מְגִלָּה
Definition
מְגִלָּה (mᵉgillâh) refers to a scroll or roll, specifically a document written on a flexible material like parchment or papyrus that was rolled up for storage and transport. In its single biblical occurrence in Ezra 6:2, it denotes an official Aramaic royal record or decree—the 'roll' found in the citadel of Ecbatana containing King Cyrus's decree permitting the rebuilding of the Jerusalem temple. This matches the sense of its Hebrew counterpart (H4039), which appears more frequently, describing scrolls used for prophetic writings (e.g., Jeremiah 36:2, Ezekiel 2:9) and legal documents.
Biblical Usage
This word is used only once in the Old Testament, in Ezra 6:2, within an Aramaic portion of Scripture. It appears in a historical-administrative context, referring to a specific archival document: the royal memorandum of Cyrus that authorizes the Jewish exiles to rebuild the temple. The usage parallels that of its Hebrew equivalent (H4039), which is employed for prophetic scrolls (Jeremiah 36:4, Ezekiel 3:1) and, in one instance, a metaphorical 'scroll of the book' (Psalm 40:7).
Etymology
Derived from the root גָּלַל (gālal, H1556), meaning 'to roll' or 'to turn,' מְגִלָּה literally means 'a rolled thing' or 'scroll.' It is the Aramaic form corresponding directly to the Hebrew מְגִלָּה (H4039). The root conveys the physical action of rolling, which defines the object's form—a written document stored by rolling it up.
Semantic Range
While the word itself is a common noun for a scroll, its single biblical appearance in Ezra 6:2 highlights God's sovereignty in preserving His promises through human administrative documents. The discovered 'roll' of Cyrus's decree fulfills Jeremiah's prophecy (Jeremiah 29:10) and demonstrates how God orchestrates even secular records to accomplish His redemptive plans, ensuring the restoration of worship in Jerusalem.
In the ancient Near East, scrolls were the primary medium for lengthy written works, especially official decrees, literary texts, and sacred scriptures. They were typically made of leather (parchment) or papyrus sheets joined and rolled around one or two rods. The 'roll' in Ezra represents a formal Achaemenid administrative document, stored in a royal archive, reflecting the Persian Empire's meticulous record-keeping, which God used to advance His purposes.
סֵפֶר (sēpher, H5612) — a broader term for any written document, book, or letter, not necessarily rolled. כְּתָב (kᵉthāv, H3791) — generally refers to writing or inscription, often on a surface, without the specific rolled form.
Word Details
How this works
Hebrew definitions are from Brown-Driver-Briggs (1906) and Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (1890), both public domain. BDB was groundbreaking for its era but reflects 19th-century assumptions about Semitic etymology. Modern scholarship (HALOT, DCH) has revised many entries. Use these definitions as a starting point for exploration, not as the final word on a term's meaning in context.
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