Word

מָנַע

mânaʻ · H4513 · Hebrew · 29 occurrences

See all 29 in Search

Meanings

to withhold, to refuse, to hold back, to keep

Action by which humans or deities are unwilling to give or sell something to (other) humans

Examples
1 Kings 20:7 Then the king of Israel summoned all the elders of the land and said, “Please be aware and see that this man is looking for trouble; for he sent me his demand for my wives, my children, my silver, and my gold, and I did not refuse him.”
to withhold, to deny

Literally: to withhold; hence: action by which humans refuse to allow other humans to marry their daughter

Examples
2 Samuel 13:13 “As for me, where could I get rid of my shame? And as for you, you will be like one of the fools in Israel. Now then, please speak to the king, for he will not withhold me from you.”
Literally: to withhold the fruit of the womb (from someone); hence: causative action by which deities keep women from becoming pregnant (to withhold the fruit of the womb, to deny (someone) motherhood)

Examples
Genesis 30:2 Then Jacob’s anger burned against Rachel, and he said, “Am I in the place of God, who has withheld from you the fruit of the womb?”
to keep, to restrain

To hold back or restrain, keeping someone or something from acting or from being released

Examples
Proverbs 1:15 My son, do not walk on the way with them. Keep your feet from their path,
Numbers 22:16 They came to Balaam and said to him, “This is what Balak the son of Zippor says: ‘I beg you, let nothing keep you from coming to me;
Ezekiel 31:15 ‘This is what the Lord GOD says: “On the day when it went down to Sheol I caused mourning; I closed the deep over it and held back its rivers. And its many waters were stopped up, and I made Lebanon mourn for it, and all the trees of the field wilted away on account of it.

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

29 occurrences in 11 groups

Not stated: you (one person) 10
Not stated: I 5
Not stated: he, she or it 5
Other words · 8 groups that occur once or twice (10) 10

What it acts on, or what is saidObject

23 occurrences in 18 groups

טוֹבgood 3
Other words · 17 groups that occur once or twice (20) 20

With prepositionsPrepositional phrases

25 occurrences in 26 groups

מִןfrom+ כֶםyou 3
Other words · 25 groups that occur once or twice (25) 25

With adverbsAdverbs

11 occurrences in 3 groups

לֹאnot 6
אַלnot, do not 4
בַּלnot 1

What it doesIt is the subject

1 occurrences in 1 groups

אָרַרto curse 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 1 word

הָסָה hâçâh · H2013 · to be silent, to be quiet, to hush: The pairing is real but modest. הָסָה (hâçâh, H2013) is specifically about silence/keeping quiet, while מָנַע (mânaʻ, H4513) is a broader withholding verb that can apply to speech but also to possessions, actions, birth, flow, etc. (evidenced by its 9 semantic domains). They overlap in the narrow context of restraining speech, but מָנַע (mânaʻ, H4513)'s primary sense is general restraint/withholding, making this a partial overlap rather than core synonymy.

Semantic domains 9 entries

Possess002003002019: מָנַע denotes withholding something one might otherwise give, keeping it in one's own possession, as when Jacob accuses God of having withheld the fruit of the womb from Rachel.
Associate002003002002: This domain is not directly illustrated among the sampled citations, which describe withholding of conception, honor, or violent action rather than fellowship or association.
Birth002002002003: מָנַע is used specifically of withholding conception or childbirth, as in Jacob's charge that God has withheld from Rachel the fruit of the womb.
Non-Engage002003003012: מָנַע denotes being restrained or held back from an action, as when Balaam is urged to let nothing keep him from coming to Balak, or when David is restrained by the LORD from shedding blood in vengeance.
Non-Flow002002001009: This domain is not directly illustrated among the sampled citations; it likely reflects another attested use of מָנַע for withholding rain or water, a common sense of this root elsewhere in the Old Testament.
Non-Happen002002003004: מָנַע denotes preventing an outcome from occurring, as when Balaam laments that the LORD has held him back from the honor Balak promised him.
Rejoice002001002022: This domain is not directly illustrated among the sampled citations, which do not describe withholding of joy or gladness specifically.
Space002002001017: This domain is not directly illustrated among the sampled citations; it may reflect a spatial nuance of being kept back or held at a distance in another attested occurrence.
Non-Speak002004001009004: This domain is not directly illustrated among the sampled citations, which describe withholding of children, honor, or violent action rather than speech.

Brown-Driver-Briggs Hebrew Lexicon H4513. mana מָנַע verb withhold, hold back (Late Hebrew id.; Zinjirli מנע DHMSendsch. 60;…

H4513. mana
מָנַע verb withhold, hold back (Late Hebrew id.; Zinjirli מנע DHMSendsch. 60; Arabic ; Sabean מנע Levy-OsZMG xix. 1865, 268; Aramaic מְנַע) —
Qal Perfect ׳מ Gen 30:2; suffix מְנָעַ֫נִי 1Sa 25:34; מָנַ֫עְתָּ Psa 21:3; Neh 9:20, etc.; Imperfect יִמְנַעֿ Psa 84:12; suffix יִמְנָעֵָ֫נִי 2Sa 13:13 etc.; Imperative מְנַע Pro 1:15; מִנְעִי Jer 2:25; Jer 31:16; Participle מֹנֵעַ Pro 11:26; Jer 48:10; — withhold, followed by מִן Gen 30:2 (object מְּרִיבֶֿטֶן), Amo 4:7 (rain), Neh 9:20 (manna; all subject ׳י); Job 22:7 (bread), 1Ki 20:7 (object omitted; both human subject), so Jer 48:10 (sword), Ecc 2:10 (heart), Jer 5:25 (good), Pro 3:27 (id., Pro 1:15 (foot); Jer 2:25 (id.) Jer 31:16 (voice); further, 2Sa 13:13 (woman), Jer 42:4 (knowledge), Job 31:16 (poor), Pro 23:13 (correction), object omitted ׳י subject Pro 30:7; מִן omitted Pro 11:26 (object corn); compare Psa 21:3 subject ׳י (object שְׂפָתָיו אֲרֶשֶׁת || לֵב תַּאֲוַת נָתַן), Job 20:13 figurative (wickedness), Eze 31:15 ׳י subject (object rivers); object person ׳י subject followed by מן Num 24:11; followed by מִן + infinitive 1Sa 25:26, 1Sa 25:34; followed by לְ, subject ׳י Psa 84:12 (good).
Niph`al Perfect נִמְנַע Joe 1:13; Imperfect יִמָּנַע Job 38:15, etc.; be withholden followed by מִן, subject מִנְחָה etc. Joe 1:13; light from wicked Job 38:15; Num 22:16 (followed by מִן + infinitive); subject showers (רְבִבִים) Jer 3:3.

Brown, Driver and Briggs, A Hebrew and English Lexicon of the Old Testament (1906), public domain

Topical studies with this word 9 entries

Rejoice1 occurrence Non-Flow1 occurrence Space1 occurrence Birth1 occurrence Non-Happen11 occurrences Marry1 occurrence Possess5 occurrences Non-Engage7 occurrences Non-Speak1 occurrence

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