StrongerBible

qum

קוּם

AramaicH6966set up, establish, ...

Appears 35 times · tap a cell to see the verses

Ezr 5:2Ezr 6:18Dan 2:21Dan 2:31Dan 2:39Dan 2:44 (2×)Dan 3:1Dan 3:2Dan 3:3 (3×)Dan 3:5Dan 3:7Dan 3:12Dan 3:14Dan 3:18Dan 3:24Dan 4:17(14)Dan 5:11Dan 5:21Dan 6:1(2)Dan 6:3(4)Dan 6:7(8)Dan 6:8(9)Dan 6:15(16)Dan 6:19(20)Dan 7:4Dan 7:5 (2×)Dan 7:10Dan 7:16Dan 7:17Dan 7:24 (2×)
Root family
Word studykoomverb

What qum means

to 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

TranslatabilityPartialCertaintySettled

This is the everyday Aramaic verb for standing and rising, and it is the exact twin of the common Hebrew verb of the same sound and meaning. At its core it pictures coming to an upright position, or bringing something else to that position. So one and the same word can say that a statue was standing, that a king rose from bed, that a kingdom arose in history, and that God set up an everlasting kingdom.

The range runs along a single line. When the subject stands or rises on its own, the word means to stand, to get up, or to come on the scene. When the subject makes something else stand, the same word means to set up an object, to appoint a person to office, or to put a decree into binding force. English reaches for many different words here (stand, rise, arise, set up, appoint, establish), but the Aramaic is thinking of one simple action throughout: something is made to stand, or stands.

The word carries real weight in the Aramaic chapters of Daniel, where the theme is which kingdoms will rise and who truly sets them up. Earthly kings raise idols and issue decrees they think will stand forever, while the God of heaven quietly appoints and removes rulers and finally sets up a kingdom that will never fall. The same plain verb does the light lifting and the heavy lifting.

Nuances

1ato stand, to be standing: upright in place, or stationed in attendance before someone
Dan 2:31Dan 3:3 (3×)Dan 7:10Dan 7:16
1bto rise up, to get to one's feet: the bodily move from lying or sitting to standing, sometimes the first step of setting about a task
Ezr 5:2Dan 3:24Dan 6:19(20)Dan 7:4Dan 7:5 (2×)
1cto arise, to come on the scene: a kingdom or ruler emerging into history where none stood before
Dan 2:39Dan 7:17Dan 7:24 (2×)
1dto stand firm, to endure, to last: of a kingdom or order that keeps standing rather than collapsing
Dan 2:44 (2×)
1eto set up, to erect: to raise a physical object so that it stands, above all the golden image
Dan 3:1Dan 3:2Dan 3:3 (3×)Dan 3:5Dan 3:7Dan 3:12Dan 3:14Dan 3:18
1fto appoint, to install, to raise up a person: to place someone in office or over a domain
Ezr 6:18Dan 2:21Dan 4:17(14)Dan 5:11Dan 5:21Dan 6:1(2)Dan 6:3(4)
1gto establish, to give binding and lasting force: to put a decree into effect, or to bring a kingdom firmly into being
Dan 2:44 (2×)Dan 6:7(8)Dan 6:8(9)Dan 6:15(16)

What scholars say about qum

Biblical Aramaic קום is the direct cognate of Hebrew קום and shows the same intransitive-to-causative spread. The basic (peal) stem is intransitive: to stand, to rise, and by extension of a kingdom to arise or to endure (Dan 2:31, 39, 44; 7:10, 16, 17, 24; Ezra 5:2). The causative stems (haphel, and the older aphel spelling, with a passive hophal at Dan 7:4, 5) mean to set up, to erect, to appoint, and to establish, covering Nebuchadnezzar's image (Dan 3), the appointment of officials (Dan 2:21; 6:1, 3; Ezra 6:18), and the enactment of royal decrees (Dan 6:7, 8, 15). The lexica treat this as one verb with a unified range rather than as homonyms; HALOT (Aramaic), Vogt, and BDB's Aramaic lexicon agree on the sense inventory, and the meaning is not in doubt. In Daniel the causative is a governing motif: earthly kings set up idols and decrees while the God of heaven appoints and deposes rulers and finally establishes an indestructible kingdom (Dan 2:44).

Sources

  • HALOT, s.v. קום (Aramaic)lexicon
  • Vogt, A Lexicon of Biblical Aramaic, s.v. קוםlexicon
  • BDB, Aramaic Lexicon, s.v. קוםlexicon
  • Rosenthal, A Grammar of Biblical Aramaicgrammar

All attested forms of קוּם

haphel perfect 3ms

הֲקֵים, הֲקִים, הֲקִימֵ

Dan 3:2, Dan 3:3, Dan 3:3, Dan 3:5, Dan 3:7, Dan 6:1, Dan 5:11

haphel imperfect 3ms

יְהָקֵים, יְקִים

Dan 5:21, Dan 6:15, Dan 2:44, Dan 4:17

peal imperfect 3mp

יְקוּמוּן, יְקֻמוּן

Dan 7:10, Dan 7:17, Dan 7:24

haphel perfect 2ms

הֲקֵימְתָּ

Dan 3:12, Dan 3:18

hophal perfect 3fs

הֳקִימַת, הֳקִמַת

Dan 7:4, Dan 7:5

peal imperfect 2ms

תְּקוּם

Dan 2:39, Dan 2:44

peal imperfect 3ms

יְקוּם

Dan 6:19, Dan 7:24

aphel perfect 3ms

אֲקִימֵ

Dan 3:1

haphel imperfect 2ms

תְּקִים

Dan 6:8

haphel infinitive-construct construct

הֲקָמוּתֵ

Dan 6:3

haphel participle m s absolute

מְהָקֵים

Dan 2:21

haphel perfect 1cs

הֲקֵימֶת

Dan 3:14

haphel perfect 3mp

הֲקִימוּ

Ezr 6:18

pael infinitive-construct construct

קַיָּמָה

Dan 6:7

peal imperative 2fs

קוּמִי

Dan 7:5

peal participle m p absolute

קָיְמִין

Dan 3:3

peal participle m p determined

קָאֲמַיָּ

Dan 7:16

peal participle m s absolute

קָאֵם

Dan 2:31

peal perfect 3mp

קָמוּ

Ezr 5:2

peal perfect 3ms

קָם

Dan 3:24