Hebrew Idioms
An idiom is a saying or figure of speech which cannot be understood by the individual words that make it up. An idiom uses a series of words to illustrate a single object, person or concept. The Bible is a book of idioms; if we do not have some understanding of the idioms it puts into use, it will be meaningless to us. This document is a list of the different types of idioms used in the Bible; each section containing a short description and at least one example.
Verse | Idiom | Meaning |
---|---|---|
Gen 22.17 | Seed | descendants |
Gen 24.60 | Possess gates | capture cities |
Gen 27.41 | Said in heart | thought to self |
Gen 31.35 | The way of women | menstruation |
Gen 40.13 | Lift up your head | restore to honor |
Ex 1.5 | Loins ? | descendants |
Ex 3.8 | Flowing with milk and honey | fertile |
Ex 3.19 | Mighty hand | force |
Ex 13.2 | Open the womb | be born |
Ex 15.25 | Sweet water | water fit to drink |
Ex 32.19 | His anger burned | very angry |
Ex 34.6 | Long of anger | slow to get angry |
Lev. 20.18 | Her sickness | her period |
Lev 22.6 | Soul | person |
Deut 5.6 | House of bondage | (land of) slavery |
Deut 8.14 | Heart lifted up | proud |
Deut 15.7 | Close hand | selfish |
Deut 20.8 | Heart melt | lose courage |
Deut 21.17 | Beginning of his strength | his firstborn |
Deut 23.13 | Squat outside | defecate |
Deut 23.13 | What comes from you | excrement |
Deut 28.28 | Heart | mind |
Josh 10.6 | Slack hands | abandon |
Judges 3.28 | Deliver them into your hands | defeat them for you |
Judges 13.5 | From the womb | from birth |
1 Sam 10.9 | gave him another heart | changed his attitude |
1 Sam 24.3 | covered his feet | relieved himself |
1 Sam 25.22 | one who urinates against a wall | male |
2 Sam 1.12 | house | nation |
2 Sam 18.25 | good news is in his mouth | he brings good news |
1 Ki 2.10 | slept | died |
2 Ki 2.7 | sons of the prophets | group of prophets |
2 Ki 4.29 | gird up your loins | get ready |
2 Ki 19.26 | small of hand | weak |
2 Chr 25.17 | look each other in the face | meet each other in battle |
2 Chr 36.13 | stiffened his neck | became stubborn |
Esther 1.7 | Open hand | generosity |
Esther 1.14 | Saw his face | had access to him |
Esther 2.21 | Send a hand against | assassinate |
Esther 6.10 | let fall | neglect (3) |
Job 1.12 | Put hand on | harm |
Job 20.20 | Knew no quiet in their bellies | greedy |
Job 23.16 | Soft heart | fearful |
Job 31.10 | Kneel over | have sex with |
Job 33.16 | Opens the ear | informs, reveals |
Job 35.8 | Son of man | other humans |
Ps 3.7 | Break teeth | make powerless |
Ps 4.1 | Enlarge space | set free |
Ps 5.9 | Their throat is an open grave | they speak deceitfully |
Ps 6.7 | Eye is consumed | vision is blurred |
Ps 7.3 | Iniquity in my hands | guilty |
Ps 7.9 | Hearts and kidneys | thoughts and emotions |
Ps 10.5 | Snorts | scoffs |
Ps 11.6 | the portion of their cup | their destiny |
Ps 12.2 | double heart | duplicitous |
Ps 17.8 | Little man of the eye | pupil |
Ps 24.4 | Clean hands | act purely |
Ps 25.1 | Lift up my soul | pray |
Ps 27.8 | Seek my face | seek me |
Ps 33.18 | Eyes are upon | watches over |
Ps 41.9 | Lifted heel against | turned against |
Ps 73.9 | Tongue struts through the earth | arrogantly order everyone |
Ps 75.5 | Lift horn | defy God |
Ps 89.13 | Right hand | might |
Ps 89.22 | Son of wickedness | wicked person |
Ps 90.12 | Number days | use time wisely |
Ps 94.9 | Planted | created |
Ps 102.2 | Hide your face | refuse to answer |
Ps 121.1 | Lift up eyes | look up toward |
Ps 124.3 | Swallowed alive | killed |
Pro 17.22 | Dries bones | drains strength |
Pro 18.20 | Fruit of the mouth | what someone says |
Pro 24.20 | lamp will go out | will die |
Song 2.4 | His banner over me is love | he loves me very much |
Song 2.17 | Until the day breathes | until dawn |
Song 4.2 | none is bereaved | none is missing |
Is 9.9 | Arrogance of heart | arrogant |
Is 14.12 | Son of the morning | morning star |
Is 35.10 | Joy will crown their heads | they will be joyful |
Is 52.7 | Feet | person |
Is 57.4 | Open mouth wide | sneer |
Is 60.16 | Suck the milk of nations | receive the wealth of other countries |
Is 61.3 | Oil of gladness | joy |
Jer 4.4 | Remove the foreskin of your heart | dedicate yourselves fully to God |
Jer 4.19 | Walls | pain |
Jer 4.30 | Seek your life | want to kill you |
Jer 5.5 | Broken the yoke | rejected God's authority |
