דָּמַם
dâmam · H1826 · Hebrew · 30 occurrences
Meanings
-
to stand still, to be still, to wait
To refrain from moving
ExamplesExodus 15:16 “Terror and dread fall upon them; By the greatness of Your arm they are motionless as stone, Until Your people pass over, LORD, Until the people pass over whom You have purchased.
Joshua 10:12 Then Joshua spoke to the LORD on the day when the LORD turned the Amorites over to the sons of Israel, and he said in the sight of Israel, “Sun, stand still at Gibeon, And moon, at the Valley of Aijalon!”
Joshua 10:13 So the sun stood still, and the moon stopped, Until the nation avenged themselves of their enemies. Is it not written in the Book of Jashar? And the sun stopped in the middle of the sky and did not hurry to go down for about a whole day.
-
to be silent, to keep silent, to remain silent, to be silenced
To refrain from speaking
ExamplesLeviticus 10:3 Then Moses said to Aaron, “It is what the LORD spoke, saying, ‘By those who come near Me I will be treated as holy, And before all the people I will be honored.’” So Aaron, therefore, kept silent.
Job 29:21 “To me they listened and waited, And they kept silent for my advice.
Job 31:34 Because I feared the great multitude And the contempt of families terrified me, And I kept silent and did not go out of doors?
-
to silence, to destroy
Literally: to silence; hence: to destroy an object so that it is unable to either move, speak, or act anymore
Examples1 Samuel 2:9 “He watches over the feet of His godly ones, But the wicked ones are silenced in darkness; For not by might shall a person prevail.
Jeremiah 8:14 Why are we sitting still? Assemble yourselves, and let’s go into the fortified cities And perish there, For the LORD our God has doomed us And given us poisoned water to drink, Because we have sinned against the LORD.
Jeremiah 25:37 And the peaceful grazing places are devastated Because of the fierce anger of the LORD.
-
to be still
Action by which someone refrains from performing an event
ExamplesJob 30:27 “I am seething within and cannot rest; Days of misery confront me.
-
to calm, to quieten
Causative action by which someone causes someone else to refrain from performing an event
ExamplesPsalm 131:2 I have certainly soothed and quieted my soul; Like a weaned child resting against his mother, My soul within me is like a weaned child.
How it’s used In 5 roles
Every occurrence, grouped by the words it is grammatically related to.
the word studied the word it goes with
Who or what does itSubject
30 occurrences in 14 groups
- Not stated: you (one person) 6
- Not stated: they 5
- Not stated: you (more than one) 4
- Not stated: he, she or it 3
- Other words · 10 groups that occur once or twice (12) 12
What it acts on, or what is saidObject
3 occurrences in 3 groups
- בַּתdaughter 1
- נֶפֶשׁsoul, life 1
- נוּus 1
With prepositionsPrepositional phrases
13 occurrences in 13 groups
- Other words · 13 groups that occur once or twice (14) 14
With adverbsAdverbs
7 occurrences in 3 groups
- לֹאnot 4
- אַלnot, do not 2
- שָׁםthere 1
What is done to itIt is the object
1 occurrences in 1 groups
- אָמַרto say 1
When two words share a role, as in “Paul and Barnabas said”, the verse appears under each, so a section’s counts can add up to more than the number of occurrences.
MACULA Greek Linguistic Datasets, available at https://github.com/Clear-Bible/macula-greek/, licensed CC BY 4.0; MACULA Hebrew Linguistic Datasets © 2022-2024 by Biblica, Inc., CC BY 4.0. Westminster Leningrad Codex (tanach.us). OpenScriptures Hebrew Bible morphology (hb.openscriptures.org), CC BY 4.0.
Near synonyms 6 words
- שָׁתַק shâthaq · H8367 · to be still, to become still, to quiet down
- Both words denote ceasing or being quiet or still, with substantial overlap in meaning ("cease," "be quiet," "be silent, still").
- חָשָׁה châshâh · H2814 · to be silent, to keep silent, to cause to be silent
- Both words share clear senses of silence and quietness; their meanings overlap substantially ("be silent," "hold peace," "keep silence," "be still" appear in both). They are two distinct Hebrew roots that can substitute for one another in contexts of silence or refraining from speech. דָּמַם (dâmam, H1826) has broader scope (also not moving, not existing, not engaging), while חָשָׁה (châshâh, H2814) is more narrowly focused on silence.
- עָצָר ʻâtsâr · H6113 · to slow down, to stop, to detain
- Both words overlap in the sense of ceasing or restraining action ("be still, rest, silence" versus "detain, restrain, retain, shut up, stay").
- הָסָה hâçâh · H2013 · to be silent, to be quiet, to hush
- Both words describe cessation of speech or sound.
- שָׁקַט shâqaṭ · H8252 · to be quiet, to be still
- Both words denote ceasing motion or activity and achieving quietness or stillness, with a clear overlap in sense ("be still," "rest," "quiet"), as substitutable terms for stillness or ceasing.
- רָגַע râgaʻ · H7280 · for a moment, to act in a moment, to act suddenly
- Both include the sense of rest—דָּמַם (dâmam, H1826) "rest, be still, be silent," רָגַע (râgaʻ, H7280) "rest, find ease"—though רָגַע (râgaʻ, H7280) also carries additional senses tied to time and instability, its rest-related meaning overlaps with דָּמַם (dâmam, H1826)'s.
