Hebrew word · H4195

מוֹתָר

motar

advantage

From yātar, 'to remain, be left over'. It means surplus, abundance, gain, advantage. It occurs only three times: Prov 14:23 ('in all toil there is môtār'), here, and Eccl 3:19 ('humans have no môtār over the beast'). Ecclesiastes' key word yitrôn ('gain, what's left') comes from the same root.

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

What it means

1) pre-eminence, abundance, profit, superiority

1a) abundance, plenty

1b) pre-eminence, superiority

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 21:5

Range of meaning

From yātar, 'to remain, be left over'. It means surplus, abundance, gain, advantage. It occurs only three times: Prov 14:23 ('in all toil there is môtār'), here, and Eccl 3:19 ('humans have no môtār over the beast'). Ecclesiastes' key word yitrôn ('gain, what's left') comes from the same root.

Against the English

KJV 'plenteousness', BSB 'plenty', WEB 'profit', YLT/NASB 'advantage'. 'Profit' can sound like a commercial margin. The Hebrew picture is broader and more agrarian: what is left over after needs are met.

Used elsewhere in the period

Proverbs 14:23 is the closest parallel and almost a sister proverb: 'In all toil there is môtār, but mere talk leads only to lack (ʾak-ləmaḥsôr).' The same two outcome words appear, set against each other.

From the study of Proverbs 14:23

Range of meaning

From yatar, "to remain, be left over". It means surplus, excess, advantage: what remains beyond what was needed or spent. It appears only three times: Prov 14:23; 21:5; Eccl 3:19 ("the advantage of man over beast is nothing").

Against the English

"Profit" is a fair rendering, but to modern ears it sounds commercial: revenue minus costs, a business margin. YLT's "advantage" and the root idea "what is left over" show the wider picture. Something is gained, and it isn't always money.

Used elsewhere in the period

Prov 21:5 is the closest parallel: "The plans of the diligent lead only to motar, but everyone who is hasty comes only to maḥsor." It uses the same pair of words and the same ʾakh. Eccl 3:19 uses it of relative advantage. Related words such as yitron, "gain", are central to Ecclesiastes.

Where it appears

Proverbs · 2

  1. Proverbs 14:23 מוֹתָ֑ר profit

    There is profit in all labor, but mere talk leads only to poverty.

    Here: What is left over: the margin beyond what you spent. It comes from a root meaning "to remain over". The picture is something to show for your sweat once the effort is finished.

  2. Proverbs 21:5 לְמוֹתָ֑ר to advantage

    The plans of the diligent bring plenty, as surely as haste leads to poverty.

    Here: 'To what is left over'. From the root for 'remain, be left over', it pictures surplus beyond what you need: grain still in store after the household is fed. The preposition lə- marks where the plans end up.

Ecclesiastes · 1

  1. Ecclesiastes 3:19 וּמוֹתַ֨ר and [the] advantage of

    For the fates of both men and beasts are the same: As one dies, so dies the other—they all have the same breath. Man has no advantage over the animals, since everything is futile.

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