# Aramaic: וְיִשְׁתּוֹן בְּהוֹן מַלְכָּא וְרַבְרְבָנוֹהִי



## zaw

Hi,

בֵּלְשַׁאצַּר אֲמַר בִּטְעֵם חַמְרָא לְהַיְתָיָה לְמָאנֵי דַּהֲבָא וְכַסְפָּא דִּי הַנְפֵּק נְבוּכַדְנֶצַּר אֲבוּהִי מִן הֵיכְלָא דִּי בִירוּשְׁלֶם וְיִשְׁתּוֹן בְּהוֹן מַלְכָּא וְרַבְרְבָנוֹהִי שֵׁגְלָתֵהּ וּלְחֵנָתֵהּ

(Daniel 5,2)

The translations translate וְיִשְׁתּוֹן as

so that the king and his nobles, his consorts and his concubines, might drink in them.

Isn't ו a conjunction? How can it mean so that?

Toda raba


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## Glasguensis

When you ask about a translation please provide the reference of your source text and the reference of your translation. This translation is not necessarily a translation of this source text in isolation, since there are several versions. The grammatical structure of the translation is chosen so that the overall meaning of the text is retained: it does not necessarily copy the grammatical structure of the original. « so that » is used in this translation, but not in all translations. It has been chosen because the translation team felt this was the best way to express this idea in modern English.


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## Abaye

The following verb ישתון after the "ו" is in future tense for a sentence that started with past tense verb אמר, therefore likely to express subjunctive mood rather than indicative.


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## Ali Smith

One would have expected דִּי rather than וְ.

בֵּלְשַׁאצַּר אֲמַר בִּטְעֵם חַמְרָא לְהַיְתָיָה לְמָאנֵי דַּהֲבָא וְכַסְפָּא דִּי הַנְפֵּק נְבוּכַדְנֶצַּר אֲבוּהִי מִן הֵיכְלָא דִּי בִירוּשְׁלֶם דִּי יִשְׁתּוֹן בְּהוֹן מַלְכָּא וְרַבְרְבָנוֹהִי שֵׁגְלָתֵהּ וּלְחֵנָתֵהּ

Due to the taste of the wine, Belshazzar commanded that the gold and silver vessels that Nebuchadnezzar, his father, had taken out of the temple that is in Jerusalem be brought so that the king and his nobles, his consorts and his concubines, might drink in them.

וְדִי would probably work too but would change the meaning:

בֵּלְשַׁאצַּר אֲמַר בִּטְעֵם חַמְרָא לְהַיְתָיָה לְמָאנֵי דַּהֲבָא וְכַסְפָּא דִּי הַנְפֵּק נְבוּכַדְנֶצַּר אֲבוּהִי מִן הֵיכְלָא דִּי בִירוּשְׁלֶם וְדִי יִשְׁתּוֹן בְּהוֹן מַלְכָּא וְרַבְרְבָנוֹהִי שֵׁגְלָתֵהּ וּלְחֵנָתֵהּ

Due to the taste of the wine, Belshazzar commanded that the gold and silver vessels that Nebuchadnezzar, his father, had taken out of the temple that is in Jerusalem be brought and that the king and his nobles, his consorts and his concubines, drink in them.

As you can see, וְדִּי would mean that Belshazzar commanded two things: 1. that the vessels be brought and 2. that the people drink in them. By contrast, דִּי alone would mean that Belshazzar commanded that the vessels be brought so that the people might drink in them.


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## Abaye

BTW, the Jewish reading of טעמא here is not simply the wine's taste, it's the influence of the wine on the king's behavior.


> אמר בטעם חמרא - אמר בעצת היין, שנשתכר


רש"י


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## 𒍝𒊑𒈾 𒂵𒉿𒀉

Abaye said:


> BTW, the Jewish reading of טעמא here is not simply the wine's taste, it's the influence of the wine on the king's behavior.
> רש"י


This meaning of טעמא is not given in any Aramaic dictionary though. It is of course related to Arabic طعم.


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