Hebrew word · H4405

מִלָּה

milah

speech

Word, saying, utterance, matter spoken. It is mainly poetic and especially common in Job (about 34 times). It is the usual Aramaic word for 'word' (Daniel). It is roughly synonymous with Hebrew davar ('word,' v.3) but more elevated and literary.

Appears 38 times in 38 verses of the Hebrew Old Testament. ·

What it means

word, speech, utterance

Aramaic equivalent: mil.lah (מִלָּה "word" H4406)

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 19:4

Range of meaning

Word, saying, utterance, matter spoken. It is mainly poetic and especially common in Job (about 34 times). It is the usual Aramaic word for 'word' (Daniel). It is roughly synonymous with Hebrew davar ('word,' v.3) but more elevated and literary.

Against the English

'Words' (BSB, KJV, WEB) and 'sayings' (YLT) are accurate. The English cannot show that this is a rarer, more poetic term than the davar of the previous verse.

Used elsewhere in the period

Job 4:2; 6:26; 32:11 and elsewhere; 2 Sam 23:2 ('his word is on my tongue'); Ps 139:4; Prov 23:9. The Aramaic cognate millah is very common in Daniel and later Aramaic.

From the study of Job 32:18

Range of meaning

A word, saying or speech. Also a matter or topic one talks about. It is a poetic synonym for the ordinary Hebrew dābār ("word, thing") and is common in Aramaic (Daniel uses its Aramaic form millâ repeatedly).

Against the English

BSB, WEB and YLT: "words." KJV: "matter," which in 1611 meant subject matter, material for speaking (still the sense of "subject matter"). Neither is wrong. KJV's "matter" can now sound to a modern ear like physical stuff, which loses the point that he is full of speech.

How it drifted

Only the KJV's "matter" has drifted. The Hebrew has not changed.

Used elsewhere in the period

About 38 occurrences in the Hebrew Bible, roughly 34 of them in Job. Elihu uses it heavily (32:11, 15; 33:1, 8, 13; 34:2-3, 16, 35-37; 35:16; 36:4). The Aramaic portions of Daniel and later Aramaic and Syriac use it as the ordinary word for "word."

From the study of 2 Samuel 23:2

Range of meaning

A word or utterance, something said. Of about 38 occurrences, roughly 34 are in Job, with the rest in poetry (2 Samuel 23:2; Psalms 19:4; 139:4; Proverbs 23:9). It is closely related to the usual Aramaic word for 'word' and belongs to a high poetic style.

Against the English

'Word' is accurate. English loses the fact that this is a rare, elevated choice and not the everyday dāvār.

Used elsewhere in the period

Psalm 139:4 has the closest parallel: 'before a word (millâ) is on my tongue (bilshoni), you, Yahweh, know it all.' The Septuagint translates logos.

Where it appears

2 Samuel · 1

  1. 2 Samuel 23:2 וּמִלָּת֖וֹ and speech his

    The Spirit of the LORD spoke through me; His word was on my tongue.

    Here: A rare, poetic word for a spoken word or utterance, used mostly in Job. It stands in parallel with 'spoke' in the first line: the second line restates the first in more concrete terms.

Job · 34

  1. Job 4:2 בְּ֝מִלִּ֗ין <in> words

    “If one ventures a word with you, will you be wearied? Yet who can keep from speaking?

  2. Job 4:4 מִלֶּ֑יךָ words your

    Your words have steadied those who stumbled; you have braced the knees that were buckling.

  3. Job 6:26 מִלִּ֣ים words

    Do you intend to correct my words, and treat as wind my cry of despair?

  4. Job 8:10 מִלִּֽים׃ words

    Will they not teach you and tell you, and speak from their understanding?

  5. Job 12:11 מִלִּ֣ין words

    Does not the ear test words as the tongue tastes its food?

  6. Job 13:17 מִלָּתִ֑י speech my

    Listen carefully to my words; let my declaration ring in your ears.

  7. Job 15:3 וּ֝מִלִּ֗ים and words

    Should he argue with useless words or speeches that serve no purpose?

  8. Job 15:13 מִלִּֽין׃ words

    so that you turn your spirit against God and pour such words from your mouth?

  9. Job 16:4 בְּמִלִּ֑ים <in> words

    I could also speak like you if you were in my place; I could heap up words against you and shake my head at you.

    Here: 'With words.' millâ is a poetic word with an Aramaic flavour, and Job uses it far more than any other biblical book. Here it suggests talk and speeches: the friends' long discourses (compare 'long-winded speeches' in v.3).

  10. Job 18:2 לְמִלִּ֑ין of words

    “How long until you end these speeches? Show some sense, and then we can talk.

  11. Job 19:2 בְמִלִּֽים׃ with words

    “How long will you torment me and crush me with your words?

