Hebrew word · H4463

מָמוֹת

memotei

death

Mᵉmôtê is the plural of a rare noun for 'death', found elsewhere only in Ezek 28:8 ('deaths of the slain'). Taḥălu'îm, 'sicknesses', is found in Deut 29:21 (Eng. 29:22), 2 Chr 21:19, Ps 103:3 and Jer 14:18.

Appears 2 times in 2 verses