Hebrew word · H2161

זָמַם

zamam

to plan

To consider, purpose, plan or devise. For human beings it is often a scheme against someone (Ps 31:13 [Heb 31:14]; 37:12; Prov 31:16 uses it neutrally, of a woman who 'considers' a field). For God it is his fixed purpose (Jer 51:12; Lam 2:17; Zech 1:6; 8:14–15).

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

What it means

1) to have a thought, devise, plan, consider, purpose

1a) (Qal)

1a1) to consider, fix thought upon

1a2) to purpose, devise

1a3) to plot (of evil intent)

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 Jeremiah 4:28

Range of meaning

To consider, purpose, plan or devise. For human beings it is often a scheme against someone (Ps 31:13 [Heb 31:14]; 37:12; Prov 31:16 uses it neutrally, of a woman who 'considers' a field). For God it is his fixed purpose (Jer 51:12; Lam 2:17; Zech 1:6; 8:14–15).

Against the English

KJV 'purposed,' WEB 'planned,' BSB 'planned.' All fine. NIV 'decided' brings out the finality. 'Planned' alone can sound tentative to a modern ear; the Hebrew means the matter is resolved.

Used elsewhere in the period

Lam 2:17, written after the fall of Jerusalem, looks back: 'YHWH has done what he purposed (zāmam); he has carried out his word.' Zech 8:14 recalls: 'as I purposed (zāmam) to bring disaster on you… and I did not relent (niḥam).' Both look like echoes of this verse's wording, fulfilled.

From the study of Psalm 17:3

Range of meaning

To consider, plan, purpose. It is sometimes neutral or good (Prov 31:16, 'she considers a field'; Lam 2:17 and Zech 8:15, of God's purpose). Very often it is negative, 'to plot or scheme evil' (Ps 31:13 [Heb 14]; 37:12; Prov 30:32). The related noun zimmāh means 'scheme, wicked plan', and in the legal texts 'lewdness / depravity' (Lev 18:17).

Against the English

BSB and WEB 'resolved', KJV 'purposed', NIV 'planned no evil', NLT 'determined'. NIV follows the noun reading ('scheming'). The others follow the traditional Hebrew vowels (a verb, 'I have purposed').

Used elsewhere in the period

The Septuagint (adikia, 'wrongdoing') and Jerome's Latin translation made from the Hebrew both seem to have read a noun. The Masoretes (the medieval scribes who added the vowels and accents) pointed it as a first-person verb.

From the study of Psalm 31:13

Range of meaning

To consider, purpose, plan, devise. With human subjects it usually means plotting harm (Ps 37:12; Prov 30:32; Deut 19:19 of the false witness 'who planned' to harm his brother). It can be used neutrally or of God's own purpose (Jer 4:28; Lam 2:17; Zech 1:6). The related noun zimmah means a wicked scheme, even lewdness.

Against the English

BSB/WEB 'plot', KJV 'devised', YLT 'have devised'. All accurate. 'Devised' keeps the sense of deliberate design. 'Plot' keeps the hostility.

Used elsewhere in the period

Ps 37:12 'the wicked plots (zōmēm) against the righteous'; Ps 140:9 (Eng. 140:8); Deut 19:19, the law against a false witness who 'planned to do to his brother', which ties zāmam to perjury aimed at someone's life.

Where it appears

Genesis · 1

  1. Genesis 11:6 יָזְמ֖וּ they will plan

    And the LORD said, “If they have begun to do this as one people speaking the same language, then nothing they devise will be beyond them.

    Here: 'They plan' or 'they scheme': a deliberate purpose. The word is often used of plotting, but it can also describe God's own purposes. Here it carries a note of ambition that has no limit and is not checked by anything.

Deuteronomy · 1

  1. Deuteronomy 19:19 זָמַ֖ם he planned

    you must do to him as he intended to do to his brother. So you must purge the evil from among you.

Psalms · 3

  1. Psalm 17:3 זַ֝מֹּתִ֗י I have resolved

    You have tried my heart; You have visited me in the night. You have tested me and found no evil; I have resolved not to sin with my mouth.

