Lexical Summary
Maday: Mede
Original Word:מָדַי
Part of Speech:Adjective
Transliteration:Maday
Pronunciation:mah-dah'ee
Phonetic Spelling:(maw-dah'-ee)
KJV: Mede
NASB:Mede
Word Origin:[patrial fromH4074 (מָדַי - Media)]
1. a Madian or native of Madai
Strong's Exhaustive Concordance
Mede
Patrial fromMaday; a Madian or native of Madai -- Mede.
see HEBREWMaday
NAS Exhaustive Concordance
Word Originfrom
MadayDefinitionan inhab. of Media
NASB TranslationMede (1).
Brown-Driver-Briggs
,
Daniel 11:1.
Topical Lexicon
Biblical OccurrenceThe form מָדַי linked with Strong’s Hebrew 4075 appears once, inDaniel 11:1, where the angelic speaker says, “In the first year of Darius the Mede, I took my stand to support and protect him”. Here the word identifies Darius by his ethnic origin—Mede—placing the events of the vision within the Medo-Persian period that followed the fall of Babylon.
Historical Setting: The Medes and the Rise of Medo-Persia
The Medes were an Indo-European people who occupied the mountainous region south and southwest of the Caspian Sea. By the late seventh century BC they had formed a formidable kingdom that, together with Babylon, overthrew Assyria (Nahum 1:1;2 Kings 17:6). When Cyrus the Persian unified Media and Persia (c. 550 BC) he honored the Medes by making the new realm a dual monarchy. This alliance produced the empire that figures prominently in Daniel, Ezra, Nehemiah and Esther and that allowed the Jewish return from exile in fulfillment of prophetic promise (Isaiah 44:28;Jeremiah 29:10).
Darius the Mede
Daniel 5:31; 6:28; 9:1 and 11:1 present Darius the Mede as the first ruler in Babylon after Belshazzar’s fall. While extra-biblical identification is debated, Scripture portrays him as God’s chosen instrument to secure Daniel’s safety (Daniel 6) and to prepare the political ground for Cyrus’s decree of return.Daniel 11:1 reinforces that heaven actively directed his reign—“I took my stand to support and protect him”—underscoring divine sovereignty over Gentile powers (Proverbs 21:1).
Prophetic Significance
1. Second Empire in Nebuchadnezzar’s Dream. InDaniel 2, the silver chest and arms represent Medo-Persia, the succession to Babylon (Daniel 2:39).
2. The Bear and the Ram.Daniel 7:5 depicts a bear raised on one side;Daniel 8:3-4 and 20 identify the ram with two unequal horns as “the kings of Media and Persia”. These visions anticipate the conquests of Cyrus and the later rule of Xerxes, explaining whyDaniel 11 opens in the same historical context.
3. Instrument of Judgment and Restoration.Isaiah 13:17 foretells that the Medes would be God’s tool to punish Babylon, whileIsaiah 45:1 singles out Cyrus as His “anointed.” Thus the lone occurrence of מָדַי inDaniel 11:1 anchors a chain of fulfilled prophecy that authenticates Scripture’s reliability.
Links to Redemptive History
Through Medo-Persia, the Lord:
• Returned the remnant to Jerusalem (Ezra 1:1-4).
• Enabled the rebuilding of the temple (Ezra 6:14).
• Preserved the Jewish people from extermination in the days of Esther (Esther 4:14).
• Kept Messianic lineage intact, ensuring the eventual advent of Jesus Christ (Matthew 1:17).
Ministry Applications
1. God rules over nations; believers can trust Him amid political upheaval (Psalm 46:10).
2. Faithfulness in exile, modeled by Daniel under Darius, encourages modern Christians living in secular cultures (Philippians 2:15).
3. Prophecy’s accuracy strengthens evangelism and apologetics, showing that history unfolds according to God’s plan (Acts 17:26-31).
Summary
Though מָדַי (Strong’s 4075) surfaces only once, it opens a window into the Medo-Persian era that bridges Israel’s exile and restoration, demonstrates the precision of biblical prophecy, and reveals the unshakeable governance of the Lord over world empires for the advancement of His redemptive purposes.
Forms and Transliterations
הַמָּדִ֑י המדי ham·mā·ḏî hammaDi hammāḏî
Links
Interlinear Greek •
Interlinear Hebrew •
Strong's Numbers •
Englishman's Greek Concordance •
Englishman's Hebrew Concordance •
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