Hebrew word · H1711

דָּגָה

veyidgu

to multiply

Found only here. It is almost certainly formed from dag, 'fish', and means 'to multiply like fish, to teem, to swarm'.

Appears once in the Hebrew Old Testament. ·

What it means

(Qal) to multiply, increase

Abridged from Brown, Driver and Briggs, A Hebrew and English Lexicon of the Old Testament (1906), via STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0).

In depth

From the study of Genesis 48:16

Range of meaning

Found only here. It is almost certainly formed from dag, 'fish', and means 'to multiply like fish, to teem, to swarm'.

Against the English

Every major English version flattens it to 'grow into a multitude', 'increase' or 'multiply'. The fish picture disappears in all of them.

How it drifted

This is not drift but loss in translation. English has no single verb meaning 'to fish-multiply'.

Used elsewhere in the period

Rashi already connects it to fish: 'like fish that are fruitful and multiply'. Most modern lexicons (BDB, HALOT) accept the link. The LXX has plēthyntheiēsan, 'may they be multiplied', and the Vulgate crescant, 'may they grow'.

Where it appears

Genesis · 1

  1. Genesis 48:16 וְיִדְגּ֥וּ and may they multiply

    the angel who has redeemed me from all harm—may He bless these boys. And may they be called by my name and the names of my fathers Abraham and Isaac, and may they grow into a multitude upon the earth.”

    Here: This verb appears nowhere else in the Bible. It almost certainly comes from dag, 'fish', so it means 'may they swarm like fish'. It is a vivid picture of abundant, uncountable offspring.

Word data: STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0), main text only.