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The Aramaic parts of the Bible

Roughly 250 verses of the Hebrew Bible are not in Hebrew at all. Here is every one of them, and how much vocabulary it takes to read them.

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The passages

Five places, about 250 verses

Passage Size What it is
Genesis 31:47 Two words Laban's name for the heap of stones, יְגַר שָׂהֲדוּתָא, against Jacob's Hebrew גַּלְעֵד.
Jeremiah 10:11 One verse A single Aramaic sentence in the middle of a Hebrew chapter, addressed to the nations about their gods.
Daniel 2:4b–7:28 Six chapters Beginning mid-verse, where the Chaldeans speak to the king 'in Aramaic', and running to the end of chapter 7.
Ezra 4:8–6:18 Two and a half chapters The correspondence with the Persian court, quoted in the language it was written in.
Ezra 7:12–26 Fifteen verses The letter of Artaxerxes to Ezra.
Reading them

675 words is the whole language

Biblical Aramaic is a closed corpus: learn its vocabulary and you have read all of it. Biblical Aramaic Vocabulary carries all 675 words with reading tracks for Daniel and Ezra, so the vocabulary arrives in the order the text needs it. On iOS it is an in-app pack inside Biblical Hebrew Vocabulary.

FAQ

Questions, answered

Which parts of the Bible are written in Aramaic?
Daniel 2:4b–7:28, Ezra 4:8–6:18 and 7:12–26, Jeremiah 10:11, and two words in Genesis 31:47. Everything else in the Hebrew Bible is Hebrew.
How much Aramaic is there in total?
About 675 distinct words across roughly 250 verses — a small enough vocabulary that a Hebrew reader can add it in a few weeks.
Is Biblical Aramaic the same as Hebrew?
They are separate Semitic languages that share an alphabet and a great deal of structure. A student of Biblical Hebrew already recognises most Aramaic letters, many roots and much of the grammar, which is why Aramaic is usually taught as a short follow-on course.
Why is part of Daniel in Aramaic?
Aramaic was the working language of the Persian empire. The Aramaic section of Daniel begins exactly where the text says the Chaldeans addressed the king in Aramaic, and the Ezra passages are quoted imperial correspondence.