H0399 H0399
To eat or devour; idiomatically, to slander — Aramaic verb for consuming food, devouring prey, or 'eating someone's pieces' (accusing).
This Aramaic verb akal mirrors its Hebrew cognate in meaning 'to eat,' but its occurrences in Daniel showcase a vivid range from literal consumption to apocalyptic devouring to a striking legal idiom. Nebuchadnezzar eats grass like cattle during his madness (Dan 4:33), while Daniel's terrifying beasts devour their prey in prophetic visions (Dan 7:5, 7, 19, 23). Most colorfully, the idiom akal qartsehon — literally 'they ate their pieces' — means to bring malicious accusations or slander, used when the Chaldeans denounced the Jewish exiles before the king (Dan 3:8; 6:24). Spanish captures the literal-idiomatic split perfectly: 'comía/devora' for eating versus 'acusaron' for accusing.
Senses
1. eat, devour (literal) — To eat or devour, literally and in apocalyptic imagery. In Dan 4:33, the humbled Nebuchadnezzar eats grass (issba) like an ox — a vivid sign of divine judgment reducing a king to bestial existence. The apocalyptic beasts of Daniel 7 devour flesh and trample remains (7:5, 7, 19), culminating in the fourth beast that 'shall devour the whole earth' (7:23) — a metaphor for imperial conquest. Spanish 'comía' (ate) and 'devoraba' (devoured) mark the escalation from eating to consuming destruction. 5×
AR["كُلِي", "وَ-يَأْكُلُ", "يَأْكُلُ"]·ben["এবং-খাবে", "খাও", "খেত", "খেলেন"]·DE["[אכלה]", "[אכלי]", "[ותאכל]", "[יאכל]"]·EN["and-will-devour", "devour", "devouring", "he-ate"]·FR["et-manger", "manger"]·heb["אוכלת", "אכל", "אכלי", "ו-תאכל"]·HI["और-खाएगा", "खा", "खाता-था"]·ID["dan-akan-memakan", "ia-makan", "makanlah", "memakan"]·IT["[אכלה]", "[אכלי]", "[ותאכל]", "[יאכל]"]·jav["lan-badhé-mangsa", "nedha", "piyambakipun-nedha", "sami-mangsa"]·KO["그리고-먹을것이다", "먹는", "먹어라", "먹었고"]·PT["comia", "devora", "devorando", "e-devorará"]·RU["ел", "ешь", "и-пожрёт", "пожирающий"]·ES["comía", "devora", "devoraba", "y-devorará"]·SW["alikula", "na-utaila", "ula"]·TR["ve-yiyecek", "ye", "yedi", "yiyen", "yiyordu"]·urd["اور-کھائے-گی", "کھا", "کھاتا-تھا"]
2. accuse, slander (idiom: eat pieces of) — To accuse or slander, in the Aramaic idiom akal qartsehon ('eat their pieces/morsels'). This vivid expression — perhaps evoking the image of tearing someone's reputation to shreds and consuming it — describes malicious denunciation before a king. In Dan 3:8, Chaldean officials 'ate the pieces of' the three Jewish youths, accusing them of refusing to worship the golden image. In Dan 6:24, the same fate befalls Daniel's accusers. Spanish 'acusaron' and English 'accused' render the idiom's meaning, while French 'mangez!' (eat!) appears to translate only the literal surface, missing the figurative force. 2×
AR["اشْتَكَوْا", "وَ-اشْتَكَوْا"]·ben["এবং-খেলেন", "খেয়েছিল"]·DE["[אכלו]", "[ואכלו]"]·EN["accused", "and-accused"]·FR["et-mangez!", "mangez!"]·heb["אכלו", "ו-אכלו"]·HI["और-दोष-लगाया", "खाई-थी"]·ID["dan-menuduh", "menuduh"]·IT["[אכלו]", "[ואכלו]"]·jav["lan-ndarmel-pitenah", "sami-nggègoraken"]·KO["그리고-고발하였다", "잡아먹었던"]·PT["acusaram", "e-devoraram"]·RU["и-обвинили", "обвинили"]·ES["habían-acusado", "y-acusaron"]·SW["na-wakawashtaki", "walishtaki"]·TR["suçlamıştı", "ve-iftira-ettiler"]·urd["الزام-لگایا-تھا", "اور-الزام-لگایا"]
Related Senses
H0559 1. say, speak, tell (5297×)G3004 1. say, tell, speak (2226×)H7200 1. Qal: to see, perceive (1257×)H1696 1. speak, say, tell (Piel) (1105×)G4771 2. you (singular address) (1077×)H8085 1. Qal: hear, perceive aurally (921×)H0859a 1. you (2nd person masculine singular pronoun) (743×)H0398 1. eat (consume food) (697×)H4191 1. die (Qal: natural/general death) (645×)H7121 1. call, summon, name (575×)H6680 1. command, order, charge (483×)G3708 1. see, perceive visually (419×)G0191 1. hear, perceive sound (360×)H???? 3. (352×)H6030b 1. answer, respond, reply (289×)G2980 1. speak, talk (277×)G3708 2. behold, look (exclamatory) (256×)H5046 1. Hifil: to tell, report (237×)H7272 1. foot (body part) (236×)G0611 1. answer or respond verbally (232×)
BDB / Lexicon Reference
† [אֲכַל] vb. eat, devour (BH);— Pe. Pf. 3 mpl. אֲכַ֫לוּ Dn 3:8; 6:25; Impf. 3 ms. יֵאכֻל 4:30; 3 fs. תֵּאכֻל 7:23; Imv. fs. אֲכֻ֫לִי v 5; Pt. fs. אָֽכְלָה v 7, 19;— 1. eat, of beast, Dn 4:30 (acc. rei). 2. devour, of beast in vision, 7:5 (acc. rei), abs. v 7, 19; hence fig. of kingdom, devour, devastate, v 23 (acc. of earth). 3. in phr. א׳ קַרְצֵיהוֹן 3:8 eat their pieces, i.e. slander them, cf.6:25 (v. קְרַץ).