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Aren Wilson-Wright SBL 2011

University of Texas San Francisco, CA
wilsonwright@utexas.edu 19 November, 2011

The Nature of Persian—Hebrew Contact in the Achaemenid Era1

I. Iranian Lexical Influence on Biblical Hebrew

Old Persian Loanwords in Late Biblical Hebrew

Verse Hebrew Gloss Aramaic Persian

1 Est 3:12, 8:9, 9:3; }ăḥašdarpān ‘satrap’ ʾḥšdrpn OP ḫšaçapāvan (Kent,
Ezra 8:36 181)
2 Dan 11:45 }apeden ‘palace’ ʾpdn (Syr., OP apadāna (Kent,
JBA) 168)
3 Ezra 1:8 gizbār ‘treasurer’ gzbr OP *ganzabara (Hinz,
102)
4 Est 3:9, 4:7; 1 Chr ganzak / ‘treasury’ gnz OP *ganza / *ganza +
28:11 genez ka (Hinz, 102)
5 Est 1:8, 13, 15, 19; dāt ‘law’ dt OP dāta (Kent, 189)
2:8, 12; 3:8 [x2], 14,
15; 4:3, 11, 16; 8:13,
14; 9:1, 13, 14; Ezra
8:36
6 Ps 144:14; 2 Chr zan ‘kind’ zn OP zana ‘human being’
16:14 (Kent, 196)
7 1 Chr 21:27 nādān ‘sheath’ ndn OP *nidāna (Hinz, 175)
8 Ezra 4:7, 7:11 ništĕwān ‘letter’ nštwn OP *ništāvan, cf. Parth.
nštw’nk ‘document’
(Hinz, 176)
9 1 Chr 26:28 parbār ‘forecourt’ prbr OP *paribāra- (Hinz,
179)
10 Song 4:13; Ecc 2:5; pardes ‘garden’ prds (Gal, OP paradayadām, Av.
Neh 2:8 PTA, CPA, pairidaēza,
Syr.)
11 Ecc 8:11; Est 1:20 pitgām ‘decree’ ptgm OP *patigāma (Hinz,
186)

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Abbreviations: Av. = Avestan, CPA = Christian Palestinian Aramaic, DB = Behistun
Inscription, Gal. = Galilean Aramaic, JBA = Jewish Babylonian Aramaic, Med. = Median, OP =
Old Persian, Parth. = Parthian, Pehl. = Pehlevi, PTA = Palestinian Targumic Aramaic, Syr. =
Syriac, XPh = Daiva Inscription
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12 Ezra 2:63; Neh 7:65, tiršātā} ‘governor’ Ø OP *tršāta, Av. taršta

69; 8:9, 10:2 (Hinz, 238)

Old Persian Terms Found in LBH, but Not Imperial Aramaic

Verse Hebrew Gloss Aramaic Persian

13 Est 3:14, 4:8, 8:13 patšegen ‘copy’ pršgn OP *patičagnya- (Hinz,
186)

14 Est 8:10, 14 }ăḫaštĕrān ‘royal’ Ø OP ḫšaça + ana (Kent,

181)
15 Est 1:3, 6:9; Dan 1:3 partĕmîm ‘nobles’ Ø OP fratama (Kent, 197)
16 Dan 1:5, 8, 13, 15, 16; patbag ‘dainties’ Ø OP *patibāga (Hinz,
11:26 185)

Old Persian Titles Found in Aramaic

ʾḥšdrpn ‘satrap’, ’pgnzbr ‘sub-treasurer’, dtbr ‘law officer’, gwšk ‘informant’, gnzbr ‘treasurer’,
wršbr ‘plenipotentiary’, prmnkry’ ‘foreman’, prtk ‘foremost officer’, prtrk ‘governor, chief’, tpty
‘overseer’

Texts Describing Old Persian Scribal Practice

1. hanništĕwān kātûb }ărāmît ûmĕturgām }ărāmît

The document was written in Aramaic and [subsequently] translated from Aramaic (Ezra 4:7)
(see Makujina, 23-4).

2. ništĕwānā} dî šĕlaḥtûn {ălênā} mĕpāraš qĕrî qādāmāy

The letter which you sent to us has been read in translation before me (Ezra 4:18).

