Hebrew word · H2814

חָשָׁה

machshim

be silent

To be silent, keep still, hold back, do nothing. It is often used of someone who could act or speak and chooses not to.

Appears 16 times in 16 verses of the Hebrew Old Testament. ·

What it means

1) to be silent, quiet, still, inactive

1a) (Qal) to be silent, be still

1b) (Hiphil)

1b1) to be silent, exhibit silence

1b2) to show inactivity, be inactive

1b3) to make silent, make quiet, cause to be still

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 62:1

Range of meaning

To be silent, keep still, hold back, do nothing. It is often used of someone who could act or speak and chooses not to.

Against the English

'Keep silent' / 'hold my peace' (KJV) is accurate. English may suggest only speech, but the Hebrew idea includes inaction: standing aside.

Used elsewhere in the period

God says 'I have been silent (heḥeshêti) a long time… now I will cry out like a woman in labor' (Isa 42:14). The people protest 'Will you keep silent (teḥesheh) and afflict us?' (64:12, Hebrew 64:11). God answers 'I will not keep silent (loʾ eḥesheh)' (65:6), the exact form used here. Psalm 28:1 uses the word for a God who seems not to answer.

From the study of Psalm 28:1

Range of meaning

To be silent, be still, keep quiet, and so to hold back or do nothing. It describes not stepping in as well as not speaking.

Against the English

'Remain silent' (BSB) is accurate but can sound purely verbal. The Hebrew also means 'stay inactive'.

Used elsewhere in the period

Isaiah 42:14 (God: 'I have long kept silent… now I will cry out'); 62:1, 6; 64:12 ('Will you keep silent and afflict us so severely?'); 65:6; Psalm 107:29 (the waves 'were stilled'); 2 Kings 2:3, 5; 7:9 ('if we keep silent', meaning do nothing).

From the study of Isaiah 57:11

Range of meaning

To be silent, be still, hold back. In the causative form used here (hiphil), to keep silent or to keep still, and so to refrain from acting. When used of God, it means holding back his judgment or his intervention.

Against the English

KJV and WEB have 'held my peace'. BSB has 'have long been silent'. ESV likewise has 'held my peace'. All are fair. 'Held my peace' is old-fashioned English for 'kept quiet', not 'stayed calm'.

Used elsewhere in the period

Isaiah forms a clear chain with this verb:

  • 42:14: 'I have kept silent from long ago (heḥĕšêtî mēʿôlām)… now I will cry out like a woman in labour.' This is almost the same wording as here.
  • 62:1: 'for Zion's sake I will not keep silent.'
  • 64:12 [Heb 11]: 'will you keep silent?'
  • 65:6: 'I will not keep silent, but I will repay.'

Compare Ps 50:21: 'These things you did and I kept silent; you thought I was just like you.'

Similar words

Where it appears

Judges · 1

  1. Judges 18:9 מַחְשִׁ֔ים [are] inactive

    They answered, “Come on, let us go up against them, for we have seen the land, and it is very good. Why would you fail to act? Do not hesitate to go there and take possession of the land!

1 Kings · 1

  1. 1 Kings 22:3 מַחְשִׁ֔ים [are] inactive

    who said to his servants, “Do you not know that Ramoth-gilead is ours, but we have failed to take it from the hand of the king of Aram?”

2 Kings · 3

  1. 2 Kings 2:3 הֶחֱשֽׁוּ׃ be silent

    Then the sons of the prophets at Bethel came out to Elisha and said, “Do you know that the LORD will take your master away from you today?” “Yes, I know,” he replied. “Do not speak of it.”

    Here: A plural command addressed to the whole group: “Hush! Keep quiet!” A single, abrupt word that cuts the conversation off.

  2. 2 Kings 2:5 הֶחֱשֽׁוּ׃ be silent

    Then the sons of the prophets at Jericho came up to Elisha and said, “Do you know that the LORD will take your master away from you today?” “Yes, I know,” he replied. “Do not speak of it.”

