מָקַק
mâqaq · H4743 · Hebrew · 10 occurrences
Meanings
-
to rot, to fester
Process by which wounds or parts of the human body decompose
ExamplesPsalm 38:5 My wounds grow foul and fester Because of my foolishness.
Zechariah 14:12 Now this will be the plague with which the LORD will strike all the peoples who have gone to war against Jerusalem; their flesh will rot while they stand on their feet, and their eyes will rot in their sockets, and their tongue will rot in their mouth.
-
to waste away, to fall apart, to dissolve
Process by which objects slowly lose their inner coherence and disappear from existence
ExamplesIsaiah 34:4 And all the heavenly lights will wear away, And the sky will be rolled up like a scroll; All its lights will also wither away As a leaf withers from the vine, Or as one withers from the fig tree.
-
to waste away, to pine away
State in which humans have lost their inner composure as a result of guilt
ExamplesLeviticus 26:39 ‘So those of you who may be left will rot away because of their wrongdoing in the lands of your enemies; and also because of the wrongdoing of their forefathers they will rot away with them.
Ezekiel 4:17 because bread and water will be scarce; and they will tremble with one another and waste away in their guilt.
Ezekiel 24:23 ‘Your turbans will be on your heads, and your sandals on your feet. You will not mourn and you will not weep; but you will rot away in your guilty deeds, and you will groan to one another.
How it’s used In 2 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
10 occurrences in 9 groups
- Other words · 9 groups that occur once or twice (10) 10
With prepositionsPrepositional phrases
7 occurrences in 6 groups
- בin/on/with+ עָוֺןiniquity 3
- מִןfrom+ פָּנִיםface, presence, before 1
- בin/on/with+ חוֹרhole 1
- בin/on/with+ פֶּהmouth 1
- בin/on/with+ אֶרֶץland, earth, ground 1
- בin/on/with+ הֶםthem 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 3 words
- בָּלָה bâlâh · H1086 · to wear out, to become worn out, to waste away
- בָּלָה shares the sense of gradual deterioration and wasting away, though it often emphasizes wearing out through use or age rather than internal corruption
- כָּלָה kâlâh · H3615 · to be finished, to be completed, to come to an end
- כָּלָה overlaps with מָקַק in the sense of being consumed or coming to an end, though כָּלָה is broader and can indicate completion in non-destructive contexts as well
- רָקַב râqab · H7537 · to rot, to be forgotten
- רָקַב specifically denotes rotting and decay, closely paralleling מָקַק's sense of decomposition and corruption
Contrasting words 1 word
- חָיָה châyâh · H2421 · to be alive, to become alive, to live
- חָיָה represents the opposite of מָקַק's sense of wasting away and dying—it expresses life, vitality, and preservation rather than decay and dissolution
In the other Testament 3 words
- τήκω tḗkō · G5080 · to become liquid, to melt
- τήκω carries the core sense of melting or dissolving, matching מָקַק's physical and metaphorical meanings of wasting away or dissolving (e.g., Ps 112:10 LXX uses τήκω for מָקַק)
- καταφθείρω kataphtheírō · G2704 · to deprave, to pervert, to ruin
- καταφθείρω captures the sense of corruption and destruction that מָקַק conveys, particularly in contexts of decay and decomposition
- σήπω sḗpō · G4595 · to rot, to decay, decay
- σήπω expresses the idea of rotting and decay that aligns with מָקַק's sense of consuming away through decomposition
Semantic domains 3 entries
- Impact002001001024
- The word's sense of physical wasting and decay reflects a deteriorating effect on the body or on material things, as flesh or bone rotting away.
- Non-Exist002002002006
- The word denotes dissolving or rotting away to nothing, as when the heavenly lights wear away and the sky is rolled up like a scroll.
- Unsafe002003003022
- The word is used repeatedly of a people rotting away under the LORD'S judgment amid the dangers and hardships of exile and siege.
Word family 2 words
Words formed from the same root. They share a form, not always a meaning.
Brown-Driver-Briggs Hebrew Lexicon H4743. maqaq [מָקַק] verb decay, rot, fester, figurative pine away (Late Hebrew id.;…
[מָקַק] verb decay, rot, fester, figurative pine away (Late Hebrew id.; Aramaic (ᵑ7) מְקַק); —
Niph`al Perfect3plural נָמַ֫קּוּ Psa 38:6, ׳וְנ consecutive Isa 34:4; Eze 4:17; Eze 4:2masculine plural וּנֶמַקֹּתֶם consecutive Eze 24:23; Imperfect3feminine singular תִּמַּק Zec 14:12; Zec 14:3masculine plural יִמַּ֫קּוּ Lev 26:39, יִמָּ֑קּוּ Lev 26:39; Lev 26:3feminine plural תִּמַּקְנָה Zec 14:12; Participle plural נְמַקִּים Eze 33:10; —
1 fester, of wounds Psa 38:6 ( + הבאישׁ, see באשׁ).
2 rot, rot away, ׃ בְּפִיֶהם תִּמִק וּלְשׁוֺנוֺ בְחֹרֵיהֶן תִּמַּקְנָה עֵתנָיו Zec 14:12 (plague upon foes of Jerusalem).
3. moulder away, of הַשָּׁמַיִם צְבָא Isa 34:4 (|| הַשָּׁמַיִם כַּסֵּפֶר וְנָנֹלוּ.
4. of pining away by reason of (בְּ), as punishment for, iniquity Eze 4:17; Eze 24:23; Eze 33:10; Lev 26:39 (twice in verse).
Hiph`il Infinitive absolute הָמֵק, transitive ׳ה בְּשָׂרוֺ Zec 14:12 a causing his flesh to rot.
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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