3. i(ya)m dipīmaiy ty(ām) adam akunavam patišam ariyā āha utā pavastāyā utā carmā graθitā
āha… utā niyapiθiya utā patiyafrasiya paišiyā mām pasāva i(mā)m dipim adam frāstāyam
vispadā atar dahyāva.

This is the inscription, which I made. It was in Aryan [i.e. OP] and composed on clay tablets and
parchment [i.e. in Aramaic and possibly Akkadian]…. And it was inscribed and read off before
me. Afterwards I sent this inscription off everywhere among the provinces (DB IV.91).
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Iranian Terms Occurring in Pre-Exilic Biblical Hebrew

Verse Hebrew Gloss Aramaic Iranian Old Persian

1 Num 13:14 wopsî ‘Having Ø Av. *Vahu-pasi *Vahu-paθi
good horses’
2 Num 34:25 parnāk ‘Glorious’ prnk Med. farnaka *(h)varnaka
(Mayhofer, 214)
3 2 Kgs 23:11 parwār ‘forecourt’ Ø Pehl. parvār, *paribāra
Av. parivāra (Hinz, 179)

II. Old Persian Syntactic Influence on Late Biblical Hebrew

Discourse Markers

Language Discourse Marker Verse

Old Persian *pasā ava > pasāva passim
after that [NOM.M.SG]
Middle Persian pās passim
Aramaic }aḥărê dĕnâ Dan 2:29, 45

bā}tar dĕnâ Dan 7:6, 7:7

mn ’ḥry znh Samaria Papyri 7:6, 7

Hebrew }aḥar zeh 2 Chr 32:9

}aḥărê-zō}t Ezra 9:10; Job 42:16

lĕ- Marking the Final Element in a Series of Direct Objects

1. adam niyaçārayam abicariš gaiθāmcā māniyamcā viθbišcā

adam niy-a-çār-ay-am abicar-iš gaiθ-ām=cā

I down-IPFV-set-CAUS-IPFV.1SG pasture-ACC.SG herd-ACC.SG=and

māniyam=cā [hadā] viθ-biš=cā

slave-ACC.SG=and [with] house-ABL.PL=and

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I restored the pastures and the herds and the slaves and together with the houses (DB 1.64 ff.).

2. Ahurmazdām… [hadā] artācā

Ahurmazd-ām… [hadā] art-ā=cā

Ahuramazda-ACC.SG… [with] Ṛta-ABL.SG=and

Ahuramazda and together with Ṛta (XPh 50f; 53f).

3.wayyāken lāhem {uzzîāhû lĕkol-haṣṣābā} māginnîm ûrĕmāḥîm wĕkôbā{îm wĕširyōnôt ûqĕšātôt

ûlĕ}abnê qĕlā{îm

And Uzziah prepared for the whole army shields, javelins, helmets, scale-mail, bows, and sling-
stones (2 Chr 26:14).

4. wayyaqhēl dāwîd }et-kol-śārê yiśrā}ēl śārê haššĕbāṭîm wĕśārê hammāḥlĕqôt hamšārtîm }et-
hammelek wĕśārê hā}ălāpîm wĕśārê hammē}ôt wĕśārê kol-rĕkûš-ûmiqneh lammelek ûlĕbānāyw
{im-hassārîsîm wĕhaggibôrîm ûlĕkol-gibôr ḥāyil }el-yĕrûšālāim

And David assembled at Jerusalem all the officials of Israel: the tribal officials, the officers
serving the king, the commanders of a thousand, the commanders of a hundred, the officers in
charge of the property and the cattle of the king and his sons, together with the nobles, the
mighty warriors, and the men of war (1 Chr 28:1).

5.wayyihyû śōkĕrîm ḥōṣĕbîm wĕḥārāšîm lĕḥaddēš bêt yhwh wĕgam lĕḥārāšê barzel ûnĕḥōšet

For they had hired carpenters and masons to restore the house of Yahweh, together with workers
in iron and bronze… (2 Chr 24:12).

6. wĕ}eḥāyw lĕbêt }ābîw

And his kindred belonged to his ancestral house (1 Chr 9:19).

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