הָגָה

Joshua 1:8 וְהָגִ֤יתָ and you will meditate

This Book of the Law must not depart from your mouth; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. For then you will prosper and succeed in all you do.

Here: 'And you shall murmur.' A low, repeated sounding-out of the words under one's breath. It is the spoken side of 'not depart from your mouth,' and absorbing the text by voicing it is the point.

Job 27:4 יֶהְגֶּ֥ה it will utter

my lips will not speak wickedness, and my tongue will not utter deceit.

Psalm 1:2 יֶהְגֶּ֗ה he meditates

But his delight is in the Law of the LORD, and on His law he meditates day and night.

Here: 'He murmurs / keeps murmuring': reciting the words under his breath, going over them aloud and in his head. The verb form describes ongoing, habitual action, what he keeps doing.

Psalm 2:1 יֶהְגּוּ־ do they devise?

Why do the nations rage and the peoples plot in vain?

Here: A low-voiced sound: a lion growling over its prey, a dove moaning, a person muttering half-aloud while thinking. Here it means the nations murmuring their schemes to one another. It is the same verb Psalm 1:2 uses for the righteous man who 'meditates' on the LORD's instruction day and night. The two psalms set the two kinds of murmuring side by side.

Psalm 35:28 תֶּהְגֶּ֣ה it will utter

Then my tongue will proclaim Your righteousness and Your praises all day long.

Here: A verb for low, repeated vocal sound, used elsewhere of a growling lion and a moaning dove. With 'tongue' as its subject it means actual voiced speech, not silent thought, and it suggests going over the same subject again and again. The form points ahead: 'will murmur', a promise.

Psalm 37:30 יֶהְגֶּ֣ה it utters

The mouth of the righteous man utters wisdom, and his tongue speaks justice.

Here: "Murmurs / utters": a low, audible voicing, the sound of someone reciting or turning words over aloud. The same verb is used for meditating on God's instruction "day and night" in Psalm 1:2. The verb form describes what this person habitually does.

Psalm 38:12 יֶהְגּֽוּ׃ they devise

Those who seek my life lay snares; those who wish me harm speak destruction, plotting deceit all day long.

Here: 'They mutter'. It is the low sound of someone rehearsing words half under their breath. It is the same verb as the Torah-lover's 'meditating' in Ps 1:2 and the nations' 'plotting' in Ps 2:1. Here it is turned to scheming.

Psalm 63:6 אֶהְגֶּה־ I meditate

When I remember You on my bed, I think of You through the watches of the night.

Here: 'I murmur, I go over (it) in a low voice.' The basic picture is a low sound: a dove's moan, a lion's growl, words spoken under the breath. The verb form shows an ongoing or repeated action: through the night he keeps quietly voicing his thoughts toward God.

Psalm 71:24 תֶּהְגֶּ֣ה it will utter

My tongue will indeed proclaim Your righteousness all day long, for those who seek my harm are disgraced and confounded.

Here: The tongue will keep sounding out and repeating God's righteousness, half to itself and half aloud. The verb sits between private meditation and spoken recitation, and the form points to ongoing, repeated action.

Psalm 77:12 וְהָגִ֥יתִי and I will meditate

I will reflect on all You have done and ponder Your mighty deeds.

Psalm 115:7 יֶ֝הְגּ֗וּ they make a sound

they have hands, but cannot feel; they have feet, but cannot walk; they cannot even clear their throats.

Psalm 143:5 הָגִ֥יתִי I have meditated

I remember the days of old; I meditate on all Your works; I consider the work of Your hands.

Here: 'I have murmured over', meaning recited or rehearsed in a low voice. It is the verb of Psalm 1:2 and Joshua 1:8, and it is audible, repeated speech, not silent emptying of the mind.

Proverbs 8:7 יֶהְגֶּ֣ה it will utter

For my mouth will speak the truth, and wickedness is detestable to my lips.

Proverbs 15:28 יֶהְגֶּ֣ה it considers

The heart of the righteous ponders how to answer, but the mouth of the wicked blurts out evil.

Here: Literally a low sound: muttering, cooing, growling. Here it means turning something over inwardly, as if talking it through under your breath. The tense describes a habit: this is what the righteous mind does as a rule.

Proverbs 24:2 יֶהְגֶּ֣ה it plots

for their hearts devise violence, and their lips declare trouble.

Here: To murmur something over and over, to brood on it. This is the verb used for the righteous person who "meditates" on God's law day and night (Psalm 1:2). Here the heart broods on destruction. The imperfect form points to a habit, something it keeps doing.

Isaiah 8:19 וְהַמַּהְגִּ֑ים and who mutter

When men tell you to consult mediums and spiritists who whisper and mutter, shouldn’t a people consult their God instead? Why consult the dead on behalf of the living?

Here: 'And the ones who moan.' A low, inarticulate sound, used for a dove's cooing (38:14) and a lion's growl (31:4). Together with 'chirp' it pictures sounds without words, not clear speech.

Isaiah 16:7 תֶּהְגּ֖וּ you will groan

Therefore let Moab wail; let them wail together for Moab. Moan for the raisin cakes of Kir-hareseth, you who are utterly stricken.

Isaiah 31:4 יֶהְגֶּה֩ it growls

For this is what the LORD has said to me: “Like a lion roaring or a young lion over its prey—and though a band of shepherds is called out against it, it is not terrified by their shouting or subdued by their clamor—so the LORD of Hosts will come down to do battle on Mount Zion and its heights.

Here: The low, rumbling sound a lion makes while crouched over a kill. A possessive growl, not a hunting roar. It is the same verb used for murmuring the Torah in Psalm 1:2.

Isaiah 33:18 יֶהְגֶּ֣ה it will meditate on

Your mind will ponder the former terror: “Where is he who tallies? Where is he who weighs? Where is he who counts the towers?”

Isaiah 38:14 אֶהְגֶּ֖ה I moan

I chirp like a swallow or crane; I moan like a dove. My eyes grow weak as I look upward. O Lord, I am oppressed; be my security.”

Here: A low sound made deep in the throat. It is used for a dove's cooing, a lion's growl (Isa 31:4) and murmured recitation (Ps 1:2). Here it is the sound of mourning. Again it means repeated action: 'I kept moaning.'

Isaiah 59:3 תֶהְגֶּֽה׃ it mutters

For your hands are stained with blood, and your fingers with iniquity; your lips have spoken lies, and your tongue mutters injustice.

Here: 'Mutters': low, under-the-breath, repeated speech. It is the same verb as 'meditates' in Psalm 1:2. The imperfect form marks an ongoing habit: the tongue keeps murmuring injustice to itself, rehearsing and plotting it.

Isaiah 59:11 הָגֹ֣ה נֶהְגֶּ֑ה certainly <to moan>, we moan

We all growl like bears and moan like doves. We hope for justice, but find none, for salvation, but it is far from us.

Here: A verb form placed before the main verb of the same root to intensify it. It adds no new idea but drives the sound home: moaning, on and on.

Isaiah 59:13 וְהֹג֛וֹ and we have uttered

rebelling and denying the LORD, turning away from our God, speaking oppression and revolt, conceiving and uttering lies from the heart.

Here: "And murmuring." It is a low, repeated sound: a dove moaning, a lion growling, a person meditating half aloud (Ps 1:2). The lie is turned over and muttered, not blurted out.

Jeremiah 48:31 יֶהְגֶּֽה׃ he will groan

Therefore I will wail for Moab; I will cry out for all of Moab; I will moan for the men of Kir-heres.