Hebrew word · H4171

מוּר

yamir

to change

In this form: to exchange, substitute, swap one thing for another, alter.

Appears 14 times in 10 verses of the Hebrew Old Testament. ·

What it means

1) to change, exchange

1a) (Niphal) to be changed

1b) (Hiphil)

1b1) to change, alter

1b2) to exchange

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 Psalm 15:4

Range of meaning

In this form: to exchange, substitute, swap one thing for another, alter.

Against the English

'Change' (KJV, ESV, WEB) is accurate but general. NIV-style 'change their mind' makes it mental, and BSB 'revise' makes it about the terms. The Hebrew word comes from vow law and pictures swapping out the thing pledged.

Used elsewhere in the period

Leviticus 27:10 and 27:33 forbid exchanging an animal once it has been vowed to God, 'good for bad or bad for good'. Psalm 106:20 ('they exchanged their glory for the image of an ox'); Jeremiah 2:11 ('has a nation exchanged its gods?').

From the study of Psalm 46:2

Range of meaning

In its usual form it means to exchange or swap: Israel 'exchanged their glory' for an idol (Ps 106:20; Jer 2:11). It also means to alter or change (Lev 27:10; Mic 2:4). Here it is used without an object: 'when the earth changes', meaning it gives up its fixed form.

Against the English

Translations split: 'be removed' (KJV), 'changes' (WEB, YLT, NASB), 'is transformed' (BSB), 'gives way' (ESV, NIV), 'earthquakes come' (NLT). 'Changes' is closest to the word. 'Gives way' and 'earthquakes' interpret it from the parallel line about tottering mountains.

How it drifted

KJV's 'removed' followed the Latin tradition of the time, which has mountains 'carried across' (transferentur) in the next line. In modern English 'removed' sounds like 'taken away and put somewhere else', which is not the picture.

Used elsewhere in the period

Using this form without an object is unusual, and some scholars have proposed a second root mûr meaning 'sway, shake' (compare an Arabic verb for moving to and fro). Others suggest emending to a verb like 'melt' (compare v.6, 'the earth melts'). The Septuagint's 'when the earth is troubled' may reflect either an interpretation or a different text. These proposals are possible but unproven. The traditional Hebrew text makes sense as it stands.

From the study of Psalm 106:20

Range of meaning

In its causative form: to exchange, substitute, swap one thing for another; less often to change or alter. A transaction word: something is handed over and something else taken in its place.

Against the English

BSB, WEB, NASB and others have 'exchanged'; NLT 'traded'. KJV and YLT have 'changed ... into', which an English reader can take as transforming one thing into another (as if their glory turned into an ox). The Hebrew is about a swap, not a transformation.

How it drifted

In 1611 'change' could still mean 'exchange' (as in 'money-changer'). That sense has faded, so 'changed ... into' now sounds like turning one thing into another.

Used elsewhere in the period

Leviticus 27:10, 33 uses the same verb and the same construction (hēmîr + bə-) for illegally substituting one sacrificial animal for another: 'he shall not exchange it, good for bad'. Jeremiah 2:11 uses it of the same kind of national betrayal: 'Has a nation exchanged its gods...? But my people have exchanged their glory for what does not profit.' Hosea 4:7 has 'I will change their glory into shame'. The Septuagint renders it ēllaxanto, 'they exchanged', and Paul takes over that wording in Romans 1:23.

Where it appears

Leviticus · 6

  1. Leviticus 27:10 יָמִ֥יר הָמֵ֨ר יָמִ֤יר he will exchange, ever <to exchange>

    He must not replace it or exchange it, either good for bad or bad for good. But if he does substitute one animal for another, both that animal and its substitute will be holy.

  2. Leviticus 27:33 יְמִירֶ֑נּוּ הָמֵ֣ר יְמִירֶ֔נּוּ he will exchange it, ever <to exchange>

    He must not inspect whether it is good or bad, and he shall not make any substitution. But if he does make a substitution, both the animal and its substitute shall become holy; they cannot be redeemed.’”

Psalms · 3

  1. Psalm 15:4 יָמִֽר׃ he changes

    who despises the vile but honors those who fear the LORD, who does not revise a costly oath,

    Here: 'He does not exchange, does not substitute.' This verb comes from the law of vows: a man who has pledged an animal to God 'shall not exchange it' for another (Leviticus 27:10, 33). He does not quietly swap what he pledged for something cheaper.

  2. Psalm 46:2 בְּהָמִ֣יר when changes

    Therefore we will not fear, though the earth is transformed and the mountains are toppled into the depths of the seas,

    Here: 'When (the earth) changes.' The form is a verbal noun, literally 'in the changing of'. Elsewhere the verb means swapping one thing for another, so the picture is the solid world turning into something else: losing its shape and its stability.

  3. Psalm 106:20 וַיָּמִ֥ירוּ and they exchanged

    They exchanged their Glory for the image of a grass-eating ox.

    Here: The causative form of mur, 'to make something change places', i.e. to swap one thing for another. The verb form carries the story forward from verse 19: they made the calf, they bowed down, and so they made the trade.

Jeremiah · 2

  1. Jeremiah 2:11 הֵמִ֥יר it has exchanged

    Has a nation ever changed its gods? (Yet they are not gods at all.) But My people have exchanged their Glory for useless idols.

    Here: The same verb as word 1, repeated on purpose. What no nation has done, Israel has done. The form presents it as an accomplished fact.

  2. Jeremiah 48:11 נָמָֽר׃ ס it has been changed

    Moab has been at ease from youth, settled like wine on its dregs; he has not been poured from vessel to vessel or gone into exile. So his flavor has remained the same, and his aroma is unchanged.

    Here: 'Has not been changed'. This passive form of the verb occurs nowhere else in the Hebrew Bible. The sentence ends on the idea of no change, just before v. 12 announces violent change.

Ezekiel · 1

  1. Ezekiel 48:14 יָמֵ֛ר anyone will exchange

    They must not sell or exchange any of it, and they must not transfer this best part of the land, for it is holy to the LORD.

Hosea · 1

  1. Hosea 4:7 אָמִֽיר׃ I will exchange

    The more they multiplied, the more they sinned against Me; they exchanged their Glory for a thing of disgrace.

    Here: 'I will exchange', a causative form in the future/ongoing tense with God as subject. It is the same verb the offering laws use for illegally swapping one animal for another (Leviticus 27:10, 33), a term these priests knew well. God will swap their honor for disgrace.

Micah · 1

  1. Micah 2:4 יָמִ֑יר he exchanges

    In that day they will take up a proverb against you and taunt you with this bitter lamentation: ‘We are utterly ruined! He has changed the portion of my people. How He has removed it from me! He has allotted our fields to traitors.’”

    Here: 'He swaps it.' The land is handed over to someone else. The verb is used for substituting one thing for another (Lev 27:10). 'He' is most likely YHWH acting through the conqueror.

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