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# אֶצְבַּע

Biblical Aramaic

**finger** — used 3 times in the Aramaic chapters of the Bible. Below: its meanings with their sources, MACULA's glosses, and 2 verses word for word and in JPS 1917.

## Meaning

### OpenScriptures lexical index

finger [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/aramaic/1488/lemma_3a_5d0_5b6_5e6_5b0_5d1_5b7_5bc_5e2/#m1)

### Brown–Driver–Briggs 1906

אֶצְבַּע²: n.f. finger toe [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/aramaic/1488/lemma_3a_5d0_5b6_5e6_5b0_5d1_5b7_5bc_5e2/#m2)

**The whole BDB entry:** n.f. 1. finger; 2. toe (𝔗 Syriac; BH id.);—pl. abs. אֶצְבְּעָן Dn 5:5 emph. תָא—ָ 2:41; cstr. ת—ָ v 42.

### Jastrow 1903

אֶצְבַּע: finger index-finger middle finger; any projecting limb resembling the shape of finger the projecting toe lobe share, part. finger’s length membra virilia. Dual two finger lengths [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/aramaic/1488/lemma_3a_5d0_5b6_5e6_5b0_5d1_5b7_5bc_5e2/#m3)

**The whole Jastrow entry:** (b. h.; = עצבע; עצב, finger, esp. index-finger. Men. 11ᵃ זו א׳ with this (the fourth from the little finger) the measure of ‘a finger’ is taken; Keth. 5ᵇ. Y. Taan. IV, 68ᵈ bot.; Lam. R. to II, 2 (מטיפי) מקוטעי א׳ who had their finger cut off (in evidence of devotion to the cause). Yoma I, 7 א׳ צרדה; Tosef. ib. I, 9 explained א׳ גדולה middle finger; cmp. Tanḥ. Bo, end, expl. אמצעית.—Keth. 71ᵃ הוא נותן א׳ וכ׳ he (the husband) puts his finger between her teeth (and must expect to be bitten), i.e. has to take the consequences of not interfering with her vow in due time. any projecting limb resembling the shape of a finger. Ḥull. 61ᵃ א׳ יתירה the projecting toe on a bird’s claw. Tam. IV, 3 (31ᵃ) א׳ הכבד the lobe of the liver.—Fig. (like יד) share, part. Y. Pes. IV, 31ᵃ top; Y. Ab. Zar. I, 40ᵃ top, v. אֶמְצַע.—Pl. אֶצְבָּעוֹת. Ḥag. 15ᵃ; a. fr. (mostly in the sense of finger’s length).—Pes. 112ᵇ; Nidd. 66ᵃ euphem. for membra virilia.—Dual אֶצְבְּעַיִּם, אֶצְבְּעַיִּים, Cant. R. to VIII, 11 גידם א׳ one whose (index) fingers were lopped (stump-like). Ib. that whole trade of mine אינה נקנית אלא בא׳ cannot be acquired except by learning how to use the index-fingers.—Pes. 109ᵃ, a. e. two finger lengths

Why these entries: BDB: headword, part of speech agrees, 3 of its verses cited, 0 words shared with the glosses, lists its Strong's number (2 candidates); OSHB: headword, part of speech agrees, 1 words shared with the BDB entry, 0 with the glosses (1 candidates); Jastrow: headword, part of speech agrees, 0 of its verses cited, 0 words shared with the glosses (2 candidates)

## Glosses

MACULA's English glosses of the word in the text, with how often each is used: fingers (1); the (1); the toes (1).

## In the verses

[Daniel 2:42](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/ketuvim/DAN.2.42/) · [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/ketuvim/DAN.2.42/#tree)

וְאֶצְבְּעָת֙ רַגְלַיָּ֔א מִנְּהֵ֥ין פַּרְזֶ֖ל וּמִנְּהֵ֣ין חֲסַ֑ף מִן־קְצָ֤ת מַלְכוּתָא֙ תֶּהֱוֵ֣ה תַקִּיפָ֔ה וּמִנַּ֖הּ תֶּהֱוֵ֥ה תְבִירָֽה׃

*Word for word:* and the.toes of the.feet some of.them \[were\].iron and some of.them \[were\].clay some.of the.part of the.kingdom it.will.be strong and some of.it it.will.be breakable

*JPS 1917:* And as the toes of the feet were part of iron, and part of clay, so part of the kingdom shall be strong, and part thereof broken.

[Daniel 5:5](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/ketuvim/DAN.5.5/) · [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/ketuvim/DAN.5.5/#tree)

בַּהּ־שַׁעֲתָ֗ה נְפַ֙קָה֙ אֶצְבְּעָן֙ דִּ֣י יַד־אֱנָ֔שׁ וְכָֽתְבָן֙ לָקֳבֵ֣ל נֶבְרַשְׁתָּ֔א עַל־גִּירָ֕א דִּֽי־כְתַ֥ל הֵיכְלָ֖א דִּ֣י מַלְכָּ֑א וּמַלְכָּ֣א חָזֵ֔ה פַּ֥ס יְדָ֖ה דִּ֥י כָתְבָֽה׃

*Word for word:* at it the moment they.went.forth fingers (diy).of a.hand of.a.human and \[they.were\].writing (to) before the candlestick on the plaster (diy).of the.wall of the.palace (diy).of the king and the king \[was\].seeing the.palm of the.hand which \[was\].writing

*JPS 1917:* In the same hour came forth fingers of a man's hand, and wrote over against the candlestick upon the plaster of the wall of the king's palace; and the king saw the palm of the hand that wrote.

## On Mova

- [This word in the Biblical Aramaic dictionary](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/dictionaries/aramaic/w/lemma_3a_5d0_5b6_5e6_5b0_5d1_5b7_5bc_5e2.html) on Mova free.
- [Trees and pragmatics of its meanings](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/aramaic/1488/lemma_3a_5d0_5b6_5e6_5b0_5d1_5b7_5bc_5e2/): every English meaning parsed by Mova, with its dependency tree and frames.

Sources. The words, their counts, glosses and the word-for-word renderings: MACULA Hebrew (the Westminster Leningrad Codex; Clear Bible, CC BY 4.0). Meanings: the OpenScriptures lexical index (CC BY 4.0), Brown–Driver–Briggs 1906 and Jastrow 1903 (public domain, via Sefaria); Targum Onkelos from Sefaria (public domain). Translation: JPS 1917 (public domain, from eBible.org).