Word

מָעַט

mâʻaṭ · H4591 · Hebrew · 22 occurrences

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Meanings

to become few, to decrease

State in which humans or objects are relatively few in number

Examples
Psalm 107:39 When they become few and lowly Because of oppression, misery, and sorrow,
Leviticus 26:22 ‘I will also let loose among you the animals of the field, which will deprive you of your children and eliminate your cattle, and reduce your number so that your roads become deserted.
Psalm 107:38 He also blesses them and they multiply greatly, And He does not let their cattle decrease.
to be little, to do little, to reduce, to lower

State in which an event happens, or action by which humans perform or cause an event to happen, with little intensity or degree

Examples
Nehemiah 9:32 “Now then, our God, the great, the mighty, and the awesome God, who keeps His covenant and faithfulness, Do not let all the hardship seem insignificant before You, Which has happened to us, our kings, our leaders, our priests, our prophets, our fathers, and to all Your people, From the days of the kings of Assyria to this day.
Exodus 16:17 The sons of Israel did so, and some gathered much and some little.
Exodus 30:15 “The rich shall not pay more, and the poor shall not pay less, than the half shekel, when you give the contribution to the LORD to make atonement for yourselves.

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

19 occurrences in 11 groups

Not stated: you (one person) 5
Not stated: they 3
Other words · 9 groups that occur once or twice (11) 11

What it acts on, or what is saidObject

8 occurrences in 7 groups

נַחֲלָהinheritance, heritage 2
כְּלִיvessel, utensil, weapon 1
מִקְנָהpurchase 1
נִיme 1
כֶםyou 1
הֶםthem 1

With prepositionsPrepositional phrases

8 occurrences in 8 groups

לto/for+ מְעַטfew 2
מִןfrom+ הָיָהto be, to become 1
מִןfrom+ מַחֲצִיתhalf 1
מִןfrom+ עֹצֶרclosed womb > barren womb 1
לto/for+ נָתַןto give, to put, to set 1
לto/for+ פֶּהmouth 1

With adverbsAdverbs

6 occurrences in 2 groups

לֹאnot 3
אַלnot, do not 3

What it doesIt is the subject

2 occurrences in 2 groups

חָסֵרto lack 1
אָסַףto gather, to assemble 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

דָּלַל dâlal · H1809 · to become low, to dwindle, to grow weak: Both words denote reduction or diminishment; one covers “bring low, be emptied, fail, be impoverished, be made thin,” and the other “decrease, diminish, make few.”

Contrasting words 1 word

רָבָה râbâh · H7235 · to increase, to multiply, to become numerous: The direct lexical opposite of מָעַט, denoting increase, multiplication, or abundance as opposed to diminishing or decrease.

Semantic domains 3 entries

Quantity002001001046: מָעַט denotes decreasing or diminishing in number, as when those who gathered manna found neither too much nor too little, each measured by need.
Frequency002001003009: This domain is not directly illustrated among the sampled citations, which describe quantities of manna and years of produce rather than the frequency of recurring events.
Lax002001003012: This domain is not directly illustrated among the sampled citations; it may reflect a slackening or lessening nuance related to מָעַט's broader "diminish" sense.

Word family 3 words

Words formed from the same root. They share a form, not always a meaning.

מָעַטmâʻaṭ · H4591מְעַט mᵉʻaṭ · H4592 · few, little, small · 101×מָעֹט mâʻôṭ · H4593 · wrapped, sheathed · 1×

Brown-Driver-Briggs Hebrew Lexicon H4591. maat [מָעַט] verb be or become small, diminished, few (Late Hebrew, Talmud, id.;…

H4591. maat
[מָעַט] verb be or become small, diminished, few (Late Hebrew, Talmud, id.; Arabic is to be without hair on the body) —
Qal Imperfect יִמְעַט Exo 12:4, Exo 12:2masculine plural תִּמְעָ֑טוּ Jer 29:6, Jer 29:3masculine plural יִמְעָ֑טוּ Isa 21:17 +, וַיִּמְעֲטוּ Psa 107:39; Infinitive מְעֹט Lev 25:16; — Exo 12:4 מִשֶּׂה מִהְיוֺת הַבַּיִת אִסיִֿמְעַט if the house be too small for a lamb; Neh 9:32 כָּלהַֿתְּלָאָה אֵת לְפָנֶיךָ אַליִֿמְעַט (compare Ges§ 117l); of a people, Jer 29:6 וְאַלתִּֿמְעָ֑טוּ שָׁם וּרְבוּ and become not few, Jer 30:19 יִמְעָ֔טוּ וְלֹא וְהִרְבִּתִים, Isa 21:17; Psa 107:39; Pro 13:11 יִמְעָ֑ט מֵהֶבֶל הוֺן diminishes (opposed to יַרְבֶּה); Lev 25:16 הַשָּׁנִים מְעֹט וּלְפִי according to the fewness of the years.
Pi`el become few (Ges§ 52k), Perfect3plural Ecc 12:3 מִעֵ֔טוּ כִּי הַטֹּחֲנוֺת וּבָֽטְלוּ.
Hiph`il Perfect3feminine singular consecutive וְהִמְעִ֫יטָה (Ges§ 49k), Lev 26:22, Lev 26:1singular with suffix וְהִמְעַטְתִּים Eze 29:15; Imperfect2masculine singular תַּמְעִיט Lev 25:16, תַּמְעִטֵ֫נִי Jeremiah 10:34, Jer 10:2feminine singular תַּמְעִ֫יטִי 2Ki 4:3, etc.; — make small or few, diminish:
a. Lev 26:22 (of the sword) אֶתְכֶם וְהִמְעִ֫יטָה, Eze 29:15 וְהִמְעַטְתִּים, Jer 10:24 תַּמְעִטֵנִי מֶּןֿ אַלבְּֿאַמְּךָ lest thou make me (the people) small, Psa 107:38 יַמְעִיט לֹא וּבְהֶמְתָּם; Lev 25:16 מִקְנָתוֺ תַּמְעִיט הַשָּׁנִים מְעֹט וּלְפִי according to the smallness (fewness) of the years, thou shalt make small its price, Num 26:54 נַחֲלָתוֺ תַּמְעִיט וְלַמְעַט נַחֲלָתוֺ תַּרְבֶּה לָרַב and to the small (few) thou shalt make small his inheritance (so Num 33:54).
b. qualifying an action (sometimes to be understood from the context), Exo 16:17 וְהַמַּמְעִיט הַמַּרְבֶּה וַיִּלְקְטוּ and they gathered, he that made much, and he that made little (that is לִלְקֹט), Exo 16:18; Num 11:32 אסף הממעיט חמרים עשׂרה, 2Ki 4:3 אַלתַּֿמְעִיטִי רֵקִים כֵּלִים empty vessels make not few (that is, in borrowing); Exo 30:15 וגו ׳לָתֵת הַשָּׁ֑קֶל מִמַּחֲצִית יַמְעִיט לֹא וְהַדַּל יַרְבֶּה לֹא הֶעָשִׁיר shall not diminish from the half shekel to give, i.e. shall not give less, Num 35:8 תַּמְעִיטוּ הַמְעַט וּמֵאֵת תַּרְבּוּ הָרַב מֵאֵת and from the few ye shall make few (that is לָתֵת), i.e. ye shall give few (cities).

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

Topical studies with this word 2 entries

Quantity11 occurrences Lax10 occurrences

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