. The pointing here is exceptional; it could have been �"" �. �n'?'tll G pf. pass. 3fs.; the penultimate stress is abnormal, probably influenced by the preceding �to'i�. � M'PO H pass. pf. 3fs. �.,� may introduce a statement which consists only of one clause constituent, though it may contain more than one word as here. Thus what follows is not a self-contained nominal clause meaning 'another, second animal resembled a bear.' rI��1 G ptc. act. fs is being attributively used: 'behold, another, second animal resembling a bear.' Cf. LXXrn Kat 1000 811P(OV oEDTEpov O).lOlOV a pKQ>. Since Daniel had identified four animals in his vision, he could have used the determinate form "the second animal," as in vs. 4 N�;�!j? 'the first one. ' But the description of the second and fourth each begins with rl1�lJ �,,�, lllllike in the case of the first beast. � rI���T:1 fsa, ' second' ; the ordinal retains the primitive second radical In!, shared with BH ��W, whereas the cardinal shows a secondary alteration to Ir/: m. l''ln, f. r�'n. �rll'?l1 fpa 'ribs' < 11'1\1, cf. BH II,?� of qital pattern. � r!�� 'its mouth' ; the m shows a secondary gemination and the

C) See T. Muraoka, "Dan 7:2 N;77 C!; 'by night'?

,"

Vetus Testamentum 67 (2017) 667-70.

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67

u-vowel compared with BH rl� is a result of phonetic assimilation, the original

a assimilated to u, which is closer to the following labial consonant m. � r!��W 'its teeth,' < lIP; as in BH this is of qill pattern, hence the gemination of n, § 5 (S),

6) 7)

S)

9)

and the form is dual, see l'llli vs. 7. It refers to two rows of teeth. �'��p, cf. Mk 5.41 TUAt8a KOD).!t 'Daughter, get up ! ' However, unlike the girl already lying dead, this animal was already standing; the imperative of this verb can be used to urge an action. ,nl9, an etymological spelling for ,n?, on which see above at 2.39. �'�l, cf. BH '�l 'leopard' ; qatil pattern. The A form is < *'�l or *'�l; § 5 (2). �'l��'� fsa of *l��'� 'frightful,' § 1 1 Q. The stem is *M�'�, so BH. l��'� is derived from *M'�, to which I-a :n/ has been added, § 1 1 O. However, n�'� is not a cst. form, as shown by "l)�1 rrt1��� !:I V�?� �bt:1 'Terror falls on them, and dread' Ex 15.16, cf. JM § 93 j. �ll�li' 'exceedingly, very much'; on this adver­ bially used adjective, see above at 3.22. �l?'�' fpa < ...j�" pI. with reduplication, § 10 S); it agrees with fd rllli, but this is not a simple, attributive use, 'great teeth,' an analysis unlikely because of the separation from ,��W, but it is virtu­ ally predicative-'it had teeth of iron, (they were) huge. ' � M:llli� D ptc. pass. fs < -Y�lW 'to differ'; D is factitive in value, 'to make different, alter.' A passive pte. often indicates a state arising from an action in the past, 'changed, made different.' The vowel deletion rule (§ 5 [1]) can obliterate the difference between active and passive participles in D and H/A, § 13.S. Here the context demands a passive ptc. �'1Ii11 rh � 'ten horns'; *ni? (qatl noun), like a few other nouns such as "T' and '"�, has a special dual form (§ 10 [2]), but no plural form, for which the dual form is used, cf. BH tl',", I)�'ll 'four feet' Lv 1 1 .23, cf. JM, § 91 e, ea. ':>:lnlli� tD ptc. with metathesis < ...j'�IIi; 'I was observing, studying intently' as against tI�1.� mt' ' I was seeing, something remained in my view.' �rl-r�n fsa ' small,' a word of an original qutayl pattern for diminutives, though the mean­ ing of the word itself denotes small size. Cf. BH " I)� ' little; young' as against ':>\"T� 'great, large; old.' The initial /zl of the Arm. word is secondary, cf. Arb. ,agi: r. � n�'o; the last vowel is anomalous for patach. ����l1n� 'they were plucked out,' tG 3fp; � in lieu of p because of the following " § 5 (2) and the � is llllder the influence of this a vowel. � r�;�; lllllike BH t1:��� there is no spe­ cial dual form of this noun. n9';o m(! )pa < *'0';0 /korsayl ' seat, throne,' cf. BH llO:O, a loan-word from Akk. kussu; the Irl is secondary, breaking up the gemination. The first la:1 of the plural form is secondary, cf. ll�l:,"!ll 'the lions' 6.S < M" ll. ��,�, G pf. pass. 3mp < --v��� 'to throw, cast'; here with an attenuated sense of 'to place, set,' cf. OUOE. �aAAoDcnv otvov VEOV d� d(JKOD� 1CaAa106� 'nor does one put new wine into old skin bags' Mt 9.17. �r�\' p'nl) 'ancient of days'; p'nl) is in the cst. st. �MIP��' "'1M ",n:o; syntactically ambiguous-'his garment (was) like white snow' or 'his garment was white like snow'? Likewise the parallel clause. The Tiberian Masoretes indicate a break after the first word by putting there a disjllllctive accent, legarme and pashra respectively. Cf. Mt 28.3 TO £VODJlU UlyrOO AE.DKOV

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A BIBLICAL ARAMAIC READER

ffis x"l>v. �'�l) 'wool,' cf. BH ,��, § 3, line 1 1 . ��Pl 'pure' (,0) . The parallel­

10)

11)

12)

13)

14)

