Hebrew word · H4071

מְדוּרָה

hamedurah

pile

A pile of wood for burning: a fire-heap or pyre. It appears only here and in Ezek 24:5, 9, where it is the wood stacked under a pot.

Appears 2 times in 2 verses of the Hebrew Old Testament. ·

What it means

pile (of fuel), pyre, pile (of wood)

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 30:33

Range of meaning

A pile of wood for burning: a fire-heap or pyre. It appears only here and in Ezek 24:5, 9, where it is the wood stacked under a pot.

Against the English

BSB "funeral pyre" and NIV "fire pit" interpret it. KJV "pile" and WEB "pyre" are closer to the bare word. "Funeral" is not in the Hebrew, but it fits the context of a king's death.

Used elsewhere in the period

Ezek 24:9 ("I will make the pile great"). Royal burning rites appear in Jer 34:5 and 2 Chr 16:14; 21:19, though those are honour-burnings of spices, not cremation. Jer 7:32 links Topheth with burying the dead.

Where it appears

Isaiah · 1

  1. Isaiah 30:33 מְדֻרָתָ֗הּ wood pile its

    For Topheth has long been prepared; it has been made ready for the king. Its funeral pyre is deep and wide, with plenty of fire and wood. The breath of the LORD, like a torrent of burning sulfur, sets it ablaze.

    Here: "Its pyre, its fire-heap." The same word is used for the wood piled under a cooking pot in Ezek 24:9. Following the accents, it opens the next clause: "its pyre is fire and wood in plenty."

Ezekiel · 1

  1. Ezekiel 24:9 הַמְּדוּרָֽה׃ the pile

    Yes, this is what the Lord GOD says: ‘Woe to the city of bloodshed! I, too, will pile the kindling high.

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