Hebrew word · H1899

הֶ֫גֶה

hegeh

moaning

A low, inarticulate sound: rumble, growl, moan, sigh, murmur. From hagah: to growl (a lion, Isaiah 31:4), moan (a dove, Isaiah 38:14), mutter, or quietly recite and ponder (Psalm 1:2 'meditate').

Appears 3 times in 3 verses of the Hebrew Old Testament. ·

What it means

1) a rumbling, growling, moaning

1a) a rumbling, growling

1b) a moaning

1c) a sigh, moan, sighing

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 Job 37:2

Range of meaning

A low, inarticulate sound: rumble, growl, moan, sigh, murmur. From hagah: to growl (a lion, Isaiah 31:4), moan (a dove, Isaiah 38:14), mutter, or quietly recite and ponder (Psalm 1:2 'meditate').

Against the English

KJV/WEB 'sound', YLT 'sound', BSB/ESV/NASB/NIV 'rumbling'. 'Rumbling' is accurate. 'Sound' is correct but flat.

Used elsewhere in the period

The noun appears only three times: Ezekiel 2:10 ('lament/moaning'), Psalm 90:9 ('our years end like a sigh'), and here. The Septuagint renders it meletē, 'meditation/study', following the verb's 'ponder' sense and losing the storm image.

Where it appears

Job · 1

  1. Job 37:2 וְ֝הֶ֗גֶה and [the] rumbling

    Listen closely to the thunder of His voice and the rumbling that comes from His mouth.

    Here: 'And a rumbling.' From the verb hagah, used of a lion's low growl over its prey (Isaiah 31:4) and a dove's moan (Isaiah 38:14). It is a deep, drawn-out sound: the long roll of thunder after the crack.

Psalms · 1

  1. Psalm 90:9 הֶֽגֶה׃ a sigh

    For all our days decline in Your fury; we finish our years with a sigh.

Ezekiel · 1

  1. Ezekiel 2:10 וָהֶ֖גֶה and moaning

    which He unrolled before me. And written on the front and back of it were words of lamentation, mourning, and woe.

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