יְצָא
Definition
The Aramaic noun יְצָא (yᵉtsâʼ) means 'completion' or 'finish.' It refers specifically to the act of bringing something to its intended end or conclusion. In its single biblical occurrence, it describes the successful completion of a major construction project. This word carries the sense of a task being fully accomplished according to a set plan or command.
Biblical Usage
This word is used only once in the entire Old Testament, in Ezra 6:15. It appears in the context of the Aramaic portions of Ezra, which document official Persian decrees and records. The verse states, 'And this house was finished on the third day of the month Adar, which was in the sixth year of the reign of Darius the king.' Here, it specifically denotes the completion of the rebuilding of the temple in Jerusalem after the exile.
Etymology
This is an Aramaic word, not classical Hebrew, corresponding directly to the Hebrew verb יָצָא (yātsāʼ, H3318), which primarily means 'to go out' or 'to come forth.' In its Aramaic form, the meaning developed a specialized sense of 'to be completed' or 'to come forth as finished,' focusing on the end result of a process. The semantic connection lies in the idea of a project 'coming out' or 'emerging' into its final, completed state.
Semantic Range
While used only once, this word is theologically significant as it marks the fulfillment of God's promise to restore His people and His dwelling place. The 'finishing' of the temple in Ezra 6:15 was not merely a construction milestone; it represented God's faithfulness in restoring proper worship after the exile. It points to God's sovereignty in moving the hearts of Persian kings to complete His work, a theme of divine providence that enriches the reading of Ezra and the post-exilic narrative.
In the imperial Aramaic culture of the Persian Empire, official documents and decrees were recorded in Aramaic, the lingua franca of the day. The use of this word in an official royal chronicle (Ezra 6:15) underscores the formal and administrative nature of the text. The completion of the temple was a state-sanctioned project, authorized and verified by the Persian government, which adds a layer of political and cultural validation to the religious event.
כָּלָה (kālâh, H3615) — A more common Hebrew verb for 'to finish' or 'complete,' used in a wider variety of contexts, including creation (Genesis 2:1) and destruction (Lamentations 2:8).
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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