H2953 H2953
nail, claw (Aramaic)
This Aramaic noun designates nails or claws, appearing in Daniel's accounts of Nebuchadnezzar's beast-like transformation and in the vision of the fourth beast. Daniel 4:30 describes the king's nails growing like bird claws during his period of insanity. Daniel 7:19 depicts the terrifying fourth beast with iron teeth and bronze claws. The term parallels Hebrew tzipporen, sharing the basic meaning across Aramaic and Syriac. The imagery emphasizes bestiality and predatory power—human descent to animal state or supernatural beasts with enhanced destructive capacity.
Senses
1. sense 1 — Both contexts use claw imagery to convey bestial transformation or nature. Daniel 4:30 [4:33 English] describes Nebuchadnezzar's nails growing like eagles' (bird claws) during his seven-year bovine madness, marking his complete animalization. Daniel 7:19 arms the fourth apocalyptic beast with bronze claws alongside iron teeth, creating a hybrid predator of supernatural destructive power. The textual note indicates a ketiv-qere variant in 7:19 (plural forms), showing scribal care in preserving the text. Syriac and Targum cognates confirm the nail/claw meaning across Aramaic dialects. 2×
AR["وَ-أَظَافِرُهُ", "وَ-أَظْفَارُهُ"]·ben["এবং-এর-নখ", "এবং-তার-নখ"]·DE["[וטפרוהי]", "[וטפריה]"]·EN["and-his-nails", "and-its-claws"]·FR["et-ongle"]·heb["ו-ציפורניה", "ו-ציפורניו"]·HI["और-उसके-नाखून", "और-नाखून-उसके"]·ID["dan-cakar-cakarnya", "dan-kukunya"]·IT["[וטפרוהי]", "[וטפריה]"]·jav["lan-kuku-kukunipun"]·KO["그리고-그-손톱들-이", "그리고-그것의-발톱은"]·PT["e-suas-garras", "e-suas-unhas"]·RU["и-когти-его", "и-ногти-его"]·ES["y-garras-de-ella", "y-sus-uñas"]·SW["na-kucha-zake"]·TR["ve-tırnakları"]·urd["اور-اُس-کے-ناخن", "اور-اُس-کے-پنجے"]
Related Senses
H7200 1. Qal: to see, perceive (1257×)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×)G3708 1. see, perceive visually (419×)G0191 1. hear, perceive sound (360×)H???? 3. (352×)G3708 2. behold, look (exclamatory) (256×)H7272 1. foot (body part) (236×)H8354 1. drink, consume liquid (209×)H3205 1. Qal active: bear/give birth (female subject) (204×)H3205 2. Qal active: beget/father (male subject) (198×)H2421 1. Qal: live, be alive (177×)H8085 2. Qal: listen, heed, pay attention (172×)H2416a 1. alive, living (state/attribute) (146×)H2416e 1. life, lifespan, lifetime (145×)G2198 1. be alive, have life (133×)H8193 1. lip, lips (body part) (123×)
BDB / Lexicon Reference
† [טְפַר] n.m. nail, claw (𝔗 טוּפְרָא, Syriac ܝܰܓܪܳܐ; v. BH צִפֹּ֫רֶן, √ IV. צפר);—pl. sf. of man טִפְר֫וֹהִי Dn 4:30; of beast, טפריה (K§ 53, 2. b)) 7:19, Qr טִפְרַהּ.