  12. Job 19:23 מִלָּ֑י words my

    I wish that my words were recorded and inscribed in a book,

  13. Job 21:2 מִלָּתִ֑י speech my

    “Listen carefully to my words; let this be your consolation to me.

  14. Job 23:5 מִלִּ֣ים [the] words

    I would learn how He would answer, and consider what He would say.

  15. Job 24:25 מִלָּתִֽי׃ ס speech my

    If this is not so, then who can prove me a liar and reduce my words to nothing?”

  16. Job 26:4 מִלִּ֑ין words

    To whom have you uttered these words? And whose spirit spoke through you?

    Here: A poetic word for 'words', with an Aramaic-style plural ending (-in) typical of Job. There is no 'these' in the Hebrew. It is just 'words', and that bareness adds to the scorn.

  17. Job 29:9 בְמִלִּ֑ים <in> words

    The princes refrained from speaking and covered their mouths with their hands.

  18. Job 29:22 מִלָּתִֽי׃ speech my

    After my words, they spoke no more; my speech settled on them like dew.

  19. Job 30:9 לְמִלָּֽה׃ <into> a word

    And now they mock me in song; I have become a byword among them.

  20. Job 32:11 מִלִּֽין׃ words

    Indeed, I waited while you spoke; I listened to your reasoning; as you searched for words,

  21. Job 32:14 מִלִּ֑ין words

    But Job has not directed his words against me, and I will not answer him with your arguments.

  22. Job 32:15 מִלִּֽים׃ words

    Job’s friends are dismayed, with no more to say; words have escaped them.

  23. Job 32:18 מִלִּ֑ים words

    For I am full of words, and my spirit within me compels me.

    Here: "Words," meaning things to say, speeches, arguments. It is a poetic word with an Aramaic flavour that Job uses far more than any other book. The jingle *mālētî millîm*, "full-full of words," makes Elihu sound like what he is describing.

  24. Job 33:1 מִלָּ֑י words my

    “But now, O Job, hear my speech, and listen to all my words.

  25. Job 33:8 מִלִּ֣ין words

    Surely you have spoken in my hearing, and I have heard these very words:

  26. Job 33:32 מִלִּ֥ין [are] words

    But if you have something to say, answer me; speak up, for I would like to vindicate you.

  27. Job 34:2 מִלָּ֑י words my

    “Hear my words, O wise men; give ear to me, O men of learning.

  28. Job 34:3 מִלִּ֣ין words

    For the ear tests words as the mouth tastes food.

    Here: Spoken words or arguments. The plural ending -in has an Aramaic flavour and is typical of Job's poetry, Elihu's speeches especially. It echoes verse 2's 'my words' (millay): Elihu's own words are what the wise are to test.

  29. Job 34:16 מִלָּֽי׃ words my

    If you have understanding, hear this; listen to my words.

  30. Job 35:4 מִלִּ֑ין words

    I will reply to you and to your friends as well.

  31. Job 35:16 מִלִּ֥ין words

    So Job opens his mouth in vain and multiplies words without knowledge.”

  32. Job 36:2 מִלִּֽים׃ words

    “Bear with me a little longer, and I will show you that there is more to be said on God’s behalf.

  33. Job 36:4 מִלָּ֑י words my

    For truly my words are free of falsehood; one perfect in knowledge is with you.

  34. Job 38:2 בְמִלִּ֗ין by words

    “Who is this who obscures My counsel by words without knowledge?

    Here: 'With words' or 'by means of words.' The prefix בְ marks the means. Millîn is a poetic word that shows up mostly in Job, and its plural ending looks Aramaic. It suggests a stream of talk, a pile of speeches, which fits Elihu's earlier complaint that Job 'multiplies words' (35:16).

Psalms · 2

  1. Psalm 19:4 מִלֵּיהֶ֑ם words their

    their voice has gone out into all the earth, their words to the ends of the world. In the heavens He has pitched a tent for the sun.

    Here: 'Their words, their sayings.' A poetic, Aramaic-flavoured word for speech, used often in Job. It is a deliberate paradox: v.3 has just said there is 'no speech, no words,' yet the heavens have 'words' that reach the world's edge.

  2. Psalm 139:4 מִ֭לָּה [is] a word

    Even before a word is on my tongue, You know all about it, O LORD.

    Here: A spoken word or saying, what a person is about to say. It is a poetic word with an Aramaic flavour, used mostly in Job. Here it means the utterance as a whole, not a single vocabulary item.

Proverbs · 1

  1. Proverbs 23:9 מִלֶּֽיךָ׃ words your

    Do not speak to a fool, for he will despise the wisdom of your words.

    Here: 'Your words' (plural), a poetic word for speech or sayings, common in Job and Proverbs. The sentence ends on 'your words': what you invested in is what gets thrown away.

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