Jer 6.10 | Ears are uncircumcised | don't listen |
Jer 7.12 | Where I caused my name to dwell | where I chose to be worshiped |
Jer 9.1 | waters | spring of water |
Jer. 25.15 | Wine of wrath | my anger |
Jer 50.33 | Sons of | people of |
Jer 51.37 | Hissing | scorn |
Lam 1.16 | Eyes run down with water | eyes flow with tears |
Ezek 3.7 | Hard forehead | stubborn |
Ezek 16.25 | Spread feet | offer self for sex |
Ezek 16.26 | Big of phallus | lustful |
Mal 1.11 | My name | me |
Mal 2.12 | he who awakens and he who answers | every single person |
Ancient Hebrew Text - Idioms |
More info:
Simile- a likening of one thing to another, usually containing the words "like" or "as."
Example: His head and hair were white like wool, as white as snow, and his eyes were like blazing fire. Revelation 1:14 NIV
Example: He wraps himself in light as with a garment; he stretches out the heavens like a tent.. Psalm 104:2-3 NIV
Metaphor- very much like a simile. An implied comparison between two objects without using words such as "like" or "as."
Example- You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again. Matthew 5:13 NIV
Hyperbole- an idiom of overstatement. An exaggeration to make or reinforce a point.
Example: If your right eye causes you to sin, gouge it out and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to be thrown into hell. Matthew 5:29 NIV
Hendiadys- the combination of two or three things to express the same meaning.
Example: May the God of peace sanctify you through and through. May your whole spirit, soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ. 1 Thessalonians 5:23 NIV
Irony- stating one thing, but meaning the exact opposite.
Example: Go and cry out to the gods you have chosen. Let them save you when you are in trouble. Judges 10:14 NIV
Example: Doubtless you are the people, and wisdom will die with you. Job 12:1-2 NIV
Litotes- a phrase that lessens one thing in order to exalt another.
Example: Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy. 1 Peter 2:10 NIV
Euphemism- substituting a harsh or offensive term with a less offensive one.
Example: After he had said this, he went on to tell him, "Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep; but I am going there to wake him up."(Jesus was speaking of the death of Lazarus) John 11:11 NIV
Antithesis- a direct contrast of one set of figures to another.
Example: For the sinful nature desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the sinful nature. Galatians 5:17 NIV
Ellipsis- a passage that is grammatically incomplete which requires the reader to complete it.
Example: Do all have gifts of healing? Do all speak in tongues? Do all interpret? 1 Corinthians 12:30 NIV
Metonymy- the substitution of a noun for another closely associated noun. We understand the meaning of the this substituted noun by the association it produces in the readers mind.
Example: He is the one who will build a house for me, and I will establish his throne forever.(Here the word "throne" would mean kingdom)1 Chronicles 17:12 NIV
Example: I will place on his shoulder the key to the house of David; what he opens no one can shut, and what he shuts no one can open.(Here "key" would mean authority) Isaiah 22:22 NIV
Synecdoche- a figure of speech in which the part represents the whole or the whole represents the part.
Example: Let me know that it is your hand, that you, O Lord, have done it. Psalm 109:27 NIV
Eponymy- a type of Synecdoche, in which an individual represents the whole nation.
Example: For you have as many gods as you have towns, O Judah. Jeremiah 2:28 NIV
Merismus- a combination of parts of the whole to express totality.
Example: At midnight the Lord struck down all the firstborn in Egypt, from the firstborn of Pharaoh, who sat upon the throne, to the firstborn of the prisoner, who was in the dungeon, and the firstborn of all the livestock as well. Exodus 12:29 NIV
Personification- the representation of a concept or object as if it were a person.
Example: Wisdom calls aloud in the street, she raises her voice in the public squares; at the head of the noisy streets she cries out, in the gateways of the city she makes her speech. Proverbs 1:20-21 NIV
Apostrophe- a personification in which the writer addresses the object or concept that he has personified.
Example: "Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?" 1 Corinthians 15:55 NIV.