מְחִתָּה
mᵉchittâh · H4288 · Hebrew · 11 occurrences
Meanings
-
ruin
State in which objects are being broken or destroyed; often used figuratively to denote difficult circumstances
ExamplesPsalm 89:40 You have broken down all his walls; You have brought his strongholds to ruin.
Proverbs 10:15 The rich person’s wealth is his fortress, The ruin of the poor is their poverty.
Proverbs 10:29 The way of the LORD is a stronghold for the upright, But ruin to the workers of injustice.
-
terror, shock
Causative action by which humans or deities cause (other) humans to lack inner strength and courage
ExamplesProverbs 21:15 The exercise of justice is joy for the righteous, But terror to those who practice injustice.
Isaiah 54:14 “In righteousness you will be established; You will be far from oppression, for you will not fear; And from terror, for it will not come near you.
Jeremiah 17:17 Do not be a terror to me; You are my refuge in a day of disaster.
How it’s used In 6 roles
Every occurrence, grouped by the words it is grammatically related to.
the word studied the word it goes with
Whose, or of whatGenitive or possessive
2 occurrences in 2 groups
- דַּלpoor, weak 1
- רָזוֹןwasting disease 1
Words describing itAdjectives, demonstratives, participles
1 occurrences in 1 groups
- קָרוֹבnear 1
Second object ofSecond object
1 occurrences in 1 groups
- שׂוּםto put, to set, to place 1
What it is said to bePredicate
3 occurrences in 3 groups
- אֶפֶסthere is not 1
- רֵישׁpoverty 1
- וֹhim 1
What is said to be itIt is the predicate
2 occurrences in 1 groups
- פֶּהmouth 2
After prepositionsPrepositional phrases
3 occurrences in 2 groups
- לto/for 3
- מִןfrom 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 4 words
- שׁוֹא shôwʼ · H7722 · total desolation, total destruction, devastating storm
- שֹׁאָה is a near synonym denoting devastation and ruin, used for catastrophic destruction in similar contexts to מְחִתָּה without any cognate relationship.
- שֶׁבֶר sheber · H7667 · breaking, breach, injury
- שֶׁבֶר denotes destruction and breaking, closely parallel to מְחִתָּה's sense of ruin and dismaying without sharing its root.
- אֵימָה ʼêymâh · H367 · terror, dread, fierce anger
- אֵימָה captures the terror/dread aspect of מְחִתָּה, denoting overwhelming fear without cognate relationship.
- פַּחַד pachad · H6343 · trembling, terror, awe
- פַּחַד expresses terror and dread, synonymous with the dismaying/terror sense of מְחִתָּה.
In the other Testament 2 words
- φόβος phóbos · G5401 · fear, something to be feared
- φόβος is the standard Greek term for fear/terror that translates the terror/dismaying sense of מְחִתָּה in LXX contexts, capturing the emotional impact of destruction and ruin.
- ἀπώλεια apṓleia · G684 · destruction, waste, ruin
- ἀπώλεια is the primary Greek term for destruction/ruin that could serve as a direct translation equivalent for the destruction/ruin sense of מְחִתָּה.
Semantic domains 3 entries
- Impact002001001024
- The fact-packet data assigns this word the Impact domain, likely reflecting the sense of a shattering blow underlying its "ruin" and "destruction" glosses, though the sampled citations (Psalm 89:40; Proverbs 10:14-15, 29; 13:3) illustrate the resulting state of ruin rather than the blow itself.
- Unsafe002003003022
- מְחִתָּה most directly denotes ruin or downfall, an unsafe, broken condition, as in Proverbs 10:29's "ruin to the workers of injustice" and Proverbs 13:3's warning that reckless speech "comes to ruin."
- Afraid002001002001
- The word can also denote the terror or dismay that accompanies such ruin, as in its broader use elsewhere for the dread instilled by calamity.
Word family 3 words
Words formed from the same root. They share a form, not always a meaning.
Brown-Driver-Briggs Hebrew Lexicon H4288. mechittah מְחִתָּה noun feminine terror, destruction, ruin, in poetry (especially…
מְחִתָּה noun feminine terror, destruction, ruin, in poetry (especially Proverbs) — absolute ׳מ Pro 10:14 Pro 10:8t.; construct מְחִתַּת Pro 10:15; Pro 14:28; —
1. a. terror, Isa 54:14 (|| עשֶׁק), Jer 17:17; = object of terror, Jer 48:39 (|| שְׂחֹק).
b. dismay, Pro 21:15 (opposed to שִׂמְחָה).
2 ruin, of strongholds Psa 89:41; מ לְאֹם ׳בְּאֶפֶס רָזוֺן Pro 14:28 without people is ruin to a prince (opposed to הַדְרַתמֶֿלֶךְ); רֵישָׁם ׳מ דַּלִּים Pro 10:15 the ruin of the poor (is) their poverty; as consequence of evil-doing ׳מ אָוֶן לְפֹעֲלֵי Pro 10:29 (opposed to מָעוֺז); of fools מ כְסִיל לֿוֺ׳מִּי Pro 18:7, compare Pro 13:3 (opposed to נַפְשׁוֺ שֹׁמֵר); מ אֱוִיל ׳מִּי קְרֹבָה Pro 10:14 the mouth of a fool is imminent ruin.
חִתִּי חֵת, see above
Brown, Driver and Briggs, A Hebrew and English Lexicon of the Old Testament (1906), public domain
Topical studies with this word 3 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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