Word

מֹתֶן

môthen · H4975 · Hebrew · 47 occurrences

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Meanings

loins or sides, also the waist

The two sides of the body of humans and certain animals between the rib cage and the hips, where people normally tie a girdle, breeches, loincloth, or sackcloth, and a symbol of strength

Examples
Genesis 37:34 So Jacob tore his clothes, and put on a sackcloth undergarment over his waist, and mourned for his son many days.
Exodus 28:42 “You shall make for them linen undergarments to cover their bare flesh; they shall reach from the waist even to the thighs.
2 Samuel 20:8 When they were at the large stone which is in Gibeon, Amasa came to meet them. Now Joab was dressed in his military attire, and over it he had a belt with a sword in its sheath strapped on at his waist; and as he went forward, it fell out.
rooster

Literally: narrow waisted; exact meaning unsure; possibly: male variant of a dark, brownish red fowl, with orange-red neck hackles, a smallish red comb on the top of their heads, and red lappets on each side under the beak; they have a white spot on their backs near the base of their long glossy black and green tails

Examples
Proverbs 30:31 The strutting rooster or the male goat, And a king when his army is with him.
to tuck one's cloak in one's belt

Literally to gird one's loins, an action by which humans hitch up their mantle and keep it in place with a belt around the waist, in order to walk or work

Examples
Jeremiah 1:17 “Now, belt your garment around your waist and arise, and speak to them all that I command you. Do not be dismayed before them, or I will make you dismayed before them.
to tuck one's cloak in one's belt

Literally to gird one's loins, an action by which humans hitch up their mantle and keep it in place with a belt around the waist, in order to walk or work

Examples
Exodus 12:11 ‘Now you shall eat it in this way: with your garment belted around your waist, your sandals on your feet, and your staff in your hand; and you shall eat it in a hurry—it is the LORD’S Passover.
Proverbs 31:17 She surrounds her waist with strength And makes her arms strong.
Daniel 10:5 I raised my eyes and looked, and behold, there was a man dressed in linen, whose waist had a belt of pure gold of Uphaz.
to tuck one's cloak in one's belt

Literally to gird one's loins, an action by which humans hitch up their mantle and keep it in place with a belt around the waist, in order to walk or work

Examples
1 Kings 18:46 Then the hand of the LORD was on Elijah, and he belted his cloak around his waist and outran Ahab to Jezreel.
strength

Literally: loins; hence: physical strength, considered to be residing in the loins of humans and certain animals

Examples
Deuteronomy 33:11 “LORD, bless his strength, And accept the work of his hands; Smash the hips of those who rise up against him, And those who hate him, so that they do not rise again.”

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

Whose, or of whatGenitive or possessive

38 occurrences in 12 groups

הוּhis 16
ךָyour 6
הֶםtheir 5
Other words · 9 groups that occur once or twice (12) 12

What it doesIt is the subject

3 occurrences in 2 groups

חָגַרto be girded with 2
מָלֵאto be full, to fill 1

What is done to itIt is the object

10 occurrences in 8 groups

חָגַרto be girded with 3
חָזַקto be strong, to strengthen 1
אָזַרto be girded 1
מָחַץto strike 1
מָעַדto make (someone's) loins shake 1
עָמַדto stand 1

What is said to be itIt is the predicate

7 occurrences in 5 groups

קֶסֶתwriting case 3
חָגוֹרgirded 1
חַלְחָלָהtrembling 1
כֹּחַstrength 1
שַׂקsackcloth, sack 1

After prepositionsPrepositional phrases

26 occurrences in 4 groups

בin/on/with 19
עַלon, upon, over, against 14
מִןfrom 6
אֵלto, toward 2

In phrases “… of it”It is the genitive

7 occurrences in 5 groups

מַרְאֶהappearance, sight, vision 3
זַרְזִירrooster 1
אֵזוֹרbelt, loincloth 1
מַיִםwater 1
שִׁבְרוֹןbreaking (someone's) loins > weak legs 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.

In the other Testament 1 word

ὀσφῦς osphŷs · G3751 · waist, genitals, loins: Greek ὀσφῦς denotes the anatomical loins/hip region and by extension procreative power; Hebrew מֹתֶן denotes the loins/side anatomically, making ὀσφῦς the standard LXX rendering of this body-part term.

