H8140 H8140
year — Aramaic noun for a unit of time spanning twelve months, used in dating and duration
Shenah is the Aramaic cognate of Hebrew shanah, appearing seven times in the Aramaic portions of Ezra and Daniel. It serves exclusively for chronological reference — dating royal decrees ('in the first year of Cyrus,' Ezr 5:13), marking construction milestones ('in the sixth year,' Ezr 6:15), and noting durations ('many years,' Ezr 5:11). The plural shenin appears for 'sixty-two years' in Daniel 6:1. Across all languages the rendering is straightforward: Spanish 'ano,' French 'annee,' German 'Jahr' — pure temporal measurement with no figurative extension.
Senses
1. year(s) — An Aramaic feminine noun denoting a year, used in the construct singular (shenat) for dating events by regnal years ('the first year of Cyrus,' Ezr 5:13; 'the second year,' Ezr 4:24; 'the sixth year,' Ezr 6:15) and in the plural (shenin) for counting durations ('many years,' Ezr 5:11; 'sixty-two years,' Dan 6:1). Cognate with Hebrew shanah and functioning identically as a calendrical time unit. Spanish 'ano' and English 'year' confirm the uniform temporal sense across all seven occurrences. 7×
AR["سَنَة-", "سَنَةِ", "سَنَوَاتٍ", "سِنِين", "في-سَنَة", "فِي-سَنَةِ"]·ben["-বছরে", "বছর", "বছর-", "বছরে"]·DE["[שנין]", "[שנת]", "im-Jahr"]·EN["in-year", "in-year-of", "year", "years"]·FR["[שנין]", "[שנת]", "année", "en-l'an", "en-l'année-de"]·heb["ב-שנת", "שנים", "שנין", "שנת"]·HI["में-वर्ष", "वर्ष", "वर्ष-में"]·ID["Pada-tahun", "pada-tahun", "tahun", "tahun-tahun"]·IT["[שנין]", "anno", "nell'anno"]·jav["Ing-taun", "ing-taun", "punika", "taun", "taun-", "yuswanipun"]·KO["나이-가", "에-해", "에-해에", "해", "해-", "해들"]·PT["No-ano", "ano-", "ano-de", "anos", "no-ano"]·RU["В-году", "в-году", "года", "года-", "годов", "лет"]·ES["En-año", "año", "años", "el-año", "en-año", "en-el-año"]·SW["Katika-mwaka", "katika-mwaka", "miaka", "mwaka", "mwaka-wa"]·TR["Yilinda", "yaşında", "yili-", "yilina", "yilinda", "yillar", "yılında"]·urd["بِ-سال", "سال", "سال-", "سال-میں", "سال-کی", "سالوں"]
Related Senses
H3117 1. day, specific time (2231×)H5704 1. until, unto, as far as (1238×)H8141 1. year, unit of time (880×)H6258 1. and now (421×)G2250 1. day (388×)H5750 1. again, more, further (288×)H5769 1. forever, to eternity (280×)H6256 1. time, period (264×)H2320 1. month, calendar period (260×)H0310a 2. after (temporal) (258×)H3915 1. night, period of darkness (234×)H1242 1. morning (214×)H5750 2. still, yet (continuative) (166×)G5119 1. then (160×)G3568 1. now (147×)G2193 1. until (143×)G3825 1. (141×)G3752 1. (123×)H6153 1. evening, time of day (123×)H0227a 1. then (122×)
BDB / Lexicon Reference
† I. [שְׁנָה] n.f. year (v. BH שָׁנָה, √ I. [שָׁנָה]);—cstr. שְׁנַת: שׁ׳ חֲדָה = first year Ezr 5:13; 6:3 Dn 7:1; שׁ׳ תַּרְתֵּין Ezr 4:24 second year; שׁ׳ שֵׁת 6:15; pl. שְׁנִין שִׁתִּין וְת׳ Dn 6:1 62 years; שׁ׳ שַׂגִּיאָן Ezr 5:11.—ii. [שְׁנָה] v. ישׁן.