Word

מָשַׁשׁ

mâshash · H4959 · Hebrew · 9 occurrences

See all 9 in Search

Meanings

to feel, to touch, to grope

Action by which humans examine a place or object by touching usually as a result of being unable to see

Examples
Deuteronomy 28:29 and you will be groping about at noon, just as a person who is blind gropes in the darkness, and you will not be successful in your ways; but you will only be oppressed and robbed all the time, with no one to save you.
Job 12:25 “They grope in darkness with no light, And He makes them stagger like a drunken person.
to rummage

Action by which humans try to find an object by feeling around without looking or being able to see

Examples
Genesis 31:37 “Though you have searched through all my property, what have you found of all your household property? Set it here in front of my relatives and your relatives, so that they may decide between the two of us.

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

9 occurrences in 7 groups

Not stated: they 2
Not stated: he, she or it 2
אָבfather 1
לָבָןwhite 1
עִוֵּרblind 1
Not stated: you (one person) 1

What it acts on, or what is saidObject

5 occurrences in 5 groups

אֹהֶלtent 1
חֹשֶׁךְdarkness 1
כְּלִיvessel, utensil, weapon 1
נִיme 1
וֹhim 1

With prepositionsPrepositional phrases

3 occurrences in 4 groups

בin/on/with+ בin/on/with 2
בin/on/with+ אֲפֵלָהdeep darkness 1
כlike/as+ לַיִלnight 1
כlike/as+ מָשַׁשׁto feel 1

What is done to itIt is the object

1 occurrences in 1 groups

הָיָהto be, to become 1

After prepositionsPrepositional phrases

1 occurrences in 1 groups

כlike/as 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 2 words

מוּשׁ mûwsh · H4184 · to give way, to deviate from: Both words denote tactile exploration, feeling by touch: מוּשׁ (mûwsh, H4184) is "feel, handle" and מָשַׁשׁ (mâshash, H4959) "feel, grope, search." They can substitute in contexts of touch.
חָפַר châphar · H2658 · to paw, to dig: חָפַר (dig, paw, search out, seek) and מָשַׁשׁ (feel, grope, search) can both describe acts of seeking or searching; they are distinct Hebrew words with overlapping senses of searching.

Semantic domains 2 entries

Touch002004001001004: מָשַׁשׁ denotes physical touching or feeling, as when the blind Isaac touches Jacob to try to identify him (Genesis 27:22) or the plague of darkness in Egypt is described as darkness "which may be felt" (Exodus 10:21).
Search002002001016: The word also denotes searching or groping about for something, as when Laban searches through Jacob's tent for his stolen household idols (Genesis 31:34-37), extending the sense of feeling one's way to an active search.

Brown-Driver-Briggs Hebrew Lexicon H4959. mashash [מָשַׁשׁ] verb feel, grope (Late Hebrew id. Pi`el; Arabic feel; Ethiopic…

H4959. mashash
[מָשַׁשׁ] verb feel, grope (Late Hebrew id. Pi`el; Arabic feel; Ethiopic Di166; Aramaic , מְשַׁשׁ Pa`el, Palpel — see also ימשׁ, II. מושׁ); —
Qal Imperfect3masculine singular suffix יְמֻשֵּׁנִי Gen 27:12 perhaps my father will feel me; וַיְמֻשֵּׁהוּ Gen 27:22 and he felt of him (both J).
Pi`el Perfect2masculine singular מִשַּׁשְׁתָּ; Imperfect3masculine singular יְמַשֵּׁשׁ Deu 28:29, וַיְמַשֵּׁשׁ Gen 31:34; Gen 31:3masculine plural יִמַשְׁשׁוּ Job 5:4; Job 12:25; Participle מְמַשֵּׁשׁ Deu 28:29; — feel over or through, grope: —
1 ׳וַיְמ אֶתכָּֿלהָֿאֹהֶל לָבָּן Gen 31:24 and Laban felt through the whole tent (i.e. searched it); so (object כֵּלַי) Gen 31:37 thou hast felt through all my possessions (or baggage; both E).
2 grope, of blind Deu 28:29b (in simile), periphrase conjectural, מְמַשֵּׁשׁ וְהָיִיתָDeu 28:29 a and thou shalt become one that gropes at noonday (figurative of judicial blindness); compare Job 5:14; Job 12:25.
Hiph`il Imperfect חשֶׁךְ וְיָמֵשׁ Exo 10:21 that one may feel (the) darkness; read also Imperative suffix הֲמִשֵׁנִי (for והימשׁני, see ימשׁ, p. 413 above) Jdg 16:26 and let me touch the pillars (2 accusative)
מִשְׁתֶּה see שׁתה. מֵת see מות. p 559, 1059

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

Topical studies with this word 2 entries

Search2 occurrences Touch7 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