Hebrew word · H1830

דָּמַע

tidma'

to weep

The verb damaʿ means "to shed tears" and the noun dimʿah means "tear(s)". The verb appears only here in this doubled form.

Appears 2 times in 1 verses of the Hebrew Old Testament. · Updated October 23, 2026

What it means

(Qal) to weep

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

Range of meaning: The verb damaʿ means "to shed tears" and the noun dimʿah means "tear(s)". The verb appears only here in this doubled form.
Against the English: KJV has "weep sore", WEB has "weep bitterly", BSB has "overflow with tears", YLT has "weepeth sore". All of these render the intensifying doubled verb, but none can keep the repeated sound of the tear-root.
Used elsewhere in the period: The noun is common in laments: Ps 6:6; 42:3; Jer 9:1 [8:23 in Hebrew], "my eyes a fountain of tears"; 14:17, "let my eyes run down with tears"; Lam 1:2; 2:11, 18.

Jeremiah · 2

Jeremiah 13:17 וְדָמֹ֨עַ תִּדְמַ֜ע and utterly <to weep>, it will weep

But if you do not listen, I will weep in secret because of your pride. My eyes will overflow with tears, because the LORD’s flock has been taken captive.

Here: An infinitive (the verb's bare "to weep" form) placed before a finite form of the same verb. This Hebrew construction intensifies the action: "weeping, it will weep", meaning it will weep and weep, bitterly.

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