    Here: As the traditional Hebrew vowels have it, 'I have purposed / resolved'. The same consonants can be read as the noun 'my scheming'. Because the root often means plotting evil, it fits the theme of hidden intentions being probed.

  2. Psalm 31:13 זָמָֽמוּ׃ they plotted

    For I hear the slander of many; there is terror on every side. They conspire against me and plot to take my life.

    Here: 'They have schemed': a deliberate, thought-out intention, usually hostile when people are the subject. It closes the verse. Whispering has become a council, and the council has become a murder plot.

  3. Psalm 37:12 זֹמֵ֣ם [is] plotting

    The wicked scheme against the righteous and gnash their teeth at them,

    Here: An ongoing action (a participle, the Hebrew '-ing' form): the wicked person is always working out a scheme. It stands first for emphasis, and its first letter, zayin, opens the zayin stanza of this alphabet poem.

Proverbs · 2

  1. Proverbs 30:32 זַ֝מּ֗וֹתָ you have plotted

    If you have foolishly exalted yourself or if you have plotted evil, put your hand over your mouth.

    Here: "You have schemed" or "you have been plotting." It means deliberate planning, not a passing thought. The Hebrew has no object and no word for "evil." The context of self-promotion and the strife in the next verse make the bad sense clear.

  2. Proverbs 31:16 זָמְמָ֣ה she considers

    She appraises a field and buys it; from her earnings she plants a vineyard.

    Here: She has worked out a plan for it. The word is about deliberate, goal-directed thinking. Elsewhere it is often used for plotting, but here it is put to good use. It also opens the zayin line of the alphabet poem, and it puts her mind ahead of her purse.

Jeremiah · 2

  1. Jeremiah 4:28 זַמֹּ֔תִי I have resolved

    Therefore the earth will mourn and the heavens above will grow dark. I have spoken, I have planned, and I will not relent or turn back.”

    Here: 'I have purposed.' This is a settled plan, not a passing threat. The same verb describes God's fixed decree against Jerusalem in Lam 2:17 and Zech 8:14.

  2. Jeremiah 51:12 זָמַ֣ם he has purposed

    Raise a banner against the walls of Babylon; post the guard; station the watchmen; prepare the ambush. For the LORD has both devised and accomplished what He spoke against the people of Babylon.

    Here: 'He has purposed.' A deliberate, worked-out intention. It echoes 'his plan' (mezimmah) in verse 11.

Lamentations · 1

  1. Lamentations 2:17 זָמָ֗ם he purposed

    The LORD has done what He planned; He has accomplished His decree, which He ordained in days of old; He has overthrown you without pity. He has let the enemy gloat over you and exalted the horn of your foes.

    Here: "He purposed": a settled, deliberate intention. With humans as subject the verb often means scheming. With God as subject, as here and in Jeremiah 4:28 and Zechariah 1:6, it means a resolve to bring disaster that he then carries out.

Zechariah · 3

  1. Zechariah 1:6 זָמַ֜ם he planned

    But did not My words and My statutes, which I commanded My servants the prophets, overtake your fathers? They repented and said, ‘Just as the LORD of Hosts purposed to do to us according to our ways and deeds, so He has done to us.’”

    Here: 'Purposed' or 'resolved'. This was a settled decision, not a passing thought. Lamentations 2:17 uses the same verb: 'The LORD has done what He purposed.'

  2. Zechariah 8:14 זָמַמְ֜תִּי I planned

    For this is what the LORD of Hosts says: “Just as I resolved to bring disaster upon you when your fathers provoked Me to anger, and I did not relent,” says the LORD of Hosts,

    Here: “I resolved / I purposed.” This is a firm decision, not a passing thought. The same verb comes back in v. 15 for God's new resolve to do good.

  3. Zechariah 8:15 זָמַ֙מְתִּי֙ I have planned

    “so now I have resolved to do good again to Jerusalem and Judah. Do not be afraid.

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