Browse biblical Aramaic words

By first letter

The 100 most frequent Aramaic words

Learn these and you have covered a large share of every Aramaic sentence in the Bible.

• diדִּיthatnot studied yet
• melekhמֶלֶךְking: the supreme human ruler of a people or empire
• minמִן־fromnot studied yet
• alעַלsincenot studied yet
• elahאֱלָהּGod: the supreme divine being; also used for the gods of the nations.
• kolכֹּלthe totality of something: the whole of it, or each and every one of its members
• laלָאnotnot studied yet
• amarאֲמַרto say, speak, or tell; the ordinary Aramaic verb for putting something into words.
• havaהֲוָאto be, become, or come to pass: the Aramaic verb of existence that links a subject to what it is, marks something coming into being, and pairs with another verb to picture ongoing action
• denahדְּנָהthisnot studied yet
• malkhuמַלְכוּa kingdom; also kingship, royal power, and reign.
• edayinאֱדַיִןthen, thereupon: the narrative word that marks what happens next, moving a story from one event to the following one.
• yedaיְדַעto know: to grasp what is real, and from there to make it known to others.
• bayitבַּיִתa house: a building where someone lives or where something is kept
• qodamקֳדָםin front of, or in the presence of, someone or something (especially a king or God)
• shamayinשָׁמַיִןheaven: the expanse above the earth, both the visible sky and the dwelling and rule of God
• adעַדtillnot studied yet
• qumקוּםto stand or rise, and to make something stand: to get to one's feet or come on the scene, and to set up, appoint, or firmly establish
• ḥazahחֲזָהto see: to perceive something with the eyes or the mind, whether an ordinary sight or a vision.
• nevukhadnetstsarנְבוּכַדְרֶאצַּר, נְבוּכַדְנֶצַּרNebuchadnezzarnot studied yet
• pesharפְּשַׁרthe interpretation: the true meaning of a dream, an omen, or a vision, disclosed by God to someone who could not reach it on their own
• anahעֲנָהto answer or speak up: to respond to what has been said, or simply to begin speaking
• qevelקֳבֵלa linking word that sets one thing over against another: facing it in place (in front of, opposite) or answering to it in thought (because, therefore, according to)
• avadעֲבַדto do or make: to bring something about, whether by fashioning a thing or by carrying out an action
• aved negoעֲבֵד נְגוֹAbednegonot studied yet
• yehavיְהַבto give: to hand something over to another, whether as a gift granted, a charge delivered into someone's power, a foundation laid, or a payment made
• te'emטְעֵםan official order handed down by a king or governing authority: a decree, command, or ruling that those under it must obey.
  +2 more meanings

  • good sense: the sound judgment and tact to say and do the fitting thing.
  • the taste of food or drink; the act of tasting.
• yerushalemיְרוּשָׁלִַם, יְרוּשְׁלֵםJerusalemnot studied yet
• sumשׂוּםto set in place: to put or lay something, and by extension to appoint, name, or issue a command
• enashאֱנָשׁhuman being; mankind: a person, or humanity as a whole, set apart from God and from the animals
• bavelבָּבֶל, בָּבֶלBabylonnot studied yet
• millahמִלָּהa spoken word, and by extension the matter it concerns or the command it carries
• dehavדְּהַבgold: the precious yellow metal, whether as raw treasure, worked objects, or an idol's material
• imעִםwithnot studied yet
• huהוּאhe/she/itnot studied yet
• benahבְּנָהto build: to put up a physical structure such as a temple, house, or city
• ḥelemחֵלֶםa dream: the images a person sees while asleep, presented throughout Daniel as a message from God that has to be interpreted
• araאֲרַעthe earth: the world people live on, or the ground underfoot.
  +1 more meaning

  • lower, inferior: ranking beneath something else.
• shenaשְׁנָאto become or be other than before: to change, be altered, or be different in kind
• gevarגְּבַרman: an adult male human being, an individual man
• alamעָלַםthe farthest reach of time: unending future duration (forever, everlasting) or, less often, the distant past (of old); perpetuity.
• ḥevaחֵיוָאa beast: any wild, non-human living creature; an animal.
• parzelפַּרְזֶלiron: the hard grey metal, the strongest and most unyielding of the metals known in the ancient world
• henהֵןifnot studied yet
• barבַּרson: a male child or descendant, and by extension one who belongs to a group or shares a quality
• shekhaḥשְׁכַחto find or come upon someone or something; in the passive, to be found, to be present, or to turn out a certain way once looked into.
• itayאִיתַיthere is, there are: the plain statement that someone or something exists, is present, or is at hand.
• yadיַדhand: the physical hand, and by extension the power, control, or safekeeping that a hand stands for
• nurנוּרfire: a burning blaze of flame
• tselemצְלֵםa statue: a freestanding, three-dimensional figure set up to be seen
• anahאֲנָהmenot studied yet
• atahאֲתָהto come, to arrive: to move toward a person or place and reach it.
  +1 more meaning

