Hebrew word · H3233
יְמָנִי
haymanit
right
Right, on the right-hand side. It comes from the same root as yamin ('right hand') and teman ('south'), because the right hand points south when you face east.
Appears 32 times in 18 verses of the Hebrew Old Testament. ·
What it means
right, right hand
Also means: ye.ma.ni (יְמָנִי ": south" H3233H)
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
- Range of meaning
Right, on the right-hand side. It comes from the same root as yamin ('right hand') and teman ('south'), because the right hand points south when you face east.
- Against the English
'Right side' is correct. What English cannot show is the built-in sense of direction.
- Used elsewhere in the period
Right meaning south: Psalm 89:12 (north and yamin); 1 Samuel 23:19, 24 ('on the right of' = south of); Ezekiel 16:46 ('your sister Samaria... on your left' = north; 'Sodom on your right' = south). The region 'Teman' takes its name from the same root.
From the study of Ezekiel 47:2
- Range of meaning
An adjective from yāmîn, 'right hand'. It means 'right-hand' and, as a direction, 'southern'. Hebrew orients by facing sunrise: east is 'front' (qedem), west is 'behind', north is 'left' and south is 'right'. Yemen ('the south') and Teman ('southland') come from the same root.
- Against the English
BSB and modern versions give 'south side'. KJV, WEB and YLT keep the literal 'right side'.
- How it drifted
'Right side' is a correct literal rendering. But a modern reader hears 'right' as relative to the walker, the right of whoever is standing there, or hears an echo of Christian imagery of the 'right side'. In Hebrew this is a fixed compass point, the same 'south' as v.1 ('south of the altar').
- Used elsewhere in the period
Same usage in Ezek 47:1 and 1 Kgs 7:39. The Latin Vulgate's a latere dextro, 'from the right side', became the basis of the Easter antiphon Vidi aquam egredientem de templo a latere dextro ('I saw water coming out of the temple from the right side'). Later Christian use linked it with the pierced side of Christ (John 19:34), although John never says which side.
Where it appears
Exodus · 3
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Exodus 29:20 הַיְמָנִ֔ית הַיְמָנִ֔ית הַיְמָנִ֑ית <the> right
Slaughter the ram, take some of its blood, and put it on the right earlobes of Aaron and his sons, on the thumbs of their right hands, and on the big toes of their right feet. Splatter the remaining blood on all sides of the altar.
Leviticus · 20
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Leviticus 8:23 הַיְמָנִ֑ית הַיְמָנִ֔ית הַיְמָנִֽית׃ <the> right
Moses slaughtered the ram and took some of its blood and put it on Aaron’s right earlobe, on the thumb of his right hand, and on the big toe of his right foot.
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Leviticus 8:24 הַיְמָנִ֔ית הַיְמָנִ֔ית הַיְמָנִ֑ית <the> right
Moses also presented Aaron’s sons and put some of the blood on their right earlobes, on the thumbs of their right hands, and on the big toes of their right feet. Then he splattered the blood on all sides of the altar.
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Leviticus 14:14 הַיְמָנִ֑ית הַיְמָנִ֔ית הַיְמָנִֽית׃ <the> right
The priest is to take some of the blood from the guilt offering and put it on the right earlobe of the one to be cleansed, on the thumb of his right hand, and on the big toe of his right foot.
Here: 'The right [ear]'. It is placed at the end of its clause, after the person is named, so it lands with emphasis. The right side is the favoured, stronger and more honoured side.
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Leviticus 14:16 הַיְמָנִ֔ית <the> right
dip his right forefinger into the oil in his left palm, and sprinkle some of the oil with his finger seven times before the LORD.
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Leviticus 14:17 הַיְמָנִ֔ית הַיְמָנִ֔ית הַיְמָנִ֑ית <the> right
And the priest is to put some of the oil remaining in his palm on the right earlobe of the one to be cleansed, on the thumb of his right hand, and on the big toe of his right foot, on top of the blood of the guilt offering.
Here: 'The right one': the right ear. In Israel and its neighbours the right side was the side of strength and honour, so the rite marks the person on their primary side.
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Leviticus 14:25 הַיְמָנִ֑ית הַיְמָנִ֔ית הַיְמָנִֽית׃ <the> right
And after he slaughters the lamb for the guilt offering, the priest is to take some of the blood of the guilt offering and put it on the right earlobe of the one to be cleansed, on the thumb of his right hand, and on the big toe of his right foot.
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Leviticus 14:27 הַיְמָנִ֔ית <the> right
and sprinkle with his right forefinger some of the oil in his left palm seven times before the LORD.
Here: An adjective agreeing with 'finger': 'his right finger', meaning a finger of the right hand. The right is the active, honoured hand in the ritual. It matches the right ear, thumb and toe that the oil touches next (v.28).
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Leviticus 14:28 הַיְמָנִ֔ית הַיְמָנִ֔ית הַיְמָנִ֑ית <the> right
The priest shall also put some of the oil in his palm on the right earlobe of the one to be cleansed, on the thumb of his right hand, and on the big toe of his right foot—on the same places as the blood of the guilt offering.
1 Kings · 2
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1 Kings 6:8 הַיְמָנִ֑ית <the> south
The entrance to the bottom floor was on the south side of the temple. A stairway led up to the middle level, and from there to the third floor.
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1 Kings 7:21 הַיְמָנִ֗י <the> south
Thus he set up the pillars at the portico of the temple. The pillar to the south he named Jachin, and the pillar to the north he named Boaz.
Here: Literally 'the right-hand one'. In Hebrew orientation a person faces east, so the right hand is the south. The temple faced east, and 7:39 calls the house's right side its south side, which is why BSB and others put 'south'. The right hand was also the side of honour and power.
2 Kings · 1
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2 Kings 11:11 הַיְמָנִית֙ <the> south
And the guards stood with weapons in hand surrounding the king by the altar and the temple, from the south side to the north side of the temple.
2 Chronicles · 3
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2 Chronicles 3:17 הַיְמָנִי֙ the south [one]
Then he set up the pillars in front of the temple, one on the south and one on the north. The pillar on the south he named Jachin, and the pillar on the north he named Boaz.
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2 Chronicles 4:10 הַיְמָנִ֛ית <the> south
He put the Sea on the south side, at the southeast corner.
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2 Chronicles 23:10 הַיְמָנִית֙ <the> south
He stationed all the troops, with their weapons in hand, surrounding the king by the altar and the temple, from the south side to the north side of the temple.
Ezekiel · 3
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Ezekiel 4:6 הַיְמָנִי֙ <the> right
When you have completed these days, lie down again, but on your right side, and bear the iniquity of the house of Judah. I have assigned to you 40 days, a day for each year.
Here: "The right." In Israel's orientation you faced east, so the right hand was south. The right side fits Judah, the southern kingdom, just as the left (north) fitted Israel.
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Ezekiel 47:1 הַיְמָנִ֔ית <the> south
Then the man brought me back to the entrance of the temple, and I saw water flowing from under the threshold of the temple toward the east (for the temple faced east). The water was coming down from under the south side of the temple, south of the altar.
Here: 'The right' (one). For someone facing east, the right hand is the south. So this is the south flank of the building, seen from inside the temple looking out its front door.
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Ezekiel 47:2 הַיְמָנִֽית׃ <the> south
Next he brought me out through the north gate and led me around the outside to the outer gate facing east, and there I saw the water trickling out from the south side.
Here: Literally 'the right-hand one'. A person facing east (the Hebrew way of orienting) has the south on the right, so this means 'the south side'.
Word data: STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0), main text only.