This Aramaic noun appears in Daniel 5:23, where Daniel rebukes Belshazzar: 'The God in whose hand is your breath and to whom belong all your ways, you have not glorified.' The term refers to the breath of life, the respiration that sustains existence. The phrase emphasizes God's absolute sovereignty over human life—every breath depends on His will. This confronts Belshazzar's arrogance; he has defied the very God who controls whether he breathes or dies. The context of judgment makes this reference to breath particularly ominous.