אָמָה
ʼâmâh · H519 · Hebrew · 56 occurrences
Meanings
-
female slave
Woman who is the legal property of someone else; either married or eligible for marriage; her children belong to the person who owns her
ExamplesGenesis 20:17 Then Abraham prayed to God, and God healed Abimelech and his wife and his female slaves, so that they gave birth to children.
Genesis 21:10 Therefore she said to Abraham, “Drive out this slave woman and her son, for the son of this slave woman shall not be an heir with my son Isaac!”
Genesis 21:12 But God said to Abraham, “Do not be distressed because of the boy and your slave woman; whatever Sarah tells you, listen to her, for through Isaac your descendants shall be named.
How it’s used In 8 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
48 occurrences in 7 groups
- ךָyour 30
- הוּhis 9
- יmy 3
- הּher 2
- הֶםtheir 2
- עֶבֶדservant, slave 1
Words describing itAdjectives, demonstratives, participles
5 occurrences in 4 groups
- זֹאתthis 2
- הָיָהto be, to become 1
- אָמַרto say 1
- שְׁנַיִםtwo 1
Named alongside itApposition
3 occurrences in 3 groups
- בִּלְהָהBilhah 1
- אֲנִיI 1
- רוּתRuth 1
What it doesIt is the subject
9 occurrences in 7 groups
- שָׂמַחto rejoice, to be glad 3
- דָבַרto speak, to say 1
- חָשַׁבto think about 1
- אָכַלto eat, to devour 1
- נָהַגto lead 1
- נוּחַto rest, to put, to leave 1
What is done to itIt is the object
11 occurrences in 11 groups
- Other words · 11 groups that occur once or twice (11) 11
What it is said to bePredicate
3 occurrences in 3 groups
- גּוֹיnation, people 1
- יָשֵׁןsleeping 1
- שִׁפְחָהmaidservant, female slave 1
After prepositionsPrepositional phrases
10 occurrences in 3 groups
- לto/for 11
- עַלon, upon, over, against 3
- עִםwith 1
In phrases “… of it”It is the genitive
18 occurrences in 9 groups
- בֵּןson 6
- דָּבָרword, thing, matter 3
- Other words · 7 groups that occur once or twice (9) 9
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
- שִׁפְחָה shiphchâh · H8198 · female slave
- Both terms denote a female servant or bondmaid, overlapping precisely in the senses "bondmaid" and "maidservant."
In the other Testament 2 words
- παιδίσκη paidískē · G3814 · slave girl, slave woman
- παιδίσκη (paidískē, G3814) παιδίσκη serves as the standard Greek rendering of אָמָה (ʼâmâh, H519) אָמָה in LXX translation contexts, both denoting a female servant or bondmaid with equivalent semantic range covering handmaids and maidservants.
- δούλη doúlē · G1399 · slave girl, slave woman
- Greek δούλη denotes a female slave in general servitude (voluntary or involuntary), while Hebrew אָמָה specifically designates a handmaid or female household servant, often with connotations of personal attendance or domestic service.
Semantic domains 1 entry
- Classes001001003001
- אָמָה names the female slave or bondwoman as a social class, as Hagar the slave woman Sarah gave to Abraham.
Brown-Driver-Briggs Hebrew Lexicon H519. amah אָמָה noun feminine maid, handmaid (Phoenician אמת, Arabic , Sabean אמת in…
אָמָה noun feminine maid, handmaid (Phoenician אמת, Arabic , Sabean אמת in proper name SabDenkm20, Aramaic , Assyrian amtu ZimBP 67) — ׳א absolute Gen 21:10 +; suffix אֲמָתִי Gen 30:3 +, etc.; plural absolute אֲמָהֹת Gen 31:33; 2Sa 6:22; construct אַמְהוֺת 2Sa 6:20; אַמְהֹתַי Job 19:5 etc. — maid, handmaid.
1 literally maidservant (= שִׁפְחָה q. v., where however sometimes more servile; rarely P in Hexateuch) Gen 30:3; Gen 31:33 (|| שִׁפְחָה Gen 29:24, Gen 29:29; P Gen 30:4f. J etc.) Exo 2:5 (all E); 2Sa 6:20, 2Sa 6:22; Job 19:15; Nah 2:8 (suffix refers to mistress, except Job 19:15 compare 2Sa 6:20, 2Sa 6:22); in legisl. (|| עֶבֶד) Exo 20:10, Exo 20:17; Exo 21:20, Exo 21:26, Exo 21:27, Exo 21:32 (all E) Lev 25:6, Lev 25:44 (twice in verse) (H) Deu 5:14 (twice in verse); Deu 5:18; Deu 12:12, Deu 12:18; Deu 15:17 (compare see 12) Deu 16:11, Deu 16:14; compare also Job 31:13; Ezr 2:65; Neh 7:67; applied to concubine (suffix of master) Gen 20:17; Gen 21:12; Exo 23:12 (all E) Jdg 9:18; Jdg 19:19; also Gen 21:10 (twice in verse); Gen 21:13 (Gen 16:1f. P שִׁפְחָה q. v.) Exo 21:7 (all E), see on this StaGesch i: p. 380.
2 figurative in address, אֲמָֽתְךָ etc., referring to speaker, in token of humility; Rth 3:9 (twice in verse) (|| שׁפחה Rth 2:13) 1Sa 1:16 (|| id. 1Sa 1:18) 1Sa 25:24 (twice in verse); 1Sa 25:25, 1Sa 25:28, 1Sa 25:31, 1Sa 25:41 (|| id. 1Sa 25:27) 2Sa 14:15-16, (|| id. 2Sa 14:6; 2Sa 14:7; 2Sa 14:12; 2Sa 14:15; 2Sa 14:17; 2Sa 14:19); 2Sa 20:17; 1Ki 1:13, 1Ki 1:17; 1Ki 3:20; in addressing God (never שׁפחה) 1Sa 1:11 (3 t. in verse), compare ׳בֶּןאֿ Psa 86:16; Psa 116:16.
Brown, Driver and Briggs, A Hebrew and English Lexicon of the Old Testament (1906), public domain
Topical studies with this word 1 entry
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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