H4082 H4082
Province or administrative district of an empire, especially the territorial divisions of the Persian and Babylonian realms.
Borrowed from Aramaic and cognate with Arabic madinah ('city'), this term denotes a governed territorial subdivision within a great empire. In 1 Kings 20:14-19 it refers to the districts of Ahab's Israelite kingdom, each under its own governor. In Lamentations 1:1 Judah is poignantly called a 'princess among the provinces' now reduced to servitude. The word appears most frequently in Esther and Nehemiah, where it designates the 127 provinces of the Persian Empire, and in Ezekiel and Daniel for Babylonian territories. Translations across languages consistently render it as 'province' (Spanish provincia, French province, German Provinz), confirming its stable administrative meaning.
Senses
1. province, administrative district — A governed territorial subdivision within an empire. The multilingual evidence uniformly renders this as 'province' across English, Spanish, French, and German, reflecting a single stable semantic core. In 1 Kings 20 it describes Ahab's districts with appointed governors; in Esther 1:1 it denotes the 127 provinces stretching from India to Ethiopia; in Lamentations 1:1 it is used with bitter irony for subjugated Judah. 53×
AR["وِلاَيَةٍ","وِلَايَاتِ","وِلَايَةً","وِلَايَةٍ"]·ben["প্রদেশ","প্রদেশগুলিতে","প্রদেশগুলির","প্রদেশে"]·DE["Provinz","Provinzen"]·EN["province","provinces-of"]·FR["province","provinces"]·heb["מדינה","מדינות"]·HI["प्रति","प्रत्येक","प्रत्येक-प्रान्त","प्रान्त","प्रान्तों","प्रान्तों-के","प्रान्तों-पर","प्रान्तों-में","प्रान्तों-में-हैं"]·ID["provinsi","provinsi-provinsi"]·IT["province","provincia"]·jav["propinsi"]·KO["도","도들에","도와","지방","지방들에","지방들의","지방마다"]·PT["província","províncias","províncias-de"]·RU["областей","области","область","областью","областях"]·ES["provincia","provincias","provincias-de"]·SW["jimbo","kama-maandishi-yake","majimbo","na-jimbo","na-kwa","wa-majimbo","ya-mfalme","yote"]·TR["eyalet","eyalete","eyaletine","eyaletlerinde","eyaletlerine","eyaletlerinin","eyalette"]·urd["صوبوں","صوبہ","صوبے"]
1 Kgs 20:14, 1 Kgs 20:15, 1 Kgs 20:17, 1 Kgs 20:19, Ezra 2:1, Neh 1:3, Neh 7:6, Neh 11:3, Esth 1:1, Esth 1:3, Esth 1:16, Esth 1:22 (+38 more)
Related Senses
H3808 1. simple negation (not) (4839×)G1722 1. locative: in, within (2442×)H1004b 1. house, dwelling, building (2015×)G3756 1. not (negation particle) (1635×)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×)H5869a 1. in the eyes/sight of (evaluative) (734×)H5650 1. Servant, attendant, subject (723×)H0408 1. prohibitive negation do-not (712×)G2443 1. so that, in order that (purpose/result) (665×)G0575 1. from (649×)G1223 1. through, by means of (582×)H3541 1. thus, so, in this manner (569×)
BDB / Lexicon Reference
† מְדִינָה n.f. province (an Aramaic word, cf. Syriac ܡܕܝܺܢܻܬܳܐ, Arabicمَدِينَةٌ city) cf. also Old Aramaic מדינתא city, Palm. מדיתא city, sf. מדיתהון, pl. מדינתא SAC70 Lzb306 Cooke 266. Est 1:1 + 28 times; pl. מְדִינוֹת 1 K 20:14 + 23 times;—a district of an empire, 1. districts of realm of Ahab with שׂרים over them 1 K 20:14, 15, 17, 19. 2. of the Babylonian empire: Ez 19:8; Dn 8:2 (of Elam);…