Hebrew word · H1738

דָּוָה

devotah

be sick

To be faint, weak or unwell. The related adjective dawweh means "faint" (Lam 1:13; 5:17, "our heart is faint"). It is used specifically of menstruation in Leviticus 15:33 ("the one who is unwell in her niddah"), Leviticus 20:18, and Isaiah 30:22 (a menstrual cloth).

Appears once in the Hebrew Old Testament. · Updated November 08, 2026

What it means

1) (Qal) to be ill, be unwell

2) (Twot) infirmity

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 Leviticus 12:2

Range of meaning: To be faint, weak or unwell. The related adjective dawweh means "faint" (Lam 1:13; 5:17, "our heart is faint"). It is used specifically of menstruation in Leviticus 15:33 ("the one who is unwell in her niddah"), Leviticus 20:18, and Isaiah 30:22 (a menstrual cloth).
Against the English: KJV: "her infirmity". YLT: "her sickness". Most modern versions fold it into "menstruation" or "monthly period" and do not translate it separately.
How it drifted: "Infirmity" and "sickness" now suggest disease or chronic illness. The Hebrew describes the ordinary discomfort and weakness of a period.
Used elsewhere in the period: Paired with niddah in Leviticus 15:33 and 20:18, so it was a standard way of referring to the menstrual period.

Where it appears

Leviticus · 1

Leviticus 12:2 דְּוֹתָ֖הּ being unwell she

“Say to the Israelites, ‘A woman who becomes pregnant and gives birth to a son will be unclean for seven days, as she is during the days of her menstruation.

Here: "Her being unwell". It describes the weakness of menstruation as an ordinary bodily condition, not a disease. The full phrase means "her menstrual impurity during her period".

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