A (New) Old Iranian Etymology for Biblical Aramaic

Despite the many advances that have taken place in our understanding of the Hebrew Bible's Old Iranian terminology, the donor terms of several words have remained elusive. Among them is Biblical Aramaic (Dan. 3:2-3). Proposed Old Iranian etymologies for this word suffer from various phonological and semantic difficulties, rendering them unlikely. This paper proposes that Biblical Aramaic is best derived from *adrangazara-'announcer of financial obligation', a compound of *adranga-'financial obligation' and *azara-'announcer'. A derivation from Old Iranian *adrangazara-adequately explains the form of Biblical Aramaic. Furthermore, this etymology also suits the context well in that occurs just prior to . 'treasurer' and therefore falls logically within the progression from political administration to finances to law evident in the lists of Nebuchadnezzar's officials (Dan. 3:2-3).