מָסַס
mâçaç · H4549 · Hebrew · 22 occurrences
Meanings
-
to melt, to dissolve
Process by which substances become soft, often as a result of a higher temperature
ExamplesExodus 16:21 They gathered it morning by morning, everyone as much as he would eat; but when the sun became hot, it would melt.
Judges 15:14 When he came to Lehi, the Philistines shouted as they met him. And the Spirit of the LORD rushed upon him so that the ropes that were on his arms were like flax that has burned with fire, and his restraints dropped from his hands.
Psalm 68:2 As smoke is driven away, so drive them away; As wax melts before a fire, So the wicked will perish before God.
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to lose heart
Literally: (one's) heart melts; hence: state in which humans lose all courage
ExamplesJoshua 2:11 “When we heard these reports, our hearts melted and no courage remained in anyone any longer because of you; for the LORD your God, He is God in heaven above and on earth below.
Joshua 5:1 Now it came about when all the kings of the Amorites who were beyond the Jordan to the west, and all the kings of the Canaanites who were by the sea, heard how the LORD had dried up the waters of the Jordan before the sons of Israel until they had crossed, that their hearts melted, and there was no spirit in them any longer because of the sons of Israel.
Joshua 7:5 And the men of Ai struck and killed about thirty-six of their men, and pursued them from the gate as far as Shebarim and struck them on the mountainside; and the hearts of the people melted and became like water.
-
Literally: to make (someone's) heart melt; hence: causative process by which humans cause other humans to lose all courage (to make (someone's) heart melt)
ExamplesDeuteronomy 1:28 ‘Where can we go up? Our brothers have made our hearts melt, by saying, “The people are bigger and taller than we; the cities are large and fortified up to heaven. And besides, we saw the sons of the Anakim there.”’
Deuteronomy 20:8 “Then the officers shall speak further to the people and say, ‘Who is the man that is afraid and fainthearted? Let him go and return to his house, so that he does not make his brothers’ hearts melt like his heart!’
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to flow
Literally: to melt; hence: process by which liquids flow from an object as if the object itself is melting away
ExamplesIsaiah 34:3 So their slain will be thrown out, And their corpses will give off their stench, And the mountains will be drenched with their blood.
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to waste away
Literally: to melt; hence: process by which people or objects to vanish from existence
ExamplesPsalm 112:10 The wicked will see it and be vexed, He will gnash his teeth and melt away; The desire of the wicked will perish.
Isaiah 10:18 And He will destroy the glory of his forest and of his fruitful garden, both soul and body, And it will be as when a sick person wastes away.
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
Who or what does itSubject
20 occurrences in 10 groups
- לֵבָבheart, mind 6
- הַרmountain 3
- Not stated: he, she or it 3
- Other words · 7 groups that occur once or twice (8) 8
What it acts on, or what is saidObject
1 occurrences in 1 groups
- לֵבָבheart, mind 1
With prepositionsPrepositional phrases
9 occurrences in 10 groups
- Other words · 10 groups that occur once or twice (10) 10
With adverbsAdverbs
1 occurrences in 1 groups
- לֹאnot 1
Named alongside itApposition
1 occurrences in 1 groups
- מְלָאכָהwork 1
After prepositionsPrepositional phrases
2 occurrences in 1 groups
- כlike/as 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 4 words
- מוּג mûwg · H4127 · to melt, to make soft
- Both terms denote melting or softening, and by extension fainting or discouragement, describing overlapping physical and metaphorical processes of dissolution and heart-melting fear.
- מָסָה mâçâh · H4529 · to melt, to make (someone's) heart melt
- Both terms denote melting, dissolving, or liquefying — one in the sense of "make to consume away, melt, water," the other "melt away, be loosed, discourage, faint" — sharing core senses of physical dissolution and metaphorical weakening.
- רָכַךְ râkak · H7401 · to be softened, to be timid
- Both terms denote softening, melting, or losing firmness, physically and emotionally, overlapping in the sense of fainting or discouragement.
- נָתַךְ nâthak · H5413 · to pour, to pour out
- Both terms share the sense of melting or dissolving, functioning as two distinct Hebrew verbs for the same basic process.
Semantic domains 4 entries
- Soft002001001057
- מָסַס denotes melting, a solid becoming soft and dissolving, as with the manna that melts once the sun grows hot.
- Afraid002001002001
- מָסַס is repeatedly used of hearts melting with fear, as when the report of the Anakim makes Israel's brothers' hearts melt, or when Rahab describes how all courage melted from her people at the news of the LORD's deeds.
- Flow002002001008
- מָסַס denotes melting into a flowing or liquid state, as with the manna that melts away once exposed to the sun's heat.
- Non-Exist002002002006
- מָסַס denotes a complete dissolving or ceasing, as with courage and spirit that melt away entirely and no longer remain in a person.
Word family 4 words
Words formed from the same root. They share a form, not always a meaning.
Brown-Driver-Briggs Hebrew Lexicon H4549. masas [מָסַס] verb dissolve, melt, intransitive (מְסַס ᵑ7; compare מסה, and II.…
[מָסַס] verb dissolve, melt, intransitive (מְסַס ᵑ7; compare מסה, and II. מאס); —
Qal. Infinitive construct נֹסֵס מְסֹס Isa 10:18; like the melting (wasting away) of a נֹסֵס (q. v.)
Niph`al Perfect וְנָמֵס consecutive Eze 21:12; וְנָמָ֑ס Exo 16:21; Psa 112:10; נָמַ֫סּוּ Psa 97:5 Psa 97:2t; Imperfect יִמַּס Deu 20:8 +; וַיִּמַּסּוּ Jdg 15:14; Infinitive absolute הִמֵּס 2Sa 17:10; construct id. Psa 68:3; Participle נָמֵס Psa 22:15 Psa 22:2t.; —
1 melt (intransitive) of manna Exo 16:21; wax Psa 68:3 (simile of wicked); manacles Jdg 15:14 (= vanished, dropped off); wicked Psa 112:10 (melt away); especially of hills and mountains Mic 1:4; Psa 97:5; Isa 34:3.
2 most often figurative of heart = faint, grow fearful, Nah 2:11; 2Sa 17:10 (twice in verse) (compare Dr), Deu 20:8; Jos 2:11; Jos 5:1; Jos 7:5; Isa 13:7; Isa 19:1; Eze 21:12; Psa 22:15.
3 Participle = wasted, consumptive (?), 1Sa 15:9 (|| נְמִבְזָה, read נִבְזָה see בזה
Niph`al) < read נִמְאֶסֶת worthless, literally rejected (see מאס Niph`al)
Hiph`il Perfect3plural אֶתלְֿבָבֵנוּ הֵמַסּוּ Deu 1:28 cause to melt ( = intimidate).
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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