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shebanq

נִשְׁתְּוָן ništewān – official letter

Semantic Fields: Writing   
Author(s): Klaas A. D. Smelik
First published: 2011-06-18
Last update: 2025-10-01 (Paul Sanders)
Citation: Klaas A. D. Smelik, נִשְׁתְּוָן ništewān – official letter,
               Semantics of Ancient Hebrew Database (sahd-online.com), 2011 (update: 2025) (WORK IN PROGRESS)

Introduction

Grammatical type: noun masc.

Occurrences: 5x HB (0/0/5); 0x Sir; 0x Qum; 0x Inscr. (Total: 5; 2x Hebrew, 3x Aramaic)

  • Ketubim: Hebrew Ezra 4:7; 7:11; Aramaic Ezra 4:18, 23; 5:5.

1. Root and Comparative Material

A.1 Root: It is generally surmised that נִשְׁתְּוָן is an Official Aramaic loanword from a (reconstructed) Old Persian word nīštavān, ‘decree, official document’, cf. Awestian nī-šta, ‘to order, command’.1 It remained typically confined to the period of the Persian empire and was adopted in later Hebrew and Aramaic dialects. All the dictionaries of Biblical Hebrew and Biblical Aramaic have a translation equivalent of ‘(official) letter, decree’.

A.2 Old and Imperial Aramaic: Attested once in Elephantine.2

2. Formal Characteristics

A.1 The lexical form is the same in Hebrew and Aramaic: נִשְׁתְּוָן.

3. Syntagmatics

A.1 נִשְׁתְּוָן is specified by:

  • ה, def. art. Ezra 4:7; 7:11; Aramaic occurrences are all determinate as well.

A.2 נִשְׁתְּוָן occurs as the subject of:

  • כתב qal, ‘to write’ (Heb.), Ezra 4:7 (כָּתוּב);
  • קרא peil (Aram.), ‘to be read (aloud)’, Ezra 4:18 (קֱרִי).

A.3 נִשְׁתְּוָן occurs as the direct object of:

  • תּוּב aphel (Aram.), ‘to return/answer’, Ezra 5:5 (יְתִיבוּן).

A.4 נִשְׁתְּוָן functions as nomen rectum of:

  • כָּתָב (Heb.), כְתָב הַֽנִּשְׁתְּוָן, ‘the text of the letter’ (Ezra 4:7);
  • פַרְשֶׁגֶן (Aram.), פַּרְשֶׁגֶן נִשְׁתְּוָנָא, ‘the copy of the letter’ (Ezra 4:23; 7:11).

A.5 נִשְׁתְּוָן is further specified by relative clauses introduced by Aram. דִי or Heb. אֲשֶׁר:

  • דִּי שְׁלַחְתּוּן עֲלֶינָא, ‘which you send to us’ (Ezra 4:18);
  • דִּי אַרְתַּחְשַׁשְׂתָּא מַלְכָּא, ‘of King Artaxerxes (Ezra 4:23);
  • אֲשֶׁר נָתַן הַמֶּלֶךְ אַרְתַּחְשַׁסְתְּא לְעֶזְרָא הַכֹּהֵן הַסֹּפֵר סֹפֵר דִּבְרֵי מִצְוֹת־יְהוָה וְחֻקָּיו עַל־יִשְׂרָאֵל, ‘that King Artaxerxes gave to Ezra the priest, the scribe, a man learned in matters of the commandments of the Lord and his statutes for Israel’ (Ezra 7:11).

4. Ancient Versions

a. Septuagint (LXX) and other Greek versions (αʹ, σʹ, θʹ):

  • φορολόγος, ‘collector of tributes’:3 Ezra 4:7, 18, 23; 5:5LXX;
  • διάταγμα, ‘command’:4 Ezra 5:5α´ σ´ ??; 7:11.

φορολόγος possibly was a neologism meaning something like ‘word-carrier, document’. In Ezra 7:11 διάταγμα is chosen which some hexaplaric mss also offer for 5:5. According to Muraoka,5 ἐπιστολή, ‘letter’, is the rendering in 1 Esd 2:30.

b. Peshitta (Pesh):

  • ܐܓܪܬܐegartā), ‘letter’:6 Ezra 4:7, 18, 23; 7:11;
  • ܦܬܓܡܐ (pitgāmā), ‘word’, ‘sentence’, etc.:7 Ezra 5:5.

c. Targum (Tg):

  • There is no targum on Ezra.

d. Vulgate (Vg):

  • accusatio, ‘accusation’: Ezra 4:18; 5:5;
  • edictum, ‘decree’: Ezra 4:23;
  • epistula, ‘letter’: Ezra 7:11;
  • epistula autem accusationis, ‘now the letter of accusation’: Ezra 4:7.

In the Vulgate the translations of נִשְׁתְּוָן are influenced by the contexts in which they are used. In Ezra 4:6 an accusation (שִׂטְנָה) is mentioned. The references to the written accusation are therefore translated with reference to accusatio. In Ezra 4:23 the answer of the king is translated as edictum.

5. Lexical/Semantic Fields

A.1 [Discussion will be added later.]

6. Exegesis

6.1 Textual Evidence

A.1 נִשְׁתְּוָן occurs both in the Hebrew and Aramaic parts of the book of Ezra (Heb. 4:7; 7:11; Aram. 4:18, 23; 5:5). The relatively clear context indicates that the word designates an official letter, translated into the official Aramaic language of the Persian empire (4:7), and sent to the Persian king (4:7, 18; 5:5) or by the king (4:23; 7:11).

6.2 Pictorial Material and Archaeology

See → מְגִלָּה, ‘scroll’.

7. Conclusion

A.1 נִשְׁתְּוָן is a technical term for official letters sent by or to the Persian king. This conclusion is based on the relatively clear context, the Persian etymology and some of the ancient versions.

Bibliography

For the abbreviations see the List of Abbreviations.


  1. Ellenbogen, FWOT, 116; HALAT, 1750; HAHAT, 858; Klein, CEDHL, 430. 

  2. DNWSI, 766; Porten & Lund, ADE, 236. 

  3. GELS, 719; similarly LSJ, 1961. 

  4. GELS, 160; similarly LSJ, 414. 

  5. HIS, 101. 

  6. Sokoloff, SLB, 9. 

  7. Sokoloff, SLB, 1264. 

Semantics of Ancient Hebrew Database