בֶּטֶן
beṭen · H990 · Hebrew · 72 occurrences
Meanings
-
belly, womb, stomach, inmost parts
Front part of the human trunk below the ribs, containing the stomach, bowels, and reproductive organs; associated with birth, food, speech, and the innermost part of objects
ExamplesGenesis 25:23 And the LORD said to her, “Two nations are in your womb; And two peoples will be separated from your body; And one people will be stronger than the other; And the older will serve the younger.”
Genesis 25:24 When her days leading to the delivery were at an end, behold, there were twins in her womb.
Genesis 30:2 Then Jacob’s anger burned against Rachel, and he said, “Am I in the place of God, who has withheld from you the fruit of the womb?”
-
body
Entire human body as a metonymic extension of the belly
ExamplesPsalm 31:9 Be gracious to me, LORD, for I am in distress; My eye is wasted away from grief, my soul and my body too.
Psalm 44:25 For our souls have sunk down into the dust; Our bodies cling to the earth.
Habakkuk 3:16 I heard, and my inner parts trembled; At the sound, my lips quivered. Decay enters my bones, And in my place I tremble; Because I must wait quietly for the day of distress, For the people to arise who will attack us.
-
bulge, rounded projection
Belly-shaped rounded projection in a pillar
Examples1 Kings 7:20 So there were capitals on the two pillars, also above and close to the rounded projection which was beside the lattice; and the pomegranates totaled two hundred in rows around both capitals.
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
46 occurrences in 12 groups
- ךָyour 9
- יmy 8
- הוּhis 8
- אֵםmother 6
- הּher 4
- ךְyour 3
- Other words · 5 groups that occur once or twice (5) 5
Words describing itAdjectives, demonstratives, participles
1 occurrences in 1 groups
- עֵבֶרbeyond, side, across 1
What it doesIt is the subject
6 occurrences in 6 groups
- דָּבַקto cling, to cleave 1
- חָסֵרto lack 1
- כּוּןto establish, to prepare 1
- צָבָהto swell up 1
- רָגַזto tremble 1
- שָׂבַעto be satiated 1
What is done to itIt is the object
5 occurrences in 3 groups
- מָלֵאto be full, to fill 3
- אָכַלto eat, to devour 1
- צָבָהto swell up 1
What it is said to bePredicate
2 occurrences in 2 groups
- יַיִןwine 1
- עָרֵםheap 1
What is said to be itIt is the predicate
3 occurrences in 2 groups
- תָּאוֹםtwins 2
- גּוֹיnation, people 1
After prepositionsPrepositional phrases
35 occurrences in 2 groups
- מִןfrom 41
- בin/on/with 19
In phrases “… of it”It is the genitive
23 occurrences in 9 groups
- פְּרִיfruit, produce 11
- חֶדֶרroom 4
- Other words · 7 groups that occur once or twice (8) 8
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 2 words
- κοιλία koilía · G2836 · belly, internal organs, womb
- Greek κοιλία serves as the standard LXX rendering of Hebrew בֶּטֶן across its semantic range (abdomen, womb, inner body), preserving both literal anatomical reference and figurative extension to matrix/generative capacity.
- γαστήρ gastḗr · G1064 · belly, stomach, womb
- Greek γαστήρ (gastḗr, G1064) directly translates Hebrew בֶּטֶן (beṭen, H990) across the semantic range of belly/stomach, womb/matrix, and bodily interior, functioning as the standard LXX rendering for anatomical and gestational contexts.
Semantic domains 3 entries
- People001001003
- The word most often denotes the womb or the bodily seat of childbearing, as the LORD tells Rebekah 'two nations are in your womb' in Genesis 25:23-24, fitting this general domain's category for the human body and its parts.
- Buildings001003002001
- This code is inherited from the shared root's place-name homograph (Beten, בֶּטֶן (Beṭen, H991)) rather than describing the anatomical 'womb/belly' sense treated here.
- Names of Locations003001010
- This entry carries no independent place-name sense of its own; every tagged occurrence is the noun for the belly or womb, as in “And the LORD said to her, ‘Two nations are in your womb’” (Genesis 25:23). The “Names of Locations” domain is bundle-shared with the related place name בֶּטֶן (Beṭen, H991), which it is not independently attested as here.
Word family 2 words
Words formed from the same root. They share a form, not always a meaning.
