In Daniel 7:15, what is the meaning of the word נִדְנֶה?

Question

In Dan. 7:15, the Aramaic text states,

^טו אֶתְכְּרִיַּת רוּחִי אֲנָה דָנִיֵּאל בְּגוֹא נִדְנֶה וְחֶזְוֵי רֵאשִׁי יְבַהֲלֻנַּנִי

which the King James Version translates into English as,

¹⁵ I Daniel was grieved in my spirit in the midst of my body, and the visions of my head troubled me. ^{KJV, 1769}

I’m curious about the word נִדְנֶה which is translated as “my body.” Rather than נִדְנֶה, I would have expected גִּשְׁמִי (“my body”) or perhaps even גֶּשֶׁם (“body”). What is the meaning of the word נִדְנֶה?

Answer 1

The word spelt ndn in both Hebrew and Aramaic means "sheath" (for a sword). Aramaic ndnh means "its sheath" (with the pronominal suffix for the 3rd person singular). It is a loanword from Old Persian. Here in Dan. 7:15 it is used figuratively, of course. The body encompasses the soul in the same way that a sheath contains a sword.

http://cal1.cn.huc.edu/oneentry.php?lemma=ndn%232%20N&cits=all