H1882 H1882
Law, legal code; royal decree or edict; judicial sentence or verdict (Aramaic, Persian loan-word)
An Aramaic noun borrowed from Persian that appears exclusively in Ezra and Daniel, where it navigates the charged intersection of divine Torah and imperial legislation. In Ezra 7 the Persian king himself acknowledges the 'law of your God' (dat 'elahak), and the multilingual evidence is telling: Spanish ley, Hindi vyavastha, and Arabic sharia all converge on the same concept of binding legal authority. Yet in Daniel 2:13 and 2:15 the word narrows to a specific royal decree — a single executive order — and translations shift accordingly to decreto, hukm, and myeongryeong. Most striking is Daniel 2:9, where Nebuchadnezzar accuses the wise men and the word takes on the force of a judicial sentence or penalty, a usage Spanish captures as sentencia and Hindi as dand.
Senses
1. law, regulation, statute — The broadest and most frequent sense: a body of law, a legal code, or a set of regulations binding on a community. In Ezra 7:12-26 it refers seven times to the 'law of your God' or the 'law of the king,' always denoting an established legal framework rather than a single command. The consistent rendering across languages — Spanish ley, French loi, Hindi vyavastha, Arabic sharia, Swahili sheria — confirms this as the default reading. The word functions here essentially as the Aramaic equivalent of Hebrew torah. 11×
AR["بِ-شَرِيعَة","شَرائِع","شَرِيعَة","شَرِيعَة-","شَرِيعَةَ","فِي-شَرِيعَةِ","كَشَرِيعَةِ-","وَ-الشَّرِيعَةَ","وَ-شَرِيعَة-"]·ben["-বিধান-অনুসারে-","-বিধানে","আর-বিধান","এবং-বিধান","বিধান","বিধান-অনুসারে","বিধানের"]·DE["[בדת]","[דת]","[דתא]","[דתי]","[ודת]","[ודתא]","[כדת]","in-Gesetz"]·EN["according-to-law-of-","according-to-the-law-of","and-law","and-the-law-of","in-law-of","law-of","the-law-of","the-laws-of"]·FR["et-loi","loi"]·heb["ב-דת","דת","דתא","דתי","ו-דת","ו-דתא","כ-דת"]·HI["और-व्यवस्था","के-अनुसार-व्यवस्था","में-व्यवस्था","व्यवस्था","व्यवस्था-का","व्यवस्था-के-अनुसार","व्यवस्थाएं"]·ID["dalam-hukum","dan-hukum","hukum","menurut-hukum"]·IT["[בדת]","[דת]","[ודת]","[כדת]","e-legge","legge"]·jav["angger-angger","ing-angger-angger","lan-angger-angger","miturut-angger-angger","miturut-angger-angger-"]·KO["그-법","그리고-그-법","그리고-법을","법-에서","법-으로-","법-이","법들","에-법"]·PT["a-lei","as-leis-de","e-a-lei","e-lei","na-lei-de","pela-lei-de","segundo-a-lei-de","é-lei"]·RU["в-законе","закон","закона","законы","и-закон","как-закон-","по-закону"]·ES["conforme-a-la-ley-de","en-la-ley-de","la-ley-de","las-leyes-de","ley-de","según-la-ley-de","y-la-ley-de","y-ley"]·SW["kama-sheria-ya-","katika-sheria-ya","kulingana-na-sheria","na-sheria","sheria","wa-sheria"]·TR["kanunlarini","kanunun","kanununda","kanununu","söz","ve-kanununu","ve-yasayı","yasa","yasasına-göre-","yasasında"]·urd["اور-شریعت","بِ-شریعت","شریعت","شریعت-میں","شریعت-کا","شریعت-کے-مطابق"]
2. royal decree, edict — A narrower sense: a specific royal decree or edict issued by sovereign authority. In Daniel 2:13 and 2:15, when the king's death sentence goes forth against the wise men, the word denotes not a legal code but a single authoritative command. Spanish shifts from ley to decreto, Hindi from vyavastha to aagya, and Korean from beop to myeongryeong, signaling a clear semantic distinction recognized across translation traditions. 2×
AR["الـ-أَمْرُ","وَ-الـ-أَمْرُ"]·ben["আদেশ","এবং-আদেশ"]·DE["[דתא]","[ודתא]"]·EN["and-the-decree","the-decree"]·FR["et-loi","loi"]·heb["דת","ו-דת"]·HI["आज्ञा","और-आज्ञा"]·ID["dan-perintah","perintah"]·IT["[דתא]","[ודתא]"]·jav["Lan-dhawuh","dhawuh"]·KO["그리고-명령이","명령이"]·PT["E-o-decreto","o-decreto"]·RU["и-указ","указ"]·ES["Y-el-decreto","el-decreto"]·SW["Na-amri","amri"]·TR["Ve-buyruk","buyruk"]·urd["اور-حکم","حکم"]
3. sentence, judicial verdict — The rarest and most pointed sense: a judicial sentence or verdict — the penalty imposed on a person rather than the law under which it falls. In Daniel 2:9 Nebuchadnezzar declares that the wise men have agreed on one verdict (dat) among themselves. Spanish renders it sentencia, Hindi dand ('penalty'), and Swahili hukumu ('judgment'), all distinguishing this from both the general law and the specific decree. Only this single occurrence carries the sense of a punitive judicial ruling. 1×
AR["شَرِيعَتُكُمْ"]·ben["তোমাদের-বিচার"]·DE["[דתכון]"]·EN["your-law"]·FR["loi"]·heb["דתכם"]·HI["तुम्हारा-दंड"]·ID["hukumanmu"]·IT["[דתכון]"]·jav["ukumipun"]·KO["법이-너희의"]·PT["sentença-vossa"]·RU["участь-ваша"]·ES["vuestra-sentencia"]·SW["hukumu-yenu"]·TR["hükmünüz"]·urd["تمہاری-سزا"]
Related Senses
H5921a 1. upon, on, over (spatial) (5443×)H0413 1. directional: to, toward (5366×)H1121a 1. son, male offspring, descendant (4914×)H3808 1. simple negation (not) (4839×)H4428 1. king, human ruler (2518×)G1722 1. locative: in, within (2442×)H1004b 1. house, dwelling, building (2015×)H6440 1. before, in front of (spatial) (1870×)G3756 1. not (negation particle) (1635×)H3027 1. physical hand (body part) (1596×)H1697 1. word, speech, utterance (1235×)H4480a 1. source or separation (1198×)H5892b 1. city, town (1093×)G1519 1. direction: into, to, toward (1061×)H3427 1. Qal: to dwell, inhabit (937×)G1537 1. from, out of (source/origin) (886×)H8034 1. Name (designation / identifier) (856×)G3361 1. subjective negation (not) (834×)G1909 1. on, upon (spatial surface) (757×)H0369 1. existential negation: there is not (738×)
BDB / Lexicon Reference
† דָּת n.f. Dn 6:9 decree, law (Syriac; Pers. loan-word, v. BH);—ד׳ abs. Dn 6:16; 7:25, cstr. Ezr 7:14 +; emph. דָּתָא Ezr 7:12 +; sf. דָּֽתְכוֹן Dn 2:9;— 1. decree of king Dn 2:13, 15; Ezr 7:26; c. sf. Dn 2:9 decree against you. 2. unchangeable law of Medes and Pers. Dn 6:9, 13, 16. 3. law of God (in mouth of non-Jews): Dn 6:6 Ezr 7:12, 14, 21, 26, so (abs.) Dn 7:25; laws of God Ezr 7:25.