זָמַר
zâmar · H2167 · Hebrew · 45 occurrences
Meanings
-
to sing praise
Action by which one expresses one's respect and gratitude to someone else by uttering words at a set or improvised tune, whether accompanied by musical instruments and dancing or not
ExamplesJudges 5:3 “Hear, you kings; listen, you dignitaries! I myself—to the LORD, I myself will sing, I will sing praise to the LORD, the God of Israel!
2 Samuel 22:50 “Therefore I will give thanks to You, LORD, among the nations, And I will sing praises to Your name.
1 Chronicles 16:9 Sing to Him, sing praises to Him; Speak of all His wonders.
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
45 occurrences in 6 groups
- Not stated: I 20
- Not stated: you (more than one) 18
- Not stated: they 3
- Not stated (infinitive) 2
- כָּבוֹדglory, honor 1
- Not stated: we 1
What it acts on, or what is saidObject
15 occurrences in 7 groups
- שֵׁםname 5
- ךָּyou 4
- אֱלֹהִיםGod, gods 2
- אֲדֹנָיLord 1
- גְּבוּרָהmight, strength, power 1
- יְהֹוָהthe LORD, YHWH 1
With prepositionsPrepositional phrases
26 occurrences in 15 groups
- לto/for+ יְהֹוָהthe LORD, YHWH 5
- בin/on/with+ כִּנּוֹרsmall lyre 4
- לto/for+ אֱלֹהִיםGod, gods 4
- לto/for+ שֵׁםname 4
- לto/for+ וֹhim 4
- לto/for+ ךְyou 3
- Other words · 9 groups that occur once or twice (12) 12
With adverbsAdverbs
1 occurrences in 1 groups
- כֵּןthus 1
What it is said to bePredicate
2 occurrences in 1 groups
- טוֹבgood 2
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 1 word
- שָׁבַח shâbach · H7623 · to consider good, to consider fortunate, to commend
- Both words denote praise, in the sense of commending or counting someone fortunate, and either could express commendation.
In the other Testament 1 word
- ψάλλω psállō · G5567 · to sing, to sing a psalm, to sing a song of praise
- זָמַר (zâmar, H2167) emphasizes vocal praise and singing forth of psalms, while ψάλλω (psállō, G5567) specifically denotes instrumental music (plucking/playing stringed instruments) in divine worship, though both terms overlap in the broader domain of musical praise to God.
Semantic domains 3 entries
- Sing002004001009006
- זָמַר denotes singing, especially singing praise, as at Judges 5:3 — "I myself will sing, I will sing praise to the LORD" — and 1 Chronicles 16:9 — "Sing to Him, sing praises to Him."
- Praise002004001009009
- This entry carries no independently attested praise sense of its own distinct from its core singing sense; the domain is bundle-shared. The genuine sense is covered under the sing bullet above, which already carries the sense of praising through song (Judges 5:3, 1 Chronicles 16:9).
- Non-Whole002003001021
- This entry carries no non-whole/incomplete sense of its own; the domain is bundle-shared and does not reflect an independent attested usage of this singing/praise lexeme naming incompleteness.
Word family 7 words
Words formed from the same root. They share a form, not always a meaning.
Brown-Driver-Briggs Hebrew Lexicon H2167. zamar I. [זמר] verb only Pi`el make music in praise of God (׳י), only in poetry…
I. [זמר] verb only
Pi`el make music in praise of God (׳י), only in poetry (Arabic pipe, play on a reed; Aramaic , זַמֵּר and derivatives; Ethiopic in derived conjugations; on an original meaning hum, murmur, compare HupZKM iii, (1840) 394 ff. iv, 139 ff. IdPsalm. Einl. § 7, 2 De4 on Psalm 3) — Pi`el Imperfect3masculine singular suffix יְזַמֶּרְךָ Psalm 30:13; Psa 30:1singular אֲזַמֵּר Jdg 5:3; 2Sa 22:50; (וַ)אֲזַמְּרָה Psalm 7:18 Psa 7:7t., אֲזַמֵּ֑רָה Psa 18:50 Psa 18:3t.; suffix אֲזַמֶּרְךָ Psa 57:10; Psa 108:4, אֲזַמְּרֶ֑ךָּ Psa 131:1; Psa 131:3masculine plural יְזַמְּרוּ Psa 66:4; Psa 149:3; וִיזַמְּרוּ Psa 66:4; Psa 66:1plural נְזַמְּרָה Psalm 21:14; Imperative masculine plural זַמְּרוּ Psa 9:12 Psa 9:14t., זַמֵּ֑רוּ Psa 47:7 (twice in verse); Infinitive לְזַמֵּר Psa 92:2, זַמְּרָה Psa 147:1; — make music, melody (only Psalms, except Jdg 5:3; Isa 12:5); —
1 of singing to (ל) God (Yahweh) Jdg 5:3; Psa 27:6; Psa 101:1; Psa 104:33; Psa 105:2 = 1Ch 16:9 (all || שׁיר verb), Psa 9:12; Psa 30:5 (both || הוֺדוּ), Psa 47:7 (לְמַלְכֵּנוּ), Psa 66:4; Psa 71:23 (with שְׂפָתַי תְּרַנֵּנָּה), Psa 75:10 (|| הגיד), Psa 146:2 (|| הלל); followed by אֶלִֿ Psalm 59:18; to his name לשׁם, Psa 18:50 = 2Sa 22:50 (|| אודך), Psa 92:2 (|| לְהֹדוֺת), Psa 135:3 (|| הללויה); followed by suffix = sing thee, praise thee in song Psalm 30:13; Psa 57:10; Psa 108:4; Psa 138:1 (all || אודך); followed by acc ׳י Isa 12:5, אלהים Psa 47:7, אלהינו Psa 147:1, אדני Psa 68:33 (|| שׁירו), followed by שְׁמוֺ Psalm 7:18 (|| אודה), Psa 9:3; Psalm 61:9; Psa 66:4; Psa 68:5 (|| שׁידו); followed by שְׁמוֺ כְּבוֺד Psa 66:2, גבורתך Psalm 21:14 (|| נשׁירה); followed by accusative of the song, מַשְׂכִּיל Psa 47:8 (see ׳מ below שׂכל); absolute Psa 57:8 (|| אשׁירה), Psa 98:4 (|| רַנְַנוּ מִּצְחוּ, הָרִיעוּ,), Psa 108:2 (|| אשׁירה; instrumental accompare Psa 108:3; compare also Psa 108:4 above), Psa 47:7 (twice in verse).
2 of playing musical instruments זַמְּרוּלֿוֺ עָשׂוֺר בְּנֵבֶל Psa 33:2 (|| לי ׳הודו בְּכִנּוֺר), compare Psa 144:9 (|| אשׁירה); בכנור לך אזמרה Psa 71:22 (|| בִכְלִינֶֿבֶל אודך); זמרה וקול ׳ז ׳לי בכנור בכנ֑֑ור Psa 98:5; ׳ז ׳לא בכנור Psa 147:7 (|| לי ׳ענו בתודה); יזמרולֿו וכנור בְּתֹף Psa 149:3 (|| בְּמָחוֺל שׁמו יהללו).
[זְמָר] noun [masculine] music (compare Biblical Hebrew I. [זָמַר]); — emphatic זְמָרָא Dan 3:5, Dan 3:7, Dan 3:10, Dan 3:15.
Brown, Driver and Briggs, A Hebrew and English Lexicon of the Old Testament (1906), public domain
Topical studies with this word 2 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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