Hebrew word · H4134

מוּךְ

yamukh

be poor

To be low, to sink down, to become poor. It is used only of economic decline (BDB, HALOT). The verb occurs only five times in the Hebrew Bible: Lev 25:25, 35, 39, 47 and 27:8, where the related adjective-like use describes someone 'too poor' to pay a vow valuation.

Appears 5 times in 5 verses of the Hebrew Old Testament. ·

What it means

(Qal) to be low, grow poor, be depressed, be poor

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 Leviticus 25:35

Range of meaning

To be low, to sink down, to become poor. It is used only of economic decline (BDB, HALOT). The verb occurs only five times in the Hebrew Bible: Lev 25:25, 35, 39, 47 and 27:8, where the related adjective-like use describes someone 'too poor' to pay a vow valuation.

Against the English

KJV 'be waxen poor' and most modern 'becomes poor' capture the process, since this is decline, not a fixed social class. BSB 'becomes destitute' slightly overshoots for this verse. In the chapter's sequence, total destitution comes at v. 39, where the man sells himself.

Used elsewhere in the period

The word is limited to the Holiness legislation of Leviticus. Later Hebrew keeps it in the related noun mākh, 'poor, lowly'. The rarity suggests a technical term for the steps of economic decline in this law.

From the study of Leviticus 25:39

Range of meaning

To be low, sink down, become poor or depressed in circumstances (BDB: 'be low, depressed, grow poor'). It describes a slide downward, not a fixed social class.

Against the English

BSB 'becomes destitute', KJV 'be waxen poor', WEB 'has grown poor', YLT 'becometh poor'. All are accurate. 'Destitute' rightly shows how far he has fallen at this stage. 'Grown poor' keeps the sense of a process.

Used elsewhere in the period

In the Bible it is nearly confined to this chapter (Lev 25:25, 35, 39, 47) and Lev 27:8, where someone 'too poor' to pay a vow valuation is assessed by the priest. The Greek Septuagint translates it here with ταπεινόω, 'to be brought low, humbled'.

From the study of Leviticus 27:8

Range of meaning

To be low, to sink down, and from there to become poor or reduced in means. HALOT and BDB both give 'be low, grow poor'.

Against the English

English 'poor' fits well. KJV/WEB 'poorer than thy valuation' keeps the comparison in the Hebrew, while BSB 'too poor to pay' spells out what it means. Neither loses much. What English does lose is the link to Leviticus 25.

Used elsewhere in the period

In the Hebrew Bible it occurs only in Leviticus 25:25, 35, 39, 47 and 27:8. In Leviticus 25 it is the key word of the Jubilee laws: 'if your brother becomes poor' and must sell his land or himself, family members are to redeem him and he is not to be treated harshly. Later Hebrew uses the related word mākh for someone who is low or humbled.

Where it appears

Leviticus · 5

  1. Leviticus 25:25 יָמ֣וּךְ he will become impoverished

    If your brother becomes impoverished and sells some of his property, his nearest of kin may come and redeem what his brother has sold.

  2. Leviticus 25:35 יָמ֣וּךְ he will become impoverished

    Now if your countryman becomes destitute and cannot support himself among you, then you are to help him as you would a foreigner or stranger, so that he can continue to live among you.

    Here: A rare verb that appears only in this chapter (vv. 25, 35, 39, 47) and in 27:8. It means to sink down economically. Each time it is used, the chapter steps down another rung of a debt spiral.

  3. Leviticus 25:39 יָמ֥וּךְ he will become impoverished

    If a countryman among you becomes destitute and sells himself to you, then you must not force him into slave labor.

    Here: A rare verb meaning to be brought low or to sink down economically. Here the man has sunk so far that he has nothing left to pledge but his own labor.

  4. Leviticus 25:47 וּמָ֥ךְ and he will become impoverished

    If a foreigner residing among you prospers, but your countryman dwelling near him becomes destitute and sells himself to the foreigner or to a member of his clan,

  5. Leviticus 27:8 מָ֥ךְ [is too] impoverished

    But if the one making the vow is too poor to pay the valuation, he is to present the person before the priest, who shall set the value according to what the one making the vow can afford.

    Here: 'He is too poor', literally 'he has sunk low'. In the Bible this verb appears only in Leviticus 25 and here. In chapter 25 it describes an Israelite sliding into debt and selling land or himself. It is a word for real economic decline, not for being careful with money.

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