Semantic domains 4 entries
- Non-Move002002001013
- דָּמַם describes standing still or ceasing motion, as Joshua commands the sun to stand still at Gibeon.
- Non-Speak002004001009004
- דָּמַם also denotes falling silent or holding one's peace, as Aaron kept silent after the death of his sons in Leviticus.
- Non-Exist002002002006
- דָּמַם can carry the sense of being cut off or brought to nothing, a cessation of existence overlapping with its related root דָּמָה.
- Non-Engage002003003012
- דָּמַם further describes waiting or forbearing from action, a withdrawal from engagement that accompanies the word's stillness and silence senses, as Israel becomes motionless with terror before the LORD.
Word family 8 words
Words formed from the same root. They share a form, not always a meaning.
Brown-Driver-Briggs Hebrew Lexicon H1826. damam I. [דָּמַם] verb be or grow dumb, silent, still (Late Hebrew id.; Ethiopic…
I. [דָּמַם] verb be or grow dumb, silent, still (Late Hebrew id.; Ethiopic in II. stupefy; III., 1 & 2 be astounded, stupefied) —
Qal Perfect דַּ֫מּוּ Job 30:27, דָּ֑מּוּ Psa 35:15; Imperfect יִדֹּם Amo 5:13 Amo 5:2t., וַיִּדֹּם Lev 10:3; Jos 10:13; Jos 10:3feminine singular תִּדֹּם Lam 2:18; Lam 2:2feminine singular תִּדֹּמִּי Jer 48:2 (so Ki Ol & Kö327 q. v.; others Niph`al); וָאֶדֹּם Job 31:34: יִדְּמוּ Exo 15:16 Exo 15:3t.; 1 plural cohortative נִדְּמָה Jer 8:14 (so Thes Ol Bö Kö327q. see; others Niph`al); —
1 be silent Psa 4:5; Psalm 30:13; Psa 35:15 (probably, compare De Che), Eze 24:17; Lev 10:3 (P) Amo 5:13; in grief Lam 2:10; Lam 3:28.
2 be still (opposed to both speech and motion) Job 31:34; = perish Jer 8:14; Jer 48:2; Psa 31:18 (׳ד לשׁאול); with לְ be silent to i.e. be resigned to Psa 37:7; Psa 62:6, followed by עֲצָתִי לְמוֺ Job 29:21 (|| שָֽׁמְעוּ לִי); be still, motionless, stand still Jos 10:12-13, (of sun || עמד); 1Sa 14:9 (men); Jer 47:6 (of sword || הֵרָֽגְעִי); so also of bowels, as seat of mental excitement Job 30:27; Lam 2:18 בַּתעֵֿינֵךְ אַלתִּֿדֹּם, i.e. cease not to weep (|| דִּמְעָה כַנַּחַל הוֺרִידִי).
3 be struck dumb, astounded, in amazement and fear Exo 15:16 (כאבן) Isa 23:2 (but compare II. דמם).
Niph`al Perfect3plural וְנָדַמּוּ consecutive Jer 25:37; Imperfect יִדַּמּוּ Jer 49:26; Jer 50:30, יִדָּ֑מּוּ 1Sa 2:9; 1Sa 2:2masculine plural תִּדַּמּוּ Jer 51:6 — be made silent, i.e. destroyed; the wicked 1Sa 2:9 (בַּחשֶׁךְ), compare Jer 51:6; men of war Jer 49:25; Jer 50:30; dwellings Jer 25:37.
Po. Perfect1singular נַפְשִׁי וְדוֺמַ֫מְתִּי שִׁוִּיתִי Psa 131:2 'composed and quieted my soul Che (as a weaned child).
Hiph`il Perfect3masculine singular suffix הֲדִמָּנוּ he (God) hath silenced us ( = caused to perish) Jer 8:14.
II. [דָּמַם] verb wail (?; compare Assyrian damâmu, groan, wail, lament, DlBaer's Ezech xi; pr 64) — only
Qal Imperative אִי ישְׁבֵי דֹּ֫מּוּ Isa 23:2 wail, ye coast dwellers (compare Dll.c.), || הֵילִילוּ Isa 23:1, & אִי ישְׁבֵי הֵילִילוּ Isa 23:6; most, however, assign this to I.דמם q. v. (3).
דמן (√ of following, meaning dubious; Arabic , prepare, improve, manure land, apparently denominative)
Brown, Driver and Briggs, A Hebrew and English Lexicon of the Old Testament (1906), public domain
Topical studies with this word 4 entries
Meanings adapted from the UBS Dictionary of the Greek New Testament, © United Bible Societies, CC BY-SA 4.0 and the UBS Dictionary of Biblical Hebrew (from the Semantic Dictionary of Biblical Hebrew), © United Bible Societies, CC BY-SA 4.0; MACULA Greek Linguistic Datasets, available at https://github.com/Clear-Bible/macula-greek/, licensed CC BY 4.0; MACULA Hebrew Linguistic Datasets © 2022-2024 by Biblica, Inc., CC BY 4.0. Westminster Leningrad Codex (tanach.us). OpenScriptures Hebrew Bible morphology (hb.openscriptures.org), CC BY 4.0.
Sources
eRhema lexical overview, based on the UBS Dictionary of Biblical Hebrew and the UBS Dictionary of the Greek New Testament (© United Bible Societies, CC BY-SA 4.0) and Macula Hebrew and Greek (Clear Bible, CC BY 4.0); released under CC BY-SA 4.0
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