Semantic domains 3 entries

Birds001001002005: The lexicon's classification of מֹתֶן under this domain reflects the word's rare idiomatic use for a swift or agile creature (as in the "greyhound" rendering of Proverbs 30:31's list of stately-moving things), a sense distinct from its ordinary anatomical use for the loins.
Dress002003001007: The word most commonly denotes the loins or waist as the place where clothing and armor are girded, as in Exodus 12:11's instruction to eat the Passover with garment "belted around your waist," or Ezekiel 28:42's linen undergarments reaching from the waist.
Strong002001001063: The loins are also figuratively the seat of physical strength and vigor, as in Deuteronomy 33:11's blessing on the strength of Levi's "loins," tying the anatomical term to bodily power and capability.

Word family 2 words

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

מֹתֶןmôthen · H4975אֵמְתָּנִי ʼêmᵉtânîy · H574 · terrible · 1×

Brown-Driver-Briggs Hebrew Lexicon H4975. mothen מָתְנַ֫יִם noun masculine dual loins (Arabic back, the two sides of the…

H4975. mothen
מָתְנַ֫יִם noun masculine dual loins (Arabic back, the two sides of the back, etc.; Syriac ; — absolute ׳מ Deu 33:11 Deu 33:7t., מָתְנָ֑יִם Eze 29:7; Eze 47:4; construct מָתְנֵי Jer 13:11 + 3t.; suffix מָתְנַי Isa 21:3, מָתְנָ֑י Jer 13:2; מָתְנֵיהֶם 1Kings + Jeremiah 20:32 Jer 20:4t., etc.; — loins:
1. a. place of wearing girdle 1Ki 2:5; 2Ki 1:8; Jer 13:1-2, Jer 13:4, Jer 13:11; Eze 23:15; figurative Isa 11:5 righteousness shall be the girdle of his loins.
b. hence place of things attached to girdle: — sword girded on (אסר על, חגר 2Sa 20:8; Neh 4:12; opposed to, אֲפַתֵּחַ מְלָכִים וּמָתְנֵי Isa 45:1 and the loins of kings I will loosen, i e. will disarm them (׳י before Cyrus; compare Che); ink-horn Eze 9:2-3, Eze 9:11.
c. girding up loins = make ready for action, מָתְנָיו וַיְשַׁנֵּס 1Ki 18:46; more often מ ׳חָגַר 2Ki 4:29; 2Ki 9:1; Exo 12:11 (P), Dan 10:5; מ ׳אָזַר Jer 1:17.
d. מ ׳זַרְזִיר Pro 30:31 that which is girt in the loins, i.e. probably either a greyhound Ew Bö De (contracted, as if by a belt), or a war-horse, charger, Bo Ges Hi Str Wild (with a saddle); compare also זרזיר, p. 267 above; text perhaps corrupt (Wild).
e. girded with sackcloth (in mourning) Gen 37:34 (J), Amo 8:10; Isa 20:2; 1Ki 20:31-32, Jer 48:37.
f. linen breeches of priests were to extend יְרֵכַיִם וְעַד מִמָּתְנַיִם Exo 28:42 (P); to be ׳עַלמָֿת Eze 44:18; loins of slaves are girt with waistcloth, compare Job 12:18 (see also אֵזוֺר).
g. in General of the middle of the body, מָת ׳מֵי Eze 47:4 (i.e. water reaching to the loins); so of the appearance of ׳י in Ezekiel's visions Eze 1:27 (twice in verse); Eze 8:2 (twice in verse).
2. a. loins as seat of strength, Deu 33:11; 1Ki 12:10 2Ch 10:10; מָתְנַיִם חַזֵּק Nah 2:2 (|| כֹּחַ אַמֵּץ); בְּמָתְנָיו כֹּחוֺ Job 40:16 (of hippopotamus); in combination with 1a (figurative) מ ׳בְּעוֺז חָֽגְרָה Pro 31:17 she girdeth her loins with strength, she puts on energy with her girdle; compare also מ ׳בְּשִׁבְרוֺן Eze 21:11 sigh with breaking of loins, i.e. in entire collapse of strength; so וּמ ׳הַמְעַ֑ד תָּמִיד Psa 69:24 and make their loins continually to shake, make them totter; compare Eze 29:7 (where read וְהִמְעַדְתָּ for וְהַעֲמַדְתָּ, see מָעַד).
b. as seat of keenest pain, due to grief or dread Nah 2:11; Isa 21:3 (as in travail); so probably also Psa 66:11 (compare Bae; and see מוּעָקָה below עוק).

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

Topical studies with this word 3 entries

Birds1 occurrence Strong1 occurrence Dress7 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