15)

ism with ." t:I 'white,' a colour tenn, favours 'pure.' Besides, wool can only be of sheep, cf. LXX Ku8up6v. �'M\':b,� ' its wheels' with a secondary gemination of the second IV, cf. BH ,�,�, pI. �'7�'� Is 5.28. tl'�'�; Q 1'�'�, K being Hebrew in its ending. �lP' \�, 'ten thousand of ten thousands,' for an astronomical figure. � l���P; 'they will be standing as servants,' not 'they will stand up' here. The Aramaic verb can mean both; BH differentiates tl�P 'to stand up, arise' from "T�l' 'to be standing. ' ��n; �l"'T 'the court sat,' N��", short for N��1 tJ��. �,�!�� 'books; files'; A "�I? does not mean 'letter,' like BH '��. r1N�; this usually stands as a discourse marker at the beginning of a clause, signalling a new phase in a narrative, but here it must be directly construed with the verb itself: ' I was seeing at that time.' ��:"�, a fern. noun despite the ending l-ayya:/, as shown by the following fern. adjective. The sg. form of the noun is M7�. �,� 1� 'because of the sound of .. " I fixed my eyes on the image, alarmed by what I heard? �"T��M H pass. pf. 3ms < ';"T��; 'it was destroyed.' See § 13.12. N�'�1j .,�o/ 'the rest of the beasts,' i.e. the three still alive; a casus pendens, 'as for the rest of the beasts,' resumed by the suffix pronoun of l\Mlli'O/, which is the direct object of �'''l)M H pf. 3mp, used impersonally 'they removed' < ';"l) 'to depart.' W�N· .,�� '(someone) like a son of man,' not 'in the manner of a son of man' ; o� thi; � se of the preposition -�, see tJ:�� �7 rI�!� ���:p ' something like a disease was noticed in my house' Lv 14.35. The phrase is the grammatical subject of rl1� rltJ� 'was coming. ' In all the quotations of this verse in the Gospels as put in the mouth of Jesus we read TOV D10V TOO dv8pron:OD 'the son of man' Mt 24.30, 26.64, Mk 13.26, 14.62 and without a particle of similarity, illS . Jesus was identifying Himself with a prophesied Messianic figure. ��:�I!i 'l)l)-tll); the preposition I:I� can be retained, cf. Ps 1 04.3 ����! I:I��� 1:10/ 0 ' one who makes clouds his chariot,' and cf. a late 5th centmy BeE Aramaic text from Elephantine: I:IrI��1'I . . . I:I� �1'IN 'they came with their weapons.' ��0; 'was given,' for which one might expect ����; 'were given. ' The three syn­ onymous nOllllS were probably considered as fonning a single notional unit. � rI? l�M'�'; though the preposition -, is often used as equivalent to the BH object marker 1'1�, that is not the case here. The G verb n�tJ 'to worship' always attaches its object to -, ; D 3.17 is not a real exception. �tl'� 19'0/ 'eternal reign' ; the first nOllll is in the construct, but it retains the second long vowel, lllllike BH "?1 > -,�.,. �'�M M �'?-'''; not necessary to supply �,� before '"T, which can be used without an antecedent-'his kingdom is one that will not be destroyed. ' n'"1:ln� tG pf. 3fs 'became sick, depressive,' < ,;" �. �'�'l1 M)�, in apposition to the I s suffix of 'm" cf. E 7.21 . � Mnl, prob. affiliated to a word found in

(lCJ On the view that the word means 'sheep, lamb,' see M. Sokoloff, '''amar neqe' 'Lamb's Wool' (Dan. 7 , 9)." JBL 95 (1976) 277-79.

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69

a QA text-�Ml"l u, 'n�ll'l 'my breath inside its receptacle' lQ20 (Genesis Apocryphon) 2.10 in a description of a woman's orgasm, a Persian loan-word nidiini ' sheath.' �'li"0�'; on the use of the Impf. here, see § 15 B-2.

' 16) 'II n�'p ' went near t� ; approached'; on 'II, see at 2.24. ��:��� exceptionally for �:�;�, G ptc. mp, § 13.13 e). � �?'�' ' certain, firm'; uncertain whether the fonn is fsa or msd, but in any case it is substantivised, 'certainty; certain thing. ' ��:"�, prob. referring back to the same form in vs. 1 1 . 17) The first half of the verse up to II�'� i s presented a s a description of the sym­ bol: 'this symbol consisting of these four huge beasts means that .. ' � P'�: a proposal to follow LXX �acnAdat and Vulgate regna and read n�'� would necessitate two more alterations-II�'� (fem.) and ���p; (3fp). Cf. vs. 24. 18) ni" l) 'W'''p: �" l) 'the most high,' with a Heb. ending /-o :n/ for Arm. /-a:n/. In BA the idea is expressed with '?II, e.g. �'?II ��7� 3.26. In lQ20 one finds �" II '� as a designation of Abram's god, which is a wholesale borrowing from Heb., as shown by a Hebrew form ,� instead of M'�. The use of the pI. l'li" l) may be by analogy of BH tl'h"� or an assimilation to the pI. of the preceding 'W'''p as in BH tl'l?� nin,? 'st�ne tablets' instead of p:\ mn, Ex 34. 1 , cf. JM § 136 o. � PlOry' 'they will take possession of'; in theory the form could be G like p�'ry' 'they will pass' 4.13, but uSn" vs. 22, pf. 3mp, suggests a Haf./Af. form. 19) n'�� G pf. I s < -V,�� 'to desire' ; p'il type G pf., § 13.14 c), otherwise it should be n'��. ��?�' D info 'to ascertain', D of factitive value, 'to make certain (�'ll'). ' ��"�-1� M;lip, 'different from all of them ' ; w1tat is actually meant is 'from all the others.' Cf. �'1?-�� �oi'-n� �M� '��W'� Gn 37.3. � M9�� . . M�'J� M7��, all fspa in a graphic description. �M�'J� ' crushing,' H ptc. < -Vpp.,; on the dou­ bled first radical, § 13.15 b). 20) 'II, to be taken with �?ll' 'to ascertain' (vs. 19). The absence of it before the following " Q� is anomalous. �Mn��n-l� �, ' (was) larger than (that) of its fel­ lows,' elliptical for Mn��n MHn-W �, ' larger than the appearance of its fellows.' �Mn��n, pI. as shown by the long a compared with Mn'�M 'its fellow' < M��n + 3fs. 21) �M' M7:O: ' it was prevailing over them': the preposition -, here is not the com­ mon Aram. equivalent of BH n� marking a direct object, § 16 2) and § 13.18 f), but the verb ��� in the sense of 'to win, prevail over,' as in BH, requires -�, cf. i' ,�u M��� 'and what can we overpower him with? ' Jdg 16.5. 22) �:�i' p'n ll: the figure was mentioned earlier (l'�i' p'n ll vS. 9), hence determinate as marked by the st. det. form of �:�i' p'n ll 'the ancient of days.' ��M; �1'" 'the justice was granted,' i.e. they were declared innocent, they won the court case. Cf. 1�' tl"ll1 to�W� 'he upholds the case of the poor' Job 36.6. 24) .,W� x:t1i? in casus pendens: 'as regards the ten horns.' �rI.t:1��7� �q� 'from this kingdom'; see above at 3.6 and 5.12. ��'.�"P mpd of ,�.,p ' first; earlier' ; on this mpd suffix, see § 10 5). 25) M;l WM' H info 'to change, alter.' 26) �n\ G irnpf. as shown by the dageshed Taw, unlike �n; (vs. 10).

