Hebrew word · H1739

דָּוֶה

davah

sick

Faint, sick, unwell (Lam 1:13, 22; 5:17). Specifically, a woman during menstruation, in the phrase 'the one unwell with her impurity' (Lev 15:33; cf. Lev 12:2; 20:18).

Appears 5 times in 5 verses of the Hebrew Old Testament. ·

What it means

1) faint, unwell

1a) faint, weak

1b) unwell, menstruous

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 Isaiah 30:22

Range of meaning

Faint, sick, unwell (Lam 1:13, 22; 5:17). Specifically, a woman during menstruation, in the phrase 'the one unwell with her impurity' (Lev 15:33; cf. Lev 12:2; 20:18).

Against the English

KJV 'menstruous cloth', BSB 'menstrual cloths', and NIV 'menstrual cloth' supply a noun ('cloth') that the Hebrew does not have. WEB 'unclean thing' and ESV 'unclean things' soften the image completely. YLT 'sickening thing' keeps the 'sick' sense but loses the menstrual reference. Some Jewish translations render 'like a menstruous woman'.

How it drifted

Euphemism in English versions. 'Unclean thing' loses the specific, vivid image. 'Menstrual cloth' keeps it but can sound to modern readers like crude hygiene-disgust rather than a category of ritual purity.

Used elsewhere in the period

Under Lev 15:19–24 a menstruating woman was ritually impure for seven days. Anything she lay or sat on became impure and passed on impurity by contact. This was a ritual status, not a sin. The prophets took up menstrual impurity (niddâ) as their strongest metaphor for religious pollution: Ezek 36:17; Lam 1:17; Ezra 9:11. The Vulgate renders 'like the uncleanness of a menstruating woman'.

From the study of Lamentations 1:13

Range of meaning

Sick, unwell, ailing, faint. In Leviticus it is the word for a woman during her menstrual period (Lev 12:2; 15:33; 20:18). It is also used of a heart that is sick or faint (Lam 5:17; compare Isa 1:5, 'the whole heart faint').

Against the English

'Faint' in modern English usually means dizzy or about to pass out. The Hebrew means lasting sickness. Here it may also carry an overtone of feminine ritual impurity, which English cannot carry.

How it drifted

English 'faint' once had a wider sense (weak, feeble, sick at heart). Today it narrows to fainting or to something barely noticeable, as in 'faint praise'.

Used elsewhere in the period

Leviticus 15:33 uses ha-dawah be-niddatah, 'the one who is unwell in her menstrual impurity'. Lamentations 1:8 ('a thing unclean'), 1:9 ('her uncleanness in her skirts') and 1:17 ('Jerusalem has become a niddah', an unclean thing) all use menstrual and purity language for the city. Lamentations 5:17 uses dāweh of a sick heart.

From the study of Lamentations 5:17

Range of meaning

Sick, unwell, weak, ailing. It comes from a root meaning to be ill or faint. Its most frequent concrete use is for a woman's weakness during menstruation (Lev 12:2; 15:33; 20:18). Related forms describe general sickness and inner distress (Ps 41:3 [41:4 Heb]; Isa 1:5; Jer 8:18).

Against the English

'Faint' (KJV, BSB, WEB, NIV, NASB) is an older English word for weak or feeble. Today readers hear 'about to pass out' or 'faint-hearted', meaning timid. 'Sick' (YLT, ESV) is closer.

How it drifted

The English word 'faint' itself shifted. In the 1600s 'faint' commonly meant weak, languid or exhausted. Today it mostly means losing consciousness or lacking courage.

Used elsewhere in the period

Lam 1:13 calls Lady Zion 'desolate, faint (dāwāh) all the day'. Lam 1:22 ends chapter 1 with 'my heart is faint' (libbî dawwāy). Isa 1:5: 'the whole heart faint'. Jer 8:18: 'my heart is sick within me'. In Lev 15:33 and 20:18 it describes menstrual illness. Isa 30:22 uses the related dāwāh for a menstrual cloth.

Where it appears

Leviticus · 2

  1. Leviticus 15:33 וְהַדָּוָה֙ and the menstruating [woman]

    of a woman in her menstrual period, of any male or female who has a discharge, and of a man who lies with an unclean woman.’”

  2. Leviticus 20:18 דָּוָ֗ה menstruating

    If a man lies with a menstruating woman and has sexual relations with her, he has exposed the source of her flow, and she has uncovered the source of her blood. Both of them must be cut off from among their people.

Isaiah · 1

  1. Isaiah 30:22 דָוָ֔ה a menstrual [rag]

    So you will desecrate your silver-plated idols and your gold-plated images. You will throw them away like menstrual cloths, saying to them, “Be gone!”

    Here: A feminine adjective used in Leviticus for a woman in her menstrual period (Lev 15:33; 20:18). Hebrew does not say what noun goes with it ('a menstruous woman' or 'a menstruous thing'). Either way it calls up the strongest everyday picture of ritual impurity: something you keep at a distance.

Lamentations · 2

  1. Lamentations 1:13 דָּוָֽה׃ ס faint

    He sent fire from on high, and it overpowered my bones. He spread a net for my feet and turned me back. He made me desolate, faint all the day long.

    Here: A feminine form meaning 'sick' or 'ailing'. The Levitical laws use this word for a woman during her menstrual period (Lev 12:2; 15:33), and this chapter has already pictured Jerusalem as ritually unclean in that way (1:8–9, 17). It means lasting bodily illness more than a moment of fainting.

  2. Lamentations 5:17 דָוֶה֙ faint

    Because of this, our hearts are faint; because of these, our eyes grow dim—

    Here: Sick, weak, ailing. Elsewhere the word describes a woman made weak and unwell by her monthly bleeding (Lev 15:33). Here it describes an inner self that is drained and ill with grief. It does not mean passing out or being cowardly.

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