Brown-Driver-Briggs Hebrew Lexicon H990. beten I. בֶ֫טֶן noun feminineNum 5:25 belly, body, womb (Arabic ) — ׳בּ absolute…
I. בֶ֫טֶן noun feminineNum 5:25 belly, body, womb (Arabic ) — ׳בּ absolute Jdg 13:7 +; בָּ֑טֶן Jdg 13:5 +; construct בֶּטֶן Psa 139:13 +; suffix בִּטְנִי Job 3:10 +; בִּטְנְךָ Deu 7:13 +; בִּטְנֵךְ Gen 25:23; בִּטְנוֺ Job 15:2 +, etc.; —
1. a. belly, abdomen, of man Jdg 3:21-22, of woman Num 5:21-22, Num 5:27; as beautiful in form Cant 7:3; as seat of hunger Pro 13:25; as eating Eze 3:3 (|| מֵעִים); compare Pro 18:20 (figurative); as seat of passion, avarice, etc. Job 20:20, Job 20:23; in figure of God's casting riches out of extortioner's belly Job 20:15 (|| וַיְקִאֶנּוּ), compare also Psa 17:14; figurative of innermost part of man = inmost soul Pro 18:8 = Pro 26:22; Pro 20:27, Pro 20:30 (all ב ׳חַדְרֵי); as seat of intell. faculties (= English breast or bosom) Pro 22:18 (compare מֵעִים Psa 40:9) Job 15:2; Job 15:35; Job 32:18, בִּטְנִי רוּחַ Job 15:19; as trembling at theophany Hab 3:16.
b. belly of hippopotamus Job 40:16.
c. שְׁאוֺל בֶּטֶן Jon 2:3 (Jonah's prayer: || יַמִּים בִּלְבַכ מְצוּלָה).
2 body, opposed to soul Psa 31:10 (opposed to נֶפֶשׁ), also Psa 44:26 (opposed to id.; — on this compare ZimBp 71).
3 womb Gen 25:23-24, Gen 38:27 (all J) Hos 12:4; Job 10:19 (|| רֶחֶם Job 10:18) Ecc 11:5; Job 31:15 עָשָׂ֑הוּ עשֵֹׁנִי בַבֶּטֶן הֲלֹא did not he that made me in the womb make him (|| אֶחָד בָּרֶחֶם וַיְכֻנֶנּוּ); compare Psa 139:13 בְּבֶטֶן תְּסֻכֵּנִי, & Jer 1:5; especially ב ׳מְּרִי i.e. offspring Gen 30:2 (E) Psa 127:3; Isa 13:18; Pro 31:2 בִּטְנִי בַּר = my son (|| בְּרִי) compare בֶּןבִּֿטְנָהּ Isa 49:15; of birth מִבֶּטֶן יָצָא Job 1:21; Job 3:11; Ecc 5:14; בֶּטֶן alone = birth Hos 9:11 (|| הֵרָיוֺן לֵדָה,), compare Figurative הַקָּ֑רַח יָצָא מִי מִבֶּטֶן Job 38:29 out of whose womb came the ice ? compare בִּטְנִי דַּלְתֵי סָגַר לֹא Job 3:10 i.e. of my (mother's) womb; מִבֶּטֶן גָּחָה take, draw out of the womb, subject ׳י (i.e. cause to be born) Psa 22:10; בֶטֶן מְּרִיused also of father Mic 6:7, compare Psa 132:11 (David as ancestor of Messianic King); Job 19:17 בִטְנִי בְּנֵי sons of my body, of doubtful interpretation, perhaps = sons of my (mother's) womb, compare Job 3:10 (Ges De), i.e. my brother or men of my clan RSK 33 f., others my sons (Ew), my grandsons (Di); also in addressing Israel As a whole (masculine suffix) Deu 7:13; Deu 28:4, Deu 28:11, Deu 28:18, Deu 28:53; Deu 30:9, compare בִטְנָם מַחֲמַדֵּי Hos 9:16 beloved ones of their womb; מִןהַֿבֶּטֶן (מִבֶּטֶן) = from birth Jdg 13:5, Jdg 13:7; Psa 58:4; Psa 71:6, compare also Isa 44:2, Isa 44:24; Isa 46:3 (|| רָחַ֑ם) Isa 48:8; Isa 49:1, Isa 49:5; נִמִּי מִבֶּטֶן id. Jdg 16:17; Job 31:18; Psa 22:11 (|| רֶחֶם).
4 architectural word of some rounded projection connected with the two pillars Jachin & Boaz 1Ki 7:20 (Klo reads הבית).
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
New American Standard Bible Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation, La Habra, Calif. All rights reserved. For Permission to Quote Information visit http://www.lockman.org.