שׁוּשַׁן
Shushan, a place in Persia
Definition
Shushan (שׁוּשַׁן) is the Hebrew name for the ancient Persian city of Susa, a major royal capital located in what is now southwestern Iran. In the Bible, it is primarily known as the setting for the events of the Book of Esther, where it is called 'Shushan the palace' or 'Shushan the citadel' (Esther 1:2, 5). It also appears in the Book of Nehemiah as the administrative center from which Nehemiah, the king's cupbearer, received news about Jerusalem's plight (Nehemiah 1:1). The name consistently refers to this specific, historically significant location throughout its biblical occurrences.
Biblical Usage
The word is used exclusively as a proper noun for the city of Susa, appearing 19 times in the Old Testament. Its usage is concentrated in the Book of Esther (16 times) and the Book of Nehemiah (3 times). In Esther, it is the central setting for the entire narrative, often specified as 'Shushan the palace' (Esther 1:2, 2:3, 2:5, 2:8). In Nehemiah, it identifies the royal capital where Nehemiah served King Artaxerxes (Nehemiah 1:1). No other meanings or usages are attested.
Etymology
The word שׁוּשַׁן (Shûwshan) is identical to the Hebrew word for 'lily' (H7799, שׁוּשַׁן). It is a direct borrowing from the Persian word for the city, 'Shushan' or 'Susa,' which itself may be derived from an older Elamite name. The connection to 'lily' is likely due to phonetic similarity or folk etymology, not a shared meaning, as the city's name predates its Hebrew usage. The biblical writers simply transliterated the Persian place name into Hebrew characters.
Semantic Range
Shushan is theologically significant as the setting for God's providential deliverance of the Jewish people in the Book of Esther, a story where God's name is never mentioned but His sovereign hand is clearly at work. The city represents the heart of a powerful, pagan empire, yet it becomes the stage where God protects His covenant people from genocide. Understanding Shushan as a real, historical capital underscores the truth that God works out His redemptive purposes within human history and geopolitical structures, even through the lives of His people in exile.
Shushan (Susa) was one of the primary capitals of the Persian Empire, a vast administrative and ceremonial center. The biblical references to 'Shushan the palace' or 'the citadel' (הַבִּירָה, habbîrâh) point specifically to the fortified royal complex within the larger city. For the original Jewish audience, this distant, powerful foreign capital symbolized both the reach of the exile and the surprising possibility of influence and deliverance from within the very seat of imperial power. Its portrayal aligns with known historical details about the Achaemenid Persian Empire.
There are no direct Hebrew synonyms for this proper place name. Other biblical cities in Persia, like Ecbatana or Persepolis, are distinct locations.
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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