Hebrew word · H4072
מִדְחֶה
midcheh
ruin
Found only here in the Bible. It is formed from the verb דָּחָה, "to push, thrust, shove down", so it means a thrust-down, a cause of stumbling or falling, and so ruin.
Appears once in the Hebrew Old Testament. ·
What it means
1) occasion of stumbling, means of stumbling
2) (TWOT) ruin
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 26:28
- Range of meaning
Found only here in the Bible. It is formed from the verb דָּחָה, "to push, thrust, shove down", so it means a thrust-down, a cause of stumbling or falling, and so ruin.
- Against the English
"Ruin" (KJV, BSB, WEB, and most modern versions) gives the result but loses the physical shove. YLT's "overthrow" and the supplied gloss "stumbling" stay closer to the picture.
- Used elsewhere in the period
The verb: Ps 118:13 ("I was pushed hard, so that I was falling"); Ps 36:12 ("they are thrust down, unable to rise"); Ps 140:4 (men "who plan to trip up my feet"); Prov 14:32 ("the wicked is thrust down by his evil"). The related noun דֶּחִי, "stumbling", appears in Ps 56:13 and 116:8.
Where it appears
Proverbs · 1
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Proverbs 26:28 מִדְחֶֽה׃ stumbling
A lying tongue hates those it crushes, and a flattering mouth causes ruin.
Here: A word found only here in the Bible, from the verb "to push, shove down". It pictures a shove that sends someone sprawling, which is what happens to a person who steps onto slippery ("smooth") ground.
Word data: STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0), main text only.