H0703 H0703
Four — the cardinal number, used for counting and in compound numerals
The cardinal number four (אַרְבַּע / אַרְבְּעָה in masculine form) is one of the most common numerals in Scripture. In the Daniel and Ezra passages where this lemma clusters, it counts beasts in apocalyptic vision (Dan 7:2, 3, 6, 17), men walking in the fiery furnace (Dan 3:25), and sacrificial animals (Ezra 6:17, 'four hundred'). Every translation tradition renders it with the simple numeral — English 'four,' Spanish 'cuatro,' French 'quatre' — confirming its purely quantitative, unambiguous function.
Senses
1. four (cardinal number) — The cardinal number four (אַרְבַּע feminine, אַרְבְּעָה masculine), used throughout the Hebrew Bible for straightforward enumeration. In Daniel it counts the winds of heaven (7:2), great beasts (7:3), wings and heads of the leopard-beast (7:6), and the four kingdoms (7:17), as well as the four men seen in Nebuchadnezzar's furnace (3:25). In Ezra 6:17 it forms part of the compound 'four hundred' for sacrificial he-goats. Multilingual renderings are uniformly numeric — English 'four,' Spanish 'cuatro,' French 'quatre,' German 'vier' — with zero semantic variation. 8×
AR["أَرْبَع", "أَرْبَعَةً", "أَرْبَعَةٌ", "أَرْبَعَةُ", "أَرْبَعُ", "وَ-أَرْبَعَةُ", "وَ-أَرْبَعُ"]·ben["এবং-চার", "চার", "চারজন", "চারশ"]·DE["[ארבע]", "[ארבעה]", "[וארבעה]", "und-vier", "vier"]·EN["and-four", "four"]·FR["[ארבע]", "et-quatre", "quatre"]·heb["ארבע", "ארבעה", "ו-ארבע", "ו-ארבעה"]·HI["और-चार", "चार"]·ID["Dan-empat", "dan-empat", "empat"]·IT["[ארבע]", "e-quattro", "quattro"]·jav["Lan-sekawan", "lan-sekawan", "sekawan"]·KO["그리고-넷의", "넷", "넷은", "넷을", "넷의"]·PT["E-quatro", "e-quatro", "os-quatro", "quatro", "quatrocentos"]·RU["и-четыре", "четыре", "четыре-", "четырёх"]·ES["Y-cuatro", "cuatro", "cuatrocientos", "y-cuatro"]·SW["Na-wanyama", "manne", "mia", "na-vichwa", "nne", "wafalme", "wanne"]·TR["dort", "dört", "ve-dört"]·urd["اور-چار", "چار"]
Related Senses
H3605 1. all, every, whole (5352×)H0259 1. one (cardinal numeral) (940×)H8147 1. cardinal number two (666×)G3956 1. all (collective plural) (616×)H3967 1. cardinal numeral hundred (550×)H1419a 1. great, large (general quality) (486×)H7969 1. cardinal number three (431×)H0505 1. cardinal number thousand (427×)H7651 1. seven (cardinal number) (393×)G1520 1. cardinal number one (339×)H6240 1. ten (cardinal number) (334×)H6242 1. twenty (cardinal number) (315×)H2568 1. cardinal number five (309×)H0702 1. four (cardinal number) (277×)G3956 2. every, each (distributive) (227×)H8337 1. six (cardinal number) (215×)G3956 3. all things, everything (substantive) (211×)G3956 4. (187×)H6235 1. ten (177×)G3173 1. great in size or extent (176×)
BDB / Lexicon Reference
† אַרְבַּע, אַרְבְּעָה n.m. et f. four;— 1. m.: bef. n.fpl. Dn 7:2, 3; n.fs. א׳ מְאָה Ezr 6:17; after n.fpl. Dn 7:6; as pred. אַרְבַּ֑ע v 17. 2. f.: bef. n.m.pl. Dn 7:6, 17; after n.m.pl. 3:25.