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27) r"i.��0; G pf. pass. 3fs 'was given' ; one would expect pI. ����; to agree with the preceding three subject nouns, which were prob. viewed as synonymous and forming one notional unit. �plmnl!i' tD 'they will be obedient,' for which cog­ nate Aramaic dialects use to, possibly an error for '���l:1o/:. 28) '�'l1 Ml�, casus pendens, resumed later by the suffix of 'l\'I1' 'my thoughts,' �" \): not that changes appeared 'on, on the surface of' my face, but fbe prepo­ sition indicates disadvantage suffered, the changes of my complexion embar­ rassed me or terrified people, who would keep away from me, cf. �lJ"1 �7� rI� � 'I suffered Rachel's deafb' Gn 48,7, " � ��, 'fbey cry to my annoyance' Nu 1 L13, JM § 133 f for more examples in BH, �n!bl ,�,� ��'?�, cf 1] 81: Mupul)l reanu O"DVETlj PEl Ta plj)lum mOTU o"D)l�aAAODo"U /;V Tn Kup8iq uihfis Lk 2,19,

EZRA Chapter 4

8) tl!)b '!)�, a cst. phrase meaning ' official in charge,' ����9 det. < '�9 ' secre­ tary' � rl1f� fsa, 'letter' < Akk. egertu or this is a loan-word from Aramaic. ��� i:> 'fbus, as follows,' 9) �Mnll:> mp < *nl:> 'colleague' < AIde kinattu, kiniitu 'colleague,' ��'l"'T; emend to �:l:"T 'fbe judges' < 1:"T, § 1 1 (1-1), � �'�no,�� mpd of a Persian loan-word designating some high-ranking Persian officiaL ��'7�'b mpd of another Persian loan-word meaning an official of the Persian chancellory, ��'9'��; a possible emendation is �'9'� mpd of '9'� ' Persian,' qualifying fbe immediately preced­ ing �'9'��' � 'l:>'� mpd of 'l:>'� ' 'of Uruk; resident of Uruk, ' ��'�ll!i�1!i mpd of '�ll!i�1!i 'of Susa (11!i�1!i) ' + a Persian affix -aka-, ���.�1, corrupted from �M"T ��M '''T 'that is; namely' (BL, 212z), cf a couple of LXX manuscripts which read ot dmv 'HAu)luloL � �,�'!) mpd of *'�'!) 'of Elam; resident of Elam,' The verse contains many gentilic, ethnic names or nouns ending with j-a:yj, § 10 (5), 10) '�lO�; fbe most plausible identification is Assurbanipal, an Assyrian king, �" lM, H pf 3ms 'to cause to move as exile' BH M7lM, ��niM ' settled' H Pf 3ms < �n\ § 13,10, Cf BH �'l!iiM, �\�M 'them,' one of the indications that Aramaic of Ezra is earlier than that of Daniel, in which we find a later form l\�M D 234f, 3,22 and 6,25 pl�, The direct object 'them' is not attached directly to a verb, § 6, 13,18 (e), � M:'P fsa 'town, city' ; but it is known that the king settled not just in the city of Samaria, see e,g, 2Kgs 17,26 "and they said to the king of Assyria, 'the nations you made migrate and settled in towns of Samaria (�'1�f �'�I!i) ,,", Besides, "the city of Samaria" would not normally be expressed with an analytical construction wifb '"T, but synthetically like n�o/ n',p, cf BH n�� 'Ml 'fbe River Euphrates,' Emend the MT form to M�:'p pd or M" P with an anticipating, proleptic suffix (§ 14 [4]) attached to a special plural form �

�

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11)

12)

13)

14)

15)

