Hebrew word · H366

אָיֹם

'ayom

terrible

Terrible, dreadful, fearsome, awe-inspiring. It describes something whose presence makes you afraid or overwhelmed. It occurs only three times: Song 6:4, 6:10 and Habakkuk 1:7. It is related to ʾêmâ, 'terror, dread'.

Appears 3 times in 3 verses of the Hebrew Old Testament. ·

What it means

terrible, dreadful

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 Song of Songs 6:10

Range of meaning

Terrible, dreadful, fearsome, awe-inspiring. It describes something whose presence makes you afraid or overwhelmed. It occurs only three times: Song 6:4, 6:10 and Habakkuk 1:7. It is related to ʾêmâ, 'terror, dread'.

Against the English

KJV 'terrible' (1611: 'causing terror or awe'); WEB/ESV 'awesome'; YLT 'awe-inspiring'; BSB/NIV 'majestic'. 'Majestic' keeps the grandeur but loses the fear.

How it drifted

English 'terrible' has weakened to 'very bad', and 'awesome' to 'great'. Both have lost the sense of something that makes you tremble.

Used elsewhere in the period

Habakkuk 1:7 says of the Babylonians: 'fearsome and dreadful (ʾāyōm wᵉnôrāʾ) are they'. In the Song, the lover has just said, 'Turn your eyes from me, for they overwhelm/assault me' (6:5).

From the study of Song of Songs 6:4

Range of meaning

Terrible, dreadful, frightening. It is related to the noun ʾêmâ, 'terror, dread'. Used of what makes people shrink back.

Against the English

KJV and NRSV 'terrible' was accurate in 1611 but now sounds like 'very bad'. ESV, NASB and WEB 'awesome' is closer, though 'awesome' has itself gone casual. BSB and NIV 'majestic' keeps the grandeur but softens the fear. YLT 'awe-inspiring' is perhaps the best balance.

How it drifted

English 'terrible' once meant 'causing terror'. From the 18th–19th centuries it weakened into a general word for 'bad' or an intensifier ('terrible weather'). Modern readers of the KJV can therefore hear an insult where the text gives high praise.

Used elsewhere in the period

Habakkuk 1:7 describes the invading Babylonians as 'terrible and dreadful' (ʾāyōm wənôrāʾ). The related noun ʾêmâ is the 'terror' God sends before Israel (Exod 15:16; 23:27; Josh 2:9) and the 'terror' of a warhorse's snorting (Job 39:20). In the Song the adjective recurs in the identical phrase in 6:10.

Where it appears

Song of Songs · 2

  1. Song of Songs 6:4 אֲיֻמָּ֖ה majestic

    You are as beautiful, my darling, as Tirzah, as lovely as Jerusalem, as majestic as troops with banners.

    Here: A strong word for something that strikes dread. Its only other use outside the Song describes the Babylonian army: 'terrible and dreadful' (Hab 1:7). Here it is praise: her beauty is so overwhelming that it unnerves him. The next verse says so outright: 'Turn your eyes away from me, for they overwhelm me.'

  2. Song of Songs 6:10 אֲיֻמָּ֖ה majestic

    Who is this who shines like the dawn, as fair as the moon, as bright as the sun, as majestic as the stars in procession?

    Here: Inspiring dread or awe. Habakkuk 1:7 uses it of the fearsome Babylonian army. Applied to her, it means her beauty is overwhelming and unnerving to look at (compare 6:5, 'turn your eyes away from me, for they overwhelm me').

Habakkuk · 1

  1. Habakkuk 1:7 אָיֹ֥ם [is] terrifying

    They are dreaded and feared; from themselves they derive justice and sovereignty.

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