Hebrew word · H3544

כֵּהֶה

khehah

faint

Dim, faint, dull, faded. Used of eyes losing their sight (1 Sam 3:2; the verb in Deut 34:7, Gen 27:1), of a skin lesion fading (Lev 13:6, 21, 39), of a spirit that is faint or discouraged (Isa 61:3; the verb in Ezek 21:7).

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

What it means

dim, dull, colourless, be dark, faint

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 42:3

Range of meaning

Dim, faint, dull, faded. Used of eyes losing their sight (1 Sam 3:2; the verb in Deut 34:7, Gen 27:1), of a skin lesion fading (Lev 13:6, 21, 39), of a spirit that is faint or discouraged (Isa 61:3; the verb in Ezek 21:7).

Against the English

KJV 'smoking flax' and NIV/BSB 'smoldering' suggest smoke. Through the Vulgate, the KJV inherits the Greek's 'smoking'. ESV and NASB ('faintly/dimly burning') stay closer: the point is a flame almost gone, not smoke.

How it drifted

Not modern drift but an inherited rendering. LXX kapnizomenon ('smoking') became Vulgate fumigans, then English 'smoking flax'. 'Flax' then became opaque to readers who do not know that lamp wicks were made of linen fibre.

Used elsewhere in the period

Isa 43:17 uses the matching image of God's power against Egypt at the sea: 'they lie down, they cannot rise; they are extinguished, quenched (kāḇû) like a wick (kappištâ)'. The lamp as a symbol of life and lineage is common: 2 Sam 21:17 ('that you may not quench the lamp of Israel'), 1 Kgs 11:36, Prov 13:9. In 2 Sam 14:7 the widow of Tekoa fears they will 'quench my coal that is left'. Here the dim spirit (rûaḥ kēhâ) of Isa 61:3 echoes the image.

From the study of Isaiah 61:3

Range of meaning

Dim, faint, faded, failing. From the root k-h-h, 'to grow dim or weak'. It is used of eyes failing with age, of a wick that is barely burning, of a skin mark that has faded, and of strength that is giving out.

Against the English

KJV and WEB 'spirit of heaviness' turn dimness into weight. BSB and NIV 'spirit of despair' name the feeling directly. ESV 'a faint spirit', NASB 'spirit of fainting', and YLT 'spirit of weakness' stay closer to the picture of something fading.

How it drifted

'Heaviness' was good older English for low spirits, but in some circles today 'a spirit of heaviness' is heard as the name of an oppressing spirit-being, which the Hebrew does not suggest.

Used elsewhere in the period

Isaac's eyes 'grew dim' (Gen 27:1). Moses' eye 'had not grown dim' (Deut 34:7). In Lev 13:6, 21–39 a skin mark that has 'faded' (kēhâ) is a sign of healing. Most strikingly, in Isa 42:3 the Servant 'will not snuff out a smouldering wick (pištâ kēhâ)'. The same adjective and the same gentleness are in view here. Ezekiel 21:7 [Heb. 21:12] uses the verb: 'every spirit will grow faint'.

Where it appears

Leviticus · 4

  1. Leviticus 13:21 כֵהָ֑ה [is] dull

    But when the priest examines it, if there is no white hair in it, and it is not beneath the skin and has faded, the priest shall isolate him for seven days.

  2. Leviticus 13:26 כֵהָ֑ה [is] dull

    But if the priest examines it and there is no white hair in the spot, and it is not beneath the skin but has faded, the priest shall isolate him for seven days.

  3. Leviticus 13:28 כֵהָ֔ה [is] dull

    But if the spot is unchanged and has not spread on the skin but has faded, it is a swelling from the burn, and the priest is to pronounce him clean; for it is only the scar from the burn.

  4. Leviticus 13:39 כֵּה֣וֹת dull

    the priest shall examine them, and if the spots are dull white, it is a harmless rash that has broken out on the skin; the person is clean.

1 Samuel · 1

  1. 1 Samuel 3:2 כֵה֔וֹת dim

    And at that time Eli, whose eyesight had grown so dim that he could not see, was lying in his room.

Isaiah · 2

  1. Isaiah 42:3 כֵהָ֖ה dim

    A bruised reed He will not break and a smoldering wick He will not extinguish; He will faithfully bring forth justice.

    Here: Burning low and about to go out. Elsewhere the word describes failing eyes (1 Sam 3:2), a faded skin mark (Lev 13), and a 'faint spirit' (Isa 61:3). It is not a 'smoking' wick (that comes from the Greek). It is a dying flame.

  2. Isaiah 61:3 כֵּהָ֑ה faint

    to console the mourners in Zion—to give them a crown of beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, and a garment of praise for a spirit of despair. So they will be called oaks of righteousness, the planting of the LORD, that He may be glorified.

    Here: Gone dim, like failing eyes or a smouldering lamp-wick (Isa 42:3 uses this same word for the wick). It pictures a spirit whose flame is almost out.

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