H1093 H1093
tribute, tax (Aramaic/Persian loanword); imperial levy imposed on provinces
An Aramaic or Persian loanword for tribute or tax, appearing exclusively in Ezra's accounts of Persian administration. The term occurs in formulaic lists of imperial levies: 'tribute, custom, and toll' (Ezra 4:13, 20; 7:24). Opponents of the Jerusalem rebuilding warn that if the city is restored, it will stop paying these taxes to the king. Artaxerxes' decree exempts temple personnel from 'tribute, custom, or toll.' The word reflects the bureaucratic vocabulary of Persian tax collection in the western provinces.
Senses
1. sense 1 — An imperial tax or tribute in the Persian system. Appears in the phrase 'mindah, belo, and halak' (tribute, tax, and toll) three times in Ezra (4:13, 20; 7:24). Provincial officials warn that a rebuilt Jerusalem will refuse to pay 'tribute' (Ezra 4:13), and Artaxerxes confirms Jerusalem's historical tax obligations (Ezra 4:20) but exempts temple workers (Ezra 7:24). The term is technical administrative vocabulary. 3×
AR["خَراج", "خَرَاجًا", "خَرَاجٌ"]·ben["শুল্ক"]·DE["in-ihm"]·EN["tax", "toll"]·FR["taxe"]·heb["בלו"]·HI["कराद"]·ID["upeti"]·IT["tassa"]·jav["lan-bea", "upeti"]·KO["공물"]·PT["imposto"]·RU["налог"]·ES["impuesto"]·SW["ushuru"]·TR["harac"]·urd["ٹیکس"]
Related Senses
H5414 1. give, bestow (1855×)H3947 1. take, seize, grasp (Qal) (940×)G2192 1. possess / have (680×)G1325 1. give, bestow (336×)H5159 1. inherited land or property (170×)G2983 1. receive, obtain (134×)H3423 1. Qal: take possession of land (130×)G2983 2. take, take up (113×)G2398 1. one's own, belonging to oneself (91×)G3860 1. hand over, deliver to custody (78×)H7998 1. spoil, plunder, booty (74×)G1325 2. be given, be granted (70×)H5414 2. put, place, set (68×)H7999a 1. pay, repay, recompense (63×)H7069 1. Buy, purchase (59×)H1892 1. vanity, futility, absurdity (58×)H5159 2. heritage as covenant portion (52×)H6299 1. redeem or ransom (Qal active) (49×)H4376 1. Sell (Qal active) (47×)H1350a 1. Redeem, buy back (46×)
BDB / Lexicon Reference
† בְּלוֹ n.[m.] tribute (loan-word from Assyrian biltu, √ ובל, according to most mod.; but Scheft 80 cp. OIran. bali, tribute, OPers. bari, payment in kind, so (in Bab. bara) Mey G. d. Altert. iii. 88 Scheft MGWJ 47 (1903), 316 Buhl 14 ‘vielleicht’);—abs. מִנְדָּה ב׳ וַהֲלָךְ Ezr 4:13, 20; 7:24.