71

called an internal plural, in which the plural number is indicated by changing a vowel of the stem instead of adding the standard plural ending, �M�01-'�l), lit. 'area beyond the river,' a construct phrase with the det. rl"1m referring to the River Euphrates. This is an official designation of the administrative region of the Persian Empire to fbe west of the river, BH Ezr 836, Neh 2,7 '�JM ,�;\, �n);\��; delete, p$'� msc 'copy,' cf, BH Est 3,14 p$ns < Old Pers, paticagna, �'M\'l) 'to him,' i,e, to Artaxerxes (vs, 8), The preposition is the one used with verbs of physical movement with a person as destination. See above at D 2.24. Better to move here the Masoretic symbol athnach currently placed with ��,�; the official letter being quoted is supposed to begin with �nil'il'Mn'w'l1 as is customary to put the addressee(s) first, followed by the name of fbe writer(s), ��.i],? l/'"T; 'it should be known, we would like to draw to your attention, sir,' a diplomatic, roundabout expression with l/'"T; G ptc, pass, See also at D 3,18, �1�1'-W, a compound preposition: , lit, 'from beside you,' ��l" l) probably goes wifb �p'o, The vocalisation with a seghol is anomalous: �l" l) is expected, likewise vs, 18, 5,17, cf, �l'li'� D 3,18, Note the distinction between �l',?l) and the following tl,?il'�"1" (a place as destination), ���"T�� fsd 'rebel­ lious,' of qatta:l (§ 1 1 [1-1]) pattern with the first a lengthened, compensatory lengthening, § 5 (12), �Adopt Q �'�il' �:'�il' 'they have completed the walls'; fbe verb is a rare causative S afel, § 13,16, ��b'li" a most baffling form; from the way it is vocalised, it cannot be derived from --.JbH,; a common emenda­ tion is ����; G pf. 3mp pass., ' were given,' based on 5.16 N:W� �0; 'he laid the foundations. ' l�'?'?�nil" IStaf'el, pass, of S afeL � M1l�, also spelled M1� (vs, 20), < Akk, maid) dattu, mandattu, 'tax,' �\,� < Akk, biltu, some kind of tax, �1,?0 < Akk, ilku, some kind of tax, �Plnl': on the non-assimilation of In/, see § 13,9, �tlhS� ' surely' ? �pllMn tl'�'�: to emend the first word to ':O'� is unlikely, as the letter is being written by more than one person, and the fonn may be a pseudo­ Hebraism for 1��7�, and not only the reigning ruler, but also his successors could suffer losses, The subject of pllMn H impf, 3fs is ��" p, �lM'� G pf, 1p 'we ate salt' or emend to �lli'� ' our salt,' � Mnl1 'nakedness'; the BH equivalent of the word, rl'!�, often has sexual connotations, and by extension ' shamefulness, dishonour.' The king suffering loss of income could lead to the loss of his face, ,��; D for 'P�\ § 5 (2); indirect reference to fbe king, see above at vs, 13, ��:n:ry mpd < n:ry 'memorandum,' cf, BH ';'�l; Idok;ra :n/ like lli'ip Isolta:n/ 'dominion,' �1����, see at D 2,23, �n�IlM� H ptc, fsc, �'nnil'�, a word which has now turned up in a Qumran Aramaic translation of Job: at 3 1 . 1 ; it is joined wifb ��p 'battle' and at 33,6 (MT 39,25) it translates BH M�ry'�, so 'armed uprising' might be suggested here, � M�l� -� + U ' interior' (of qall pattern, § 1 1 [C-1]) + 3fs, � n�\' mpc < 1�\\ an alternative pL alongside �:�\\ cf, BH n\�; as in Dt 32,7 tl,?\11 n\�; II Mic, 5,1 tl,?\11 '�\ �n�'ry� H pass, 3fs, 'was destroyed' : /hohorvatj, �

72

A BIBLICAL ARAMAIC READER

17) 'II: the verb "'IV can be said to denote a physical movement, for the message had to be carried by a postman, Hence not tl�"" , , "'IV, Likewise in vs, 1 8 : �l''i\), See also above at vs, 12, 18) IV'�� D ptc,pass, 'translated,' namely into Persian, Note that the active ptc" IV'.� �, is opposed to its passive counterpart with the vowel a; § 13,8, �" P, 'was read,' G pf pass" cf "� 'was revealed' D 230, 19) M�lVlM tD ptc, fs 'to exalt oneself; to stage an uprising, ' A ptc, may indicate an action that started some time ago and is still ongoing at the time of speaking, cf. Germ. Hier wohne ich seit drei lahren 'I have been living here three years.' �"T'� 'rebellion,' not a verb, �"T�\)n� tG ptc, ms; sg, because 'nnlV�� "T'� forms a single notion, 'anned rebellion. ' 21) ��'ib G impv, mp, not pf pass, � �'?��, D inf 'to make stop (what one is doing),' a factitive D of G 'to come to a halt,' �"T\) 'until' ; when this particle is used not as a preposition 'till,' but as a conjunction 'until' like here, E uses this on its own as in earlier Aramaic, but D uses it always in conjunction with �1, e.g. �lnlV' �n\) ''r"T\) 'until the time changes' D 2,9, This detail indicates the relative antiquity of the Aramaic of Ezra in comparison with that of Daniel. See also E SA, �tli!'�' tG 3ms < �trlV; on the dagesh of n, see § 13,13 (It), 22) \�" G impv, mp, 'Be,' but �\" 6,6, which latter is also pf 3mp 'they were' 4,20, a bit confusing ! � rI�7, which is similar to BH 1� and indicates a negative pur­ pose 'in order that .. not' or apprehension 'in case, lest.' � tlj?ptl7, cst. of H info rr�Htr7 'to cause damages.' When the object of an infinitive immediately follows, the latter takes the cst st, form; so also n'"l! n'l� � 'explaining of riddIes' D 5,12 with an A inL of �,�", § 13,7, 23) ''r 1 � ' from the moment when; as soon as,' �\)�"T� BH \)\'1, also \)\'1� Jer 32,21 with an extra Alef as in A, added perhaps to facilitate the pronun­ ciation of two consonants at the begiIllling of a word with no vowel in between. CL BH ':>\�n� II '\�n, "Arm " as a symbolic expression of force; note the fol­ lowing "ry�: The royal message was not conveyed by mouth only, but with a show of force by deploying armed security officers, 24) n'tl� G pL 3fs, a non-standard form for n'b�, see on �'?��, at vs, 21 and �'b� vs. 23. � rl7t?� tl1�, a periphrastic tense with a G ptc. act. fs to indicate a con­ tinued state in the past; the construction work remained at a standstill, in con­ trast to n'tl� pL 3fs, 'came to a halt,' earlier in the verse, �

