Hebrew word · H331

אָטַם

'otem

to shutter

To stop up, close off, narrow an opening. It is used of temple and gate windows that are 'closed' or narrowed/latticed (1 Kings 6:4; Ezekiel 40:16; 41:16, 26), of shutting the lips (Proverbs 17:28), and of stopping the ears (Psalm 58:4–5; Isaiah 33:15; here).

Appears 8 times in 8 verses of the Hebrew Old Testament. ·

What it means

1) to shut, shut up, close

1a) (Qal) to shut, stop (of lips)

1b) (Hiphil) of the wicked stopping their ears (fig.)

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 Proverbs 21:13

Range of meaning

To stop up, close off, narrow an opening. It is used of temple and gate windows that are 'closed' or narrowed/latticed (1 Kings 6:4; Ezekiel 40:16; 41:16, 26), of shutting the lips (Proverbs 17:28), and of stopping the ears (Psalm 58:4–5; Isaiah 33:15; here).

Against the English

'Shuts', 'stops', 'closes' are all fine. KJV's 'stoppeth' keeps the older sense of plugging a hole. What English can lose is that this is a deliberate physical act: you do something to your ear, you do not just happen not to notice.

Used elsewhere in the period

The closest parallel is Psalm 58:4–5, where corrupt rulers are compared to 'a deaf cobra that stops its ear' (yaʾṭēm ʾoznô, the same two words as here) so it will not hear the charmer. That psalm is about unjust judges, which puts our verse in the world of people with power to act. In Isaiah 33:15 the same act is a virtue: the righteous man 'stops his ears from hearing of bloodshed'. What makes stopping the ear right or wrong is what you shut out.

From the study of Proverbs 17:28

Range of meaning

To shut, stop up, close an opening. Used of the ears (Prov 21:13, 'whoever shuts his ears to the cry of the poor'; Isa 33:15; Ps 58:4) and, in a passive form, of windows (1 Kgs 6:4; Ezek 40:16; 41:16, 26). Those windows were 'closed' or narrow, probably latticed or recessed.

Against the English

'Holds his tongue' (BSB, NIV) changes the image from lips to tongue. 'Shuts' or 'closes his lips' (KJV, WEB, ESV) keeps the Hebrew picture.

Used elsewhere in the period

A rare verb (about 8 uses), always meaning a physical closing or blocking.

From the study of Ezekiel 40:16

Range of meaning

The verb אָטַם means 'to stop up, close'. It is used of stopping the ears (Isa 33:15; Prov 21:13; Ps 58:4 [Heb 58:5]). The passive participle 'closed' is used of windows only in temple architecture: here, in Ezek 41:16, 26, and in 1 Kgs 6:4 ('windows of framed/recessed, closed [kind]').

Against the English

English versions guess at the construction. KJV and YLT say 'narrow', WEB 'closed', NASB 'shuttered', BSB 'beveled', and ESV has windows 'narrowing inwards'. Each picks one theory of how the window was 'closed'.

How it drifted

'Narrow' (KJV) comes through interpretive tradition, not from the word itself. Jewish tradition (Babylonian Talmud, Menachot 86b) read the matching words in 1 Kings 6:4 as windows wide on one side and narrow on the other. The Vulgate's 'slanting windows' (fenestras obliquas) follows a similar idea. Later English versions inherited that picture.

Used elsewhere in the period

Used of ears in Isaiah, Psalms and Proverbs. The Septuagint renders the windows here as 'hidden' windows (thyrides kryptai), which also suggests something closed or concealed rather than open. The Vulgate has 'slanting'. The rabbinic reading (narrow inside, wide outside) was explained theologically: God does not need light from outside.

Where it appears

1 Kings · 1

  1. 1 Kings 6:4 אֲטֻמִֽים׃ shut

    He also had narrow windows framed high in the temple.

Psalms · 1

  1. Psalm 58:4 יַאְטֵ֥ם [which] it shuts

    Their venom is like the venom of a snake, like a cobra that shuts its ears,

    Here: 'It stops up': a deliberate act of closing something off. The verb is used elsewhere for people who shut their ears to the cry of the poor (Proverbs 21:13) or to talk of bloodshed (Isaiah 33:15). The Hebrew has no 'which/that'; the clause simply follows, as often in poetry.

Proverbs · 2

  1. Proverbs 17:28 אֹטֵ֖ם [who] shuts

    Even a fool is considered wise if he keeps silent, and discerning when he holds his tongue.

    Here: 'One who shuts tight.' The verb is used for stopping up ears and for closed or narrowed windows, so it gives a physical picture of sealing an opening.

  2. Proverbs 21:13 אֹטֵ֣ם [one who] shuts

    Whoever shuts his ears to the cry of the poor, he too shall cry out and receive no answer.

    Here: An active participle: the person who keeps blocking his ear, a habit rather than a single lapse. The verb is used for closing or narrowing an opening (windows in 1 Kings 6:4), so the picture is someone sealing off his ear the way you would plug a gap.

Isaiah · 1

  1. Isaiah 33:15 אֹטֵ֤ם [one who] shuts

    He who walks righteously and speaks with sincerity, who refuses gain from extortion, whose hand never takes a bribe, who stops his ears against murderous plots and shuts his eyes tightly against evil—

    Here: 'One who stops up': deliberately plugging the ears. The same phrase in Proverbs 21:13 describes a bad man who stops his ears to the poor; here the righteous man stops them to something else.

Ezekiel · 3

  1. Ezekiel 40:16 אֲטֻמ֣וֹת closed

    The gate chambers and their side pillars had beveled windows all around the inside of the gateway. The porticos also had windows all around on the inside. Each side pillar was decorated with palm trees.

    Here: A passive participle, 'closed' or 'stopped'. These windows were not plain open holes: they were partly closed in some way, perhaps with lattices, perhaps by narrowing or recessed frames. The exact construction is debated.

  2. Ezekiel 41:16 הָ֠אֲטֻמוֹת <the> closed

    as well as the thresholds and the beveled windows and the galleries all around with their three levels opposite the threshold, were overlaid with wood on all sides. They were paneled from the ground to the windows, and the windows were covered.

  3. Ezekiel 41:26 אֲטֻמ֤וֹת closed

    There were beveled windows and palm trees on the sidewalls of the portico. The side rooms of the temple also had canopies.

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