Hebrew word · H1820

דָּמָה

nidmu

to cease

Hebrew has two or three verbs spelled d-m-h: (1) 'to be like, resemble'; (2) 'to cease, be silent, be cut off, be destroyed.' The second sense occurs in the passive form for cities, peoples or kings being 'cut off' or 'brought to silence' (Isa 6:5 'I am undone/cut off'; Isa 15:1; Jer 47:5; Hos...

Appears 15 times in 13 verses of the Hebrew Old Testament. ·

What it means

1) to cease, cause to cease, cut off, destroy, perish

1a) (Qal)

1a1) to cease

1a2) to cause to cease, destroy

1b) (Niphal)

1b1) to be cut off

1b2) to be undone, be cut off at sight of the theophany

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 Hosea 4:6

Range of meaning

Hebrew has two or three verbs spelled d-m-h: (1) 'to be like, resemble'; (2) 'to cease, be silent, be cut off, be destroyed.' The second sense occurs in the passive form for cities, peoples or kings being 'cut off' or 'brought to silence' (Isa 6:5 'I am undone/cut off'; Isa 15:1; Jer 47:5; Hos 10:7, 15; Zeph 1:11).

Against the English

'Destroyed' (KJV, BSB, WEB) is fair. YLT's 'cut off' and the Vulgate's 'fallen silent' keep the overtone of being hushed and brought to nothing, which 'destroyed' loses.

Used elsewhere in the period

BDB and HALOT list this verse under dmh 'to cease, be destroyed.' The Septuagint read it as dmh 'to be like': 'My people became like one having no knowledge.' The Vulgate read it as 'be silent': 'conticuit populus meus.'

From the study of Isaiah 15:1

Range of meaning

Be cut off, be brought to an end, be ruined or destroyed. HALOT and BDB separate it from damah I, "be like". It overlaps in sound and probably in meaning with damam, "be still, be silent, stop". A ruined city is both "finished" and "silent".

Against the English

KJV "brought to silence", WEB "brought to nothing", YLT "cut off", BSB "destroyed". The KJV follows the Vulgate's conticuit ("fell silent"), which links the verb with damam. Most modern translations follow the sense "cut off, ruined".

How it drifted

The "silence" rendering came from the Latin. It is not wrong as a picture, because a destroyed city goes quiet. But it softens the force of the verb, which means being ended.

Used elsewhere in the period

Isaiah 6:5 uses it for Isaiah himself: "Woe is me, for I am nidmeti", usually "undone" or "lost". Some read it there as "silenced". Hosea 4:6 has "My people are destroyed (nidmu) for lack of knowledge", and Hosea 10:7, 15 says the king of Samaria is "utterly cut off". Zephaniah 1:11 has "all the traders are cut off". In Jeremiah's Moab oracle, the town Madmen "will be silenced" (Jer 48:2, using damam). That is a play on the same sound cluster.

From the study of Isaiah 6:5

Range of meaning

Hebrew has two homonyms spelled דמה. One (H1819) means 'to be like, resemble.' The other (H1820), used here, means 'to cease, be cut off, be destroyed', and overlaps with the related root דָּמַם 'to be silent, be still, be struck dumb.' In the passive stem used here it means 'to be destroyed / brought to an end / silenced.'

Against the English

BSB, NIV and NASB: 'ruined'. ESV: 'lost'. KJV and WEB: 'undone' (archaic for 'ruined'). NLT: 'doomed'. YLT: 'I have been silent', following the Vulgate. The modern renderings agree on catastrophe and differ only in strength.

How it drifted

KJV's 'undone' meant 'ruined, destroyed' in 1611. Today it suggests something unfastened or left unfinished, or at most being emotionally overwhelmed, which is much weaker than the Hebrew.

Used elsewhere in the period

The passive form is used of national destruction: Hos 4:6 ('My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge'); Hos 10:7, 15 (Samaria's king 'cut off'); Isa 15:1 (Moab 'laid waste'); Jer 47:5; Zeph 1:11. The Septuagint has κατανένυγμαι, 'I am pierced through / stunned'. The Vulgate has 'quia tacui', 'because I kept silent'.