Chapter 5

1) '�lM tD pL 3ms; the vocalisation and the absence of the final AIef indicate a merger of the original Lamed-Alef verb with Lamed-Yod class, § 13,14, Note also m�:�1 and N:N��1 instead of *rI���1 and *N:���1 respectively. The sing. fonn of the verb is used because Haggai was perceived as the principal prophet, �'\) 'to (the Jews),' not 'against.' 2) ���; the use of this verb, not any less than its BH equivalent, does not neces­ sarily imply that someone was seated until then, but can be used with a nuance

73

READING ANNOTA1ED BIBLICAL ARAMAIC 1EXTS

3)

4)

5)

of decisive or non-hesitant action and its Imllching. Followed by an imperative, "Go! ," the person may already have been standing, ��" o/ /sa: ri: wi, D pf 3mp , 'prior to.' �l'lil' fem.( ! ) pI., cpo BH O'l o/. �'��il'" 1'� 'a king of Israel' is unambiguous compared with '�'il" 1'�, which can mean 'the king of Israel,' so BH '�'il" 1'� "Tn. Cf. JM § 139 b-c. �'Mj� 'he built it (ms).' Note the typically Aramaic 3ms suffix /hi :/, which goes back to /hu :/. This i: form appears when the suffix is immediately preceded by a long vowel. So 'Mlb 'his sons,' 'mS'pM 'they brought him' D 7.13 « ��ipM ), 'Mliil' 'they changed (Ilil') against him' D 5.6. 12) �1 ,�, here 'because. ' �N���?�, a strange vocalisation for N���?� 'our forefathers.' 13) �)�" on which see above at vs. 3. 14) '�;0 'he transported,' H pf. 3ms < ��\ not '�IM, § 13.10, but " �IM in BH. ���o/ .,��o/W 'a certain Sheshbazzar by name' ; the formula appears in Aramaic documents of the Persian period, especially when naming a person for the first time; the person can be a slave or a respectable person such as Ahiqar. 15) �il' G impv. ms < 'iP�l, cf. Engl. outgoings. 5) l��'n n' BH ��'ib;. �1�;; see above at 5.5. It should be pI. P��\ agreeing with pI. 'l��. �nMn A impf 2ms < '>inMl, see above at vs. 15. The second person form is difficult here; emend to Ml: /yonhaJ! or M: /Y0hhaJ! A pass. 3ms? 6) rp'M' mpa 'far away,' an adjective of qattil pattern, § 11 (1-2), cf. B H P\M� of a different pattern, originally qata: l. 7) �'1W '�i!''' 'to/for the elders of the Judaeans' ; difficult to account for the preposition. Delete it? 8) l�'!�\)n ''! ��" ' concerning what you should do.' � �'?��" �'? ''T 'so as not hold (them) up (in their work).' 9) lrylliM; the meaning of the word is agreed to be either 'need' or 'necessary,' and the ending a: n is fpa, but the grarrnnatical analysis of its fonn is uncertain; is it a noun or an adjective? �1" �'T mpa 'rams'; though related to BH '?! 'male,' the BA word represents narrow semantic specialisation, applicable only to one species of animal, whereas Syriac de/;ra: indicates a male, whether human or animal. �1" ��, mpa 'lambs'; as often is the case, this is the only form actually attested in BA, so that we C3Illlot reconstruct its singular fonn with confidence. Probably ,��. (11) �n,?11 fpa 'burnt-offerings' ; the word is a hapax in BA, and we do not know its basic fonn. The word is related to BH rl7� with the same meaning, which, however, looks like a Qal fs ptc., which carmot apply to our BA word. The w of wa: is the original third radical of the root. (12) �l'blM pa 'grains of wheat' ; the sg. was probably *M�lM, cf. BH sg. m�M, pI. tl'bM. In B H some other nouns indicating agricultural products have a fern. sg. and rnasc. pI., e.g. �

�

(11) (ll)

HALOT's *,rpl:\ cannot be right in view of § 5 (2). The sg.abs. form is probably il'J?� as in Egyptian Aramaic jt'�!:'

76

10)

11)

12)

14)

15)

17)