  3. 2 Kings 7:9 מַחְשִׁ֗ים [are] silent

    Finally, they said to one another, “We are not doing what is right. Today is a day of good news. If we are silent and wait until morning light, our sin will overtake us. Now, therefore, let us go and tell the king’s household.”

Nehemiah · 1

  1. Nehemiah 8:11 מַחְשִׁ֤ים [were] making quiet

    And the Levites calmed all the people, saying, “Be still, since today is holy. Do not grieve.”

Psalms · 3

  1. Psalm 28:1 תֶּֽחֱשֶׁ֥ה you should be silent

    Of David. To You, O LORD, I call; be not deaf to me, O my Rock. For if You remain silent, I will be like those descending to the Pit.

    Here: 'You stay silent / you hold back'. This second verb for silence often means inaction as well as quiet: a God who keeps still and does not step in (compare Isaiah 64:12). Using two different 'silence' verbs drives the fear home.

  2. Psalm 39:2 הֶחֱשֵׁ֣יתִי I was silent

    I was speechless and still; I remained silent, even from speaking good, and my sorrow was stirred.

  3. Psalm 107:29 וַ֝יֶּחֱשׁ֗וּ and they were still

    He calmed the storm to a whisper, and the waves of the sea were hushed.

    Here: 'And they went quiet.' The verb is normally used of people holding their tongue (2 Kings 2:3, 5; Isaiah 62:1). Using it of waves pictures the sea as a loud, threatening crowd that is made to shut its mouth.

Ecclesiastes · 1

  1. Ecclesiastes 3:7 לַחֲשׁ֖וֹת to be silent

    a time to tear and a time to mend, a time to be silent and a time to speak,

    Here: To hush, hold your tongue, and sometimes to hold back from acting at all. Beside 'to speak' the main sense is keeping quiet, but the word has the feel of deliberately holding back, not just making no noise.

Isaiah · 6

  1. Isaiah 42:14 הֶחֱשֵׁ֙יתִי֙ I have been silent

    “I have kept silent from ages past; I have remained quiet and restrained. But now I will groan like a woman in labor; I will at once gasp and pant.

    Here: 'I have kept silent.' The verb is used for God holding back, not speaking and not acting. It picks up Israel's complaint that God had gone quiet, and the same word comes back in Isaiah 64:12: 'Will you keep silent?'

  2. Isaiah 57:11 מַחְשֶׁה֙ silent

    Whom have you dreaded and feared, so that you lied and failed to remember Me or take this to heart? Is it not because I have long been silent that you do not fear Me?

    Here: 'Keeping silent', a participle describing a state that continues. God has not spoken up or acted against her, and she took his restraint to mean he did not matter.

  3. Isaiah 62:1 אֶחֱשֶׁ֔ה I will be silent

    For Zion’s sake I will not keep silent, and for Jerusalem’s sake I will not keep still, until her righteousness shines like a bright light, her salvation like a blazing torch.

    Here: This means more than staying quiet. It means keeping out of things and doing nothing. The very same form is God's own vow in Isaiah 65:6 ('I will not keep silent').

  4. Isaiah 62:6 יֶחֱשׁ֑וּ they will be silent

    On your walls, O Jerusalem, I have posted watchmen; they will never be silent day or night. You who call on the LORD shall take no rest for yourselves,

    Here: 'They will (not) be silent.' This is the same verb as in verse 1, 'For Zion's sake I will not keep silent.' Silence here means doing nothing. These guards are defined by their voices, not just their eyes.

  5. Isaiah 64:12 תֶּחֱשֶׁ֥ה will you be silent?

    After all this, O LORD, will You restrain Yourself? Will You keep silent and afflict us beyond measure?

  6. Isaiah 65:6 אֶחֱשֶׂה֙ I will be silent

    Behold, it is written before Me: I will not keep silent, but I will repay; I will pay it back into their laps,

    Here: To keep quiet and do nothing. It answers the people's complaint in 64:12 (Heb. 64:11), 'Will you keep silent?' God replies: no, I will not. But his action will fall on the rebels, not take their side.

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