  • to bring: to cause a person or thing to be carried or led to a place.
• yomיוֹםa day: the unit by which dates are fixed and lengths of time are counted, and in the plural a whole span of days such as a reign or an age
• daryaveshדָּרְיָוֶשׁDariusnot studied yet
• amעַםa people or nation: a body of persons bound together as one community, whether the peoples of the empire or the people of God
• antahאַנְתָּהyounot studied yet
• neharנְהַרa river; in Ezra always the Euphrates, named in the fixed title of the Persian province that lay west of it
• ravרַבgreat: large in size or scale, or high in rank and majesty
  +1 more meaning

  • chief: the officer who heads a whole body of royal servants, from bodyguards to court advisers
• datדָּתa binding law or royal decree: an authoritative rule issued and enforced by a king, or ascribed to God.
• meshakhמֵישַׁךְMeshachnot studied yet
• avarעֲבַרthe land on the far side of a river, used only as half of the fixed name of the Persian province west of the Euphrates: Beyond the River
• alalעֲלַלto go in, to enter: to pass inside a place, or into the presence of someone in authority.
  +1 more meaning

  • to bring in: to have a person or thing brought inside, most often into the king's presence.
• illekhאִלֵּךְthesenot studied yet
• qerenקֶרֶןhorn: the hard, pointed horn on an animal's head, which in Daniel's visions stands for a king and his power
  +1 more meaning

  • horn: a wind instrument made from an animal's horn, blown as a public signal
• shadrakhשַׁדְרַךְShadrachnot studied yet
• shelaḥשְׁלַחto send: to make a person, a message, or a written order go out from you to someone else
• sholtanשׇׁלְטָןsovereign power to rule: the authority a king or God holds over a realm and its people.
• ḥadחַדone: the number one, and from it the word that marks a thing as single, whether counting it, picking it out of a group, or simply introducing it as "a" something
• ḥavahחֲוָהto declare: to state out loud for someone else what they have no way of finding out on their own, above all a dream, its meaning, or a hidden matter.
• ḥakkimחַכִּיםwise: having the knowledge and skill to explain what other people cannot, used in Daniel almost always as the standing name for the trained specialists on the Babylonian king's staff
• reshרֵאשׁthe head: the top of a body, and so whoever or whatever stands at the top or comes first
• dekhדֵּךְthisnot studied yet
• mahמָהwhat?not studied yet
• iddanעִדָּןa set stretch of time: a period or moment with a fixed term, its length decided by the situation rather than by the word
• kesaphכְּסַףsilver: the precious metal that ranks just below gold, and the weighed funds it served as
• ke'anכְּעַןnow: this present time, and above all the word that turns a letter or a speech to the point it is making
• hekhalהֵיכַלa grand house: the palace of a king or the temple of a god
• qaddishקַדִּישׁholy: belonging to God's own realm rather than to ordinary life
• saggiשַׂגִּיאmuch, many, great: a lot of something, measuring how much there is rather than how high it ranks
• gavגַּוthe inside of something: the middle of a place, an object, or a document, used to say that something is in it, goes into it, or comes out of it
• ketavכְּתָבsomething written: an inscription, an official signed document, or what such a document lays down.
• himmoהִמּוֹtheynot studied yet
• be'aבְּעָאto be after something: to search for it, or to ask the one who can give it.
• she'arשְׁאָרthe rest: whatever is left of a group or a supply once part of it has been named or taken
• shumשֻׁםa name: what a person or a god is called, which in these Aramaic chapters regularly stands in for the one who bears it rather than working as a bare label.
• ḥezevחֱזוּa vision: the sight God gives a person at night, the imagery a dream is made of
  +1 more meaning

  • the look of something: how big or imposing it seems to the eye
• remahרְמָאto throw something into a place with force, and so also to put a thing in position or lay a payment on someone
• segidסְגִדto go down to the ground in front of someone as an act of reverence: to prostrate oneself before a god, an image, or a superior
• medinahמְדִינָהprovince: one of the administrative regions of a great empire, governed on a distant king's behalf
• yekhelיְכִלto be able to do something: to have the power or the skill that the task requires
• behalבְּהַלto alarm: to strike someone with sudden dread that throws the mind into fearful confusion
  +1 more meaning

  • to act in alarmed haste: to move hurriedly under the press of urgency or fright
• qeraקְרָאto put words into the air for others to hear: to shout something out, to call for someone, or to read a document aloud.
• ḥaggayחַגַּיHaggainot studied yet
• nephalנְפַלto fall: to go down or come down, whether a body drops, a person goes face down before someone, or a power is brought low
• nephaqנְפַקto go out: to move from inside a place into the open, or to emerge from wherever something was held
  +1 more meaning

  • to bring out: to remove something from the place where it was kept
• ru'aḥרוּחַthe unseen power that moves: the wind outside a person, and inside a person the spirit that carries insight, ability, and temper.
• zemanזְמַןa set time: the point or stretch of time marked out for something to happen
• telatתְּלָתthreenot studied yet
• deqaqדְּקַקto shatter a thing to pieces: to break it apart so completely that nothing is left to gather up.
• manמָןwho?not studied yet