A BIBLICAL ARAMAIC READER

Ml�n 'fig,' pL O'l�� ; O'�� 'eggs,' cf M1l'� in Mishnaic Hebrew, � , �� �:;> : -:;> + G inf., 'when the priests say, request,' or "�N� as a nonnal noun meaning 'request verbally made,' hence 'in accordance wifh the request 0[,' ��'o/ �7 ''r 'without negligence.' p'PM� N!', anofher periphrastic tense form, 'fhey keep offering, ' �rM\M'l, mpa 'incense offerings,' < M\M'l, a H loan-word, � r'i�� D ptc, mp < 'I/',�, a typically Aramaic verb for 'to pray.' �1 w�� �? 'any person who . . ' is in casus pendens, to be resumed later with the suffix of �.t!:� 'his house.' �N�W0: H impf., 'to change,' i.e. 'to contravene,' cf �'lili �;>,� n�� D 3,28, �MOW iG impf for *Moln\ ��n�n' tG impf; since LXX with its rcUYTJO"ETat 'he shall be fastened' the verb has often been said to mean 'to impale,' but its primary meaning is 'to hit, strike' ; here also 'to be flogged' after having been nailed or bound with a rope against the standing timber makes sense, ��'ll, a variant spelling of ''ll D 2,5, 3,29, rl��Wrl�' rt"T" n�tlh : .,., n�w ' is a common BH collocation which can mean 'to set ab�ut doi�g ;��ething outrageous, illegal,' e,g, nnlli, 'T'!: ""iii' ��'1: �, 1'� n�n� t1�W�-tl� 'How did you dare to attempt to destroy the Lord's anointed? ' 2Sm 1 , 14, also wifh an inf following, M7� Ol1b 'God's command' II 1Ii'J\:' o!)!? 'Cyrus's command' ; the former occurs also in 7.23. Possibly an artificial Masoretic differentiation between divine and human command, See also ��0'r 0,* 'golden statute (of god)' D 3,5 II 'M\�l� O,� 'fhe shape of his face' (human) D 3,19, Impossible to explain away the former set as Hebraisms; one would like to know why Hebraisms were not applied to many other instances of these two nouns. �,�'W S afel, pL 3ms, 'finished,' most likely an Akk, loan-word, S1l,1I, USe,!; the sg. form is either being used impersonally or is to be emended to pI. ����W /se : si : w/, �"11 'till' ; what is meant must be the completion had to wait till X, �nw " M�7n 'three " six' for 'third " sixth,' § 12 b), ��� t:r : D info 'to atone for sins.' Q seemingly (13) represents an earlier fonn which preserves fhe primitive Alef as the last radical, whereas K lhatta:ya:/ shows a later form, § 13,14 f), �'11 'for the sake of,' not ' against' (HALOT, p, 1 8 73b), �'��IIi' 'tl�1Ii l:l�' 'according to the number of the tribes of Israel' based on BH, e,g, Josh 4,5 '��IIi'-')� 'tl�1Ii '�O�'; BH '�O� corresponds to its A equivalent, �

tl�,

18) ����ti must have the following two noun phrases as its objects. The pI. subject of ����ti must be the Jerusalem community. Chapter 7

12) ""�;f 'complete'; an elliptical expression or a scribal error for ""�;f 1:170/ ' com­ plete, total well-being' may be assumed, (1 3) "Seemingly:' because the Q is most likely an instance of the development typical of BA as transmitted, namely !word-final Vya:! > N'a:! as in !qadma:ya:! 'first' > !qadma:'a:!.

READING ANNOTA1ED BIBLICAL ARAMAIC 1EXTS

77

13) 1��' 'to go,' G inL; cL impL 1�; 5,5, 6,5, In Aramaic the root 1'M is used only in PaeL 14) 'Mbl1; n\)�1li 'his seven counsellors' < b� G ptc, like BH 1'1)\\ The cst, form of rl�.;ll�; is used because the following noun is semantically determinate; ' seven counsellors' would be 1'1011; Ml'�lli, �n�" Ili, which lacks the subject; emend to �ry" 1li G pL pass. 2ms, see the 2ms suf. in the following T!'� '''T 1�?� n'p. �"�rl: ��; �� here does not indicate a destination, but means 'about, concern­ ing, ; but , of the following tl,?Ili�'1" does indicate a destination. �1�?� n'p: fbe prep. -� may mean 'equipped wifb, taking wifb (oneself)' as in BH, e.g. Lv 16.3 "Aaron shall enter the sanctuary with a bull ("�f)" or an instrument or means, cf. LXX here v6).l'll . 15) M??'" H inL; see above at 5.14, 6.5. 16) m�"TlM; " see § 13.7. 17) � M� Ol their libations'; if the noun is of qitl pattern as BH 1oi, the dagesh of fbe Kaf is unusual, § 1 1 E). 18) M�""T] ��O:O '�Ili 'the left-over of the silver and gold.' Ezra had with him silver and gold donated by the Persian king and his counsellors and also col­ lected from his coreligionists (vss. 15L), but he was to purchase with silver what was to be offered in the temple on arrival in Jerusalem (vs. 17), but gold is not mentioned. Is NtJ�� being used here as a generic term for money? Or gold was not to be expended? �1'ry W'lI] 1'?11 : on the prep. 'II, see above at 5.17. �'rry�; see § 10 8), Ln. 18. On n�II', see above at 5 . 1 7. ��b", a misprint for ���:. 19) 1ry'� /polha :n/ like 1"'0/ /solta:n/. �tl,?IliM H impv. 'place (at the disposal of).' 20) mnllin cst, < �nllin 'need(s),' see above on 1ryllin 6.9. �lNn 1N�'; on the non­ assimilation of l unlike in BH, see § 13.9. 21) rl�� ��� : the separate pronoun lends prominence to the preceding suffix; there is a ring of royal authority to it. The second �1 introduces direct speech in the manner of double quotation marks, § 9 (8); see also at D 2.25, 5.7. 22) 1',:0:0 'talents'; a variant reading 1''1:>:0 is akin to BH ';0:0. �nlli� l'n�; in view of the parallelism, most likely a scribal error for rn� nlli�. 23) �11''T� 'carefully, meticulously' < OP *drzdra. � M�' '''T BH 1� 'lest,' This form is later than fbe plain M�' used in E 4.22. 24) rlM\M� H ptc.mp; the pI. form is impersonally used, but effectively 'we,' i.e. fbe king and his government, The long series of noun phrases beginning with � and ending with :"It! are in casus pendens, resumed with the suffix in I:I:'�?� at the end of the verse. The six nouns are grouped into two groups. A and B are joined with the conjunction Waw, representing the elite of the temple personnel. Another Waw joins the last two, E and F. These latter four groups represent temple functionaries of lower ranks. ��:\)�� �:'�l: both mpd of qatta:l pattern indicating a professional class, ' singer' and 'porter,' § 1 1 (1-1). ��:l'N mpd of rN 'temple servant,' a loan-word from BH, l'n), which in tum is a pseudo­ Aramaic passive ptc.; in BH one would normally say pn), which is applied to Levite, e.g. Nu 3.9 ! �

78

A BIBLICAL ARAMAIC READER

25) N� is the subject of 'l�, D impv. ms < +l� 'to appoint,' with the stress excep­ tionally receded and a secondary shift of a to e. The special marking of the subject through lilN gives prominence to the authoritative, supervisory office conferred on Ezra. �r��o/; it is unlikely that the word differs in meaning from the following, standard A word for 'judge,' n:". Hence an oft made proposal to follow LXX ypa).ll.lUT£lS Kat Kpmis and to replace the first word with r'�9. But Ezra, who was empowered to appoint them himself bears the title, VVS. 12 and 21. It is then possible that ��o/ and 1:" bore different kinds of juridic functions. 26) The relative clause with �� as its antecedent is in casus pendens, and is resumed with a suffix of Ml� ' from him.' The repeated 10 has the value of 'whether X or y. ' �'IV"IV Q for K �IV"IV (7). The word appears to be a Persian loan-word; the more correct spelling would be �W"W or �W"�, meaning 'corporal punishment.' �1'O�l 1V111 'confiscation of property:' cf. BH' IVlil 'penalty, fine.' Gn 31.47 ��n0o/ 'l; 'the heap of witness' said by Aramaic speaking Laban, and translated by his Canaanite/Hebrew speaking nephew as "Tl)'?l. Jer 10.11

��,�. an earlier form for the standard BA form. �l" �; the only word and form in BA that has preserved the earlier consonant. ��"�N� G juss. 3mp; note the position of the stress and the suffix without n. and cf. LXX uTCoU"erocmv. impv. 3pl.. 'may they perish ! •

KEY TO EXERCISES

NB: when there are more than one fonn for a given category, only one is given. I)

'I

am

good,' 'you are good' etc,

Mlll �\l (m), Mlll M�\l (Ll; W� �\l (m); ��M �\l , �'M M�\l M1Mlll PI' (m), M1Mlll l�\l (Ll; pnl� l'�\l (m); \�M PI' (m), l'l� l?\l II)

'my day,' 'your day' etc. Person Is 2ms 3ms 3fs

��;� �;� i-1�;� i-1�;�

��;� ��;� �;:J;�;� ;:p�;�

3 mp 3 fp

T(")1?;�

� ���;� � iP�;� rtJ��;�

Singular

Plural

2mp

�9��;�

'before me,' 'before you' etc. Person

�� 7�, 2m 3m 3f

IV)

Plural

�9�;� ��1?;� �il1?;�

Ip

III)

Singular

�9�� 7�, �" � 7P.,

W7P., �;:J;� 7�, i1�� 7�,

�il�� 7�, r()�� 7�,

'my riddle,' 'your riddle' etc, Person

Singular

Plural

Is

�J:1"T'IJ�

�l)7'r:r�

2ms 3fs

l�Tn� i1 D"T'IJ� i1 1J"T'IJ�

l�Tn� i1 Jj7'r:r� i1 1J7'r:r�

Ip

KJ�"T'IJ�

KJJj7'r:r�

3m;

(n

80

V)

A BIBLICAL ARAMAIC READER

Person

Singular

Plural

2mp 3mp

�'�"n� �ilJ;1'T'IJ�

�ilJ;17'IJ�

3fp

r()J;1'T'IJ�

r(JJ;17'IJ�

Singular

Plural

�'�Tn�

'my word,' 'your word' etc. Person

�;:J;?�

i11J7� K1Ji�"

K��?�

3mp

�,��" � n��"

�" "" �i1�?�

3fp

r ,,��"

r()�?�

3ms 3fs Ip 2mp

VI)

VIII)

;:P7�

Declension of M'n� ' god' State

Singular

Plural

abs.

i-1?�

cst.

i-1?�

rn7 � � (J7 � K;iJ7 �

K �?�

det.

VII)

�7� 1'7"

�l)7� '1�7" i1Jj7�

Is 2ms

"the god is wise"; "the gods are wise"

Inflection of G l!il� 'to gather' Perfect

Imperfect wp

wp:

3fs

lI WP

WPf:1

2ms

!;1tpp lI WP 1 W��

WPf:1 j'1 wp:

(Ktiv 'W.l�) ilW�:P j,n o/li

�wpn

K�o/� �

wp�

3ms

Is 3mp 3fp 2mp Ip

wp�

TWP:

81

KEY TO EXERCISES

Imperative

Passive

fs

�wJ:P

fs

i1 W�f

. tthp iI�,hp

mp

1WJ:P

mp

fWlf

rW�p

fp

llfl'l

TW�P

W�f

IllS

wp�

Inflection of D '�M 'to destroy' Perfect

Imperfect

3ms

�.n

��IJ:

3fs

"�on

�.nn

2ms

�7 .n

�.nn

Is

",?on

�.n�

,�on

l'�. n: 1'1. n:

3mp 3fp 2mp

(Ktiv ,�on) "7on �n7 .n "l7o n

Ip

Imperative

Participle �.n

ms

IllS

fs

�7$1J

fs

mp

,�on

mp fp

Infinitive

X)

Active

wp

Infinitive

IX)

Participle

ms

16 . n� �.nl

Active

Passive

�.n"

�on"

il?flJ� f�. n� 1'1. n�

il7 flJ� f� f n�

iI?flJ

Inflection of H 1'� 'to announce publicly' Perfect

Imperfect

i"J.:;m 1I1'p o

�).itJ: i")�tJf:1

2ms

f:1n.�tJ

Is

nrptJ 1i�itJ

i")�tJf:1 i).i tl� �i·PtJ;

3ms 3fs

3mp 3fp 2mp Ip

(Ktiv 'i'�iI) il!��tl

�!1rptJ K�1�.�tl

Tn�iJ; TH-ptlf;1 i":9tJ�

1'1. n�

82

A BIBLICAL ARAMAIC READER

Imperative

XI)

Active

Passive i'1itJ�

fs

i")�tl� iln�tl�

iln�tJ�

mp

rrptJ1?

rrptJ1?

fp

Tn�iJ1?

rrpiJ1?

Participle

ms

i"J.:;m

fs

�!��tJ

mp

1 i��tJ

Infinitive

iI!"ptJ

IllS

Inflection of tD -I�"l 'to volunteer' Perfect

Y!�J:1 ;:J 1I�'1�J:1i}

3ms 3fs

Y!�1): Y!�1) f:1 Y!�1) f:1

f:1:;!1�J:1i} 1I�'1�J:1i}

2ms Is

Y!�1) � � J7�J;1:

1J1�D;:J

3mp

(Ktiv 'J'.lllil) iI�1�J;1;:J

3fp 2mp

j'1!1�1�J;1;:J

Ip

KF1�J;1;:J

Imperative fs mp Infinitive

1�7�J;1: 1' O1'�" Y!�N

Participle

Y!�1) ;:J �:;r:hl) i} 1yhl) ;:J

ms

XII)

Imperfect

ms

Y!�J:1�

fs mp

iI�7�J:1� P1'�"

fp

m'�"

iI�7�1) tl

Inflection of G -IM'l 'to reveal' Perfect

Imperfect

3fs

"7,

2ms

{1;7�

iI?�: iI?�f:1 iI?1f:1

Is

1I�?�

i1?��

3mp

;�l

� �!'

3fp

?

1' "'7,

f.7!' ��!"

KJ�?�

iI?��

3ms

i1?�

2mp Ip

83

KEY TO EXERCISES

Imperative IllS

�7�

mp

;�l

Active

Passive

ms

il?� il;7�

mp

iI?� i1;7� r'il

fp

r.7l

r.7'

fs

Inflection of tG ,!M'P 'to call' Perfect

Imperfect

�"')PJ;1;:J 1I�1�J;1;:J

iI"J'pJ;1:

3fs 2ms

���PJ;1;:J

iI"J.PJ;1f:1 iI"J.PJ;1f:1

Is

n�"')pJ;1;:J '�"')PJ;1;:J

iI"J.PJ;1 � �'r�'

?

r.,r�' �'r�" iI"J.PJ;1�

3ms

3mp 3fp 2mp Ip

j'1l1�"')PJ;1;:J �9��PJ;1;:J

Imperative ms

Participle ms

�"')PJ;1;:J

fs

iI"J¥J;1� iI;I�J;1�

fs

?

;'PJ;1iJ

mp

rir�" nr�"

mp fp

Infinitive

XIV)

r'il

il?��

Infinitive

XIII)

Participle

i'l:lPJ;1 iJ

Inflection of H '!�;n 'to return' Perfect

Imperfect

3ms

��J:'iq

��J:1t!�

3fs

1'I��J:'iq

��J:'i tlf:i

2ms

f:1:;!�1) t! 1'I��J:'it! 1 ���t!

��J:'i tlf:i

Is 3mp 3fp 2mp Ip

?

11!qJ:1q KP��tl

��J:1q� j'1��J:1q� T��J:1q� 11��1) qf:i ��J:1m

84

A BIBLICAL ARAMAIC READER

Participle

Imperative ms

��J:'it!

fs

?

mp

1 ���t!

Infinitive

�9�q

��J:1tl�

fs

iI��J:1tl�

mp

r:;!�J:1q� T��J:1q�

fp

XV)

Active

ms

' I carmot pray in my house' etc. lms 2ms 3ms 3fs Imp 2mp 3mp 3fp

�J:1;�:;l iI;?:f:' il� � �;?; K? l�;� f iI;?� f;1�� �;?; K? i1 Jj;�:;l i'I;?:P Kjil ��; K? i11J:� f iI;7:P K�;:J iI?�; K? K�Jj;� f iI;?� iI� r;r�� r7�; K? �'�;Of ";7"7 �"," r��; "7 � ;-l1;q'f iI;?:f:' TU� r7�; K? r,,�;Of ";7"7 Jl" l'!�; "7

ABBREVIATIONS

A act. Af Akk. Arb. BH BL del. fp fpa fpd fs fsa fsd GEA GQA HALOT H impf. impv. info K mp mpa mpd ms msa msd OG OP pass. pf. prep. pte. Q Ros. subst. TH

Aramaic; Afe! active Afel Akkadian Arabic Biblical Hebrew Bauer - Leander's Aramaic grammar quoted by page and paragraph to be deleted feminine plural feminine plural absolute feminine plural determined feminine singular feminine singular absolute feminine singular determined A Grammar ofEgyptian Aramaic by Muraoka and Porten A Grammar of Qumran Aramaic by Muraoka Koehler and Baumgartner, The Hebrew and Aramaic Lexicon of the Old Testament, vol. V, Aramaic Hebrew; Hafe! imperfect imperative infinitive Ktiv masculine plural masculine plural absolute masculine plural determined masculine singular masculine plural absolute masculine plural determined the so-called Old Greek version of the book of Daniel, printed in Rahlfs ' edi­ tion as G Old Persian passive perfect preposition participle Qre F. Rosenthal's Biblical Aramaic Grarrnan r. substantival, substantivised the so-called Theodotionic version of the book of Daniel, printed in Rahlfs' edition as 8 '