Where it appears

Psalms · 2

  1. Psalm 49:12 נִדְמֽוּ׃ [which] they are destroyed

    But a man, despite his wealth, cannot endure; he is like the beasts that perish.

  2. Psalm 49:20 נִדְמֽוּ׃ [which] they are destroyed

    A man who has riches without understanding is like the beasts that perish.

Isaiah · 3

  1. Isaiah 6:5 נִדְמֵ֗יתִי I am destroyed

    Then I said: “Woe is me, for I am ruined, because I am a man of unclean lips dwelling among a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the LORD of Hosts.”

    Here: A passive perfect: 'I am finished, I have been cut off.' The same verb is used of whole peoples wiped out (Hos 4:6; Isa 15:1). The root also carries the sense of being brought to silence, which suits a verse about lips. Isaiah sees himself as a dead man.

  2. Isaiah 15:1 נִדְמָ֔ה נִדְמָֽה׃ it was destroyed

    This is the burden against Moab: Ar in Moab is ruined, destroyed in a night! Kir in Moab is devastated, destroyed in a night!

    Here: "It is finished, wiped out." This is the same verb as Isaiah's "I am undone" (6:5) and Hosea's "my people are destroyed" (4:6). It has a sound-link to Hebrew words for silence and stillness, which is where the KJV's "brought to silence" comes from.

Jeremiah · 2

  1. Jeremiah 14:17 תִּדְמֶ֑ינָה they cease

    You are to speak this word to them: ‘My eyes overflow with tears; day and night they do not cease, for the virgin daughter of my people has been shattered by a crushing blow, a severely grievous wound.

    Here: "Let them not cease / fall still." This root is linked with being silent or still, so the tears are pictured as never going quiet. Its sound echoes dimʿâ, "tears."

  2. Jeremiah 47:5 נִדְמְתָ֥ה it will be silent

    The people of Gaza will shave their heads in mourning; Ashkelon will be silenced. O remnant of their valley, how long will you gash yourself?

Lamentations · 1

  1. Lamentations 3:49 תִדְמֶ֖ה it will cease

    My eyes overflow unceasingly, without relief,

Hosea · 5

  1. Hosea 4:5 וְדָמִ֖יתִי and I will destroy

    You will stumble by day, and the prophet will stumble with you by night; so I will destroy your mother—

  2. Hosea 4:6 נִדְמ֥וּ they have been destroyed

    My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge. Because you have rejected knowledge, I will also reject you as My priests. Since you have forgotten the law of your God, I will also forget your children.

    Here: A passive verb in the completed tense: 'they have been cut off / brought to silence.' It picks up the same root from v. 5 ('I will destroy [silence] your mother'). The ruin is described as already settled.

  3. Hosea 10:7 נִדְמֶ֥ה [will] be destroyed

    Samaria will be carried off with her king like a twig on the surface of the water.

  4. Hosea 10:15 נִדְמֹ֥ה נִדְמָ֖ה certainly <to be destroyed>, he will be destroyed

    Thus it will be done to you, O Bethel, because of your great wickedness. When the day dawns, the king of Israel will be utterly cut off.

Obadiah · 1

  1. Obadiah 1:5 נִדְמֵ֔יתָה you will be destroyed

    “If thieves came to you, if robbers by night—oh, how you will be ruined—would they not steal only what they wanted? If grape gatherers came to you, would they not leave some gleanings?

    Here: 'You are cut off / brought to silence.' The past-tense form presents Edom's ruin as already done, the way prophets speak of what God has decided. The prophet sees the outcome and cries out before finishing his comparison.

Zephaniah · 1

  1. Zephaniah 1:11 נִדְמָה֙ it will be destroyed

    Wail, O dwellers of the Hollow, for all your merchants will be silenced; all who weigh out silver will be cut off.

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