Hebrew word · H2230

זֶ֫רֶם

zerem

storm

A heavy rainstorm, a cloudburst, a torrent of water. Also used figuratively of overwhelming attack.

Appears 9 times in 7 verses of the Hebrew Old Testament. ·

What it means

rain-shower, thunderstorm, flood of rain, downpour, rain-storm

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 Isaiah 32:2

Range of meaning

A heavy rainstorm, a cloudburst, a torrent of water. Also used figuratively of overwhelming attack.

Against the English

'Storm', 'tempest' (KJV). 'Inundation' (YLT) keeps the flooding sense best.

Used elsewhere in the period

Isa 25:4 says of God, 'a refuge from the storm [zerem], a shade [tsel] from the heat'. Isa 28:2 pictures Assyria as 'a storm [zerem] of mighty overflowing waters'. Hab 3:10 has 'the torrent [zerem] of waters swept by'.

From the study of Isaiah 28:2

Range of meaning

A cloudburst or torrential downpour, from a root meaning 'to pour out in floods' (Ps 77:17 [Eng. 18], 'the clouds poured out water'). Used of the storm a shelter protects from (Isa 4:6; 25:4; 32:2), of the poor drenched by mountain rain (Job 24:8), and of God's storm-theophany (Hab 3:10; Isa 30:30).

Against the English

BSB gives 'hailstorm' and 'driving rain'. KJV has 'tempest of hail' and 'flood of mighty waters'. 'Flood' can make a modern reader think of a river slowly rising. Zerem is water falling from the sky in a violent rush, which then becomes a sweeping flood (šōṭəpîm).

Used elsewhere in the period

Isa 30:30 uses the same pairing, zerem and hailstones (ʾeben bārād), when YHWH turns his storm on Assyria itself. The instrument of 28:2 becomes the target of 30:30-31.

From the study of Habakkuk 3:10

Range of meaning

Zerem is a violent rain, a cloudburst or hailstorm that brings flash floods (Isa 4:6 'storm and rain'; 25:4 'a storm against a wall'; 28:2 'a storm of hail … a downpour of mighty waters'; 32:2). The related verb zāram means to pour down (Ps 77:17[18]).

Against the English

KJV 'overflowing of the water' and BSB/NIV 'torrents of water' suggest a river in flood. WEB 'storm of waters' and NASB 'downpour' keep the sense of water falling from the sky.

Used elsewhere in the period

Psalm 77:17[18], 'the clouds poured out (zōrmû) water', looks like a close parallel or a shared tradition. The divine warrior who rides the storm and brings rain is a widespread motif. In the Ugaritic texts from Ras Shamra (on the Syrian coast, before 1200 BC), Baal 'gives his voice' in thunder and sends rain.

Where it appears

Job · 1

  1. Job 24:8 מִזֶּ֣רֶם from [the] rain of

    Drenched by mountain rains, they huddle against the rocks for want of shelter.

Isaiah · 7

  1. Isaiah 4:6 מִזֶּ֖רֶם from [the] storm

    a shelter to give shade from the heat by day, and a refuge and hiding place from the storm and the rain.

  2. Isaiah 25:4 מִזֶּ֙רֶם֙ כְּזֶ֥רֶם from rainstorm, [is] like a rainstorm of

    For You have been a refuge for the poor, a stronghold for the needy in distress, a refuge from the storm, a shade from the heat. For the breath of the ruthless is like rain against a wall,

    Here: "From the downpour": the violent winter cloudburst of the Levant, which floods valleys and can wash out walls.

  3. Isaiah 28:2 כְּזֶ֥רֶם כְּ֠זֶרֶם like a storm of

    Behold, the Lord has one who is strong and mighty. Like a hailstorm or destructive tempest, like a driving rain or flooding downpour, he will smash that crown to the ground.

    Here: 'Like a cloudburst of...' Zerem is torrential, pounding rain, the kind of winter storm that turns Levant gullies into flash floods in minutes.

  4. Isaiah 30:30 וָזֶ֖רֶם and a rainstorm

    And the LORD will cause His majestic voice to be heard and His mighty arm to be revealed, striking in angry wrath with a flame of consuming fire, and with cloudburst, storm, and hailstones.

    Here: A pounding downpour or flash flood. Isaiah used it against Ephraim in 28:2, and now the same flood is turned on Assyria.

  5. Isaiah 32:2 זָ֑רֶם a rainstorm

    Each will be like a shelter from the wind, a refuge from the storm, like streams of water in a dry land, like the shadow of a great rock in an arid land.

    Here: A violent cloudburst, the kind that sends flash floods down dry valleys. In Isaiah it is also a picture of Assyria's invasion (28:2).

Habakkuk · 1

  1. Habakkuk 3:10 זֶ֥רֶם a downpour of

    The mountains saw You and quaked; torrents of water swept by. The deep roared with its voice and lifted its hands on high.

    Here: 'A downpour of', in the grammatical form that links it to the next word. The word means a violent rainstorm or flash flood falling from above (Isa 4:6; 25:4; 28:2). It is not a river flowing along its bed. Heaven's water is crashing down.

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