Hebrew word · H3231

יָמַן

ve'eiminah

to go right

Rare verbs formed from the nouns 'right' and 'left': 'to go right', 'to go left'. Elsewhere they mean 'to turn right/left' (2 Sam 14:19; Isa 30:21; Ezek 21:16 [21:21 Eng.]). Here both are in the cohortative, the 'let me…' form a speaker uses to state his own resolve.

Appears 4 times in 4 verses of the Hebrew Old Testament. ·

What it means

(Hiphil) to choose the right, go to the right, use the right hand, be right handed

Also means: a.man (אָמַן "to turn right" H0541)

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 Genesis 13:9

Range of meaning

Rare verbs formed from the nouns 'right' and 'left': 'to go right', 'to go left'. Elsewhere they mean 'to turn right/left' (2 Sam 14:19; Isa 30:21; Ezek 21:16 [21:21 Eng.]). Here both are in the cohortative, the 'let me…' form a speaker uses to state his own resolve.

Against the English

English has to say 'I will go to the right'. The Hebrew packs that into one verb, and the 'let me' form adds a note of willing self-commitment that 'I will' does not fully carry.

Used elsewhere in the period

Isaiah 30:21: 'when you turn to the right or when you turn to the left' uses the same verbs. 2 Samuel 14:19: 'no one can turn right or left from anything my lord the king has said'.

Where it appears

Genesis · 1

  1. Genesis 13:9 וְאֵימִ֔נָה so let me go right

    Is not the whole land before you? Now separate yourself from me. If you go to the left, I will go to the right; if you go to the right, I will go to the left.”

    Here: A verb made from the word 'right', in a form that states the speaker's resolve: 'then I'll go right.' Abram commits himself ahead of time to whatever is left over.

2 Samuel · 1

  1. 2 Samuel 14:19 לְהֵמִ֣ין to go to [the] right

    So the king asked, “Is the hand of Joab behind all this?” The woman answered, “As surely as you live, my lord the king, no one can turn to the right or to the left from anything that my lord the king says. Yes, your servant Joab is the one who gave me orders; he told your maidservant exactly what to say.

1 Chronicles · 1

  1. 1 Chronicles 12:2 מַיְמִינִ֤ים using right [hand]

    they were archers using both the right and left hands to sling stones and shoot arrows; and they were Saul’s kinsmen from Benjamin):

Ezekiel · 1

  1. Ezekiel 21:16 הֵימִ֖נִי go to [the] right

    Slash to the right; set your blade to the left—wherever your blade is directed.

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