מָלֵא

From the study of Jeremiah 4:12

Range of meaning

Male' means full or filled, and so at full measure or full strength. The prefix min ('from') on 'these' has two common uses: it can mark a source ('from these') or a comparison ('more than these', 'too ... for these').

Against the English

KJV and WEB take it as a source: 'a full wind from those [places] / from these'. BSB, NIV, ESV and NASB take it as a comparison: 'a wind too strong/too full for this/that'. The comparative reading ties the clause to the end of verse 11 ('not to winnow or to sift').

Used elsewhere in the period

Comparison with min after an adjective is standard Hebrew: 'sweeter than honey' (Judg 14:18), and 'too heavy for me' / 'too much for me' constructions (e.g., Num 11:14, 'too heavy for me', kaved mimmenni). Male' is used of a full harvest or a full price, and here of a full-force wind.

From the study of Deuteronomy 34:9

Range of meaning

Full or filled, whether of containers, houses, land or days (Deut 6:11; Jer 6:11), and in a figurative sense, wholly taken up by a quality. The same spelling serves as the adjective "full" and as the stative verb "he was/became full".

Against the English

BSB and NIV have "was filled", which pictures something done to Joshua at one moment. KJV, WEB and ESV have "full of", which describes a condition he was in. Both are defensible, because the Hebrew form allows either and the "because" clause supplies a past cause.

Used elsewhere in the period

The related verb is used for divine equipping in Exod 28:3, 31:3 and 35:31 ("I have filled him with the rûaḥ of God, with ḥokmâ…"), and Mic 3:8 says "I am filled with power, with the rûaḥ of YHWH".

From the study of Deuteronomy 6:11

Range of meaning

Adjective: full, filled, complete. Verb (in the intensive form used here): to fill, to stock, to fulfil or complete.

Against the English

BSB, KJV, WEB, YLT and ESV keep the play: 'full... did not fill.' NIV ('good things you did not provide') and NLT ('goods you did not produce') smooth it into plain meaning and lose the sound-play.

Used elsewhere in the period

The pairing of adjective and verb from the same root is a common Hebrew way of stressing a point. Neh 9:25 quotes 'houses full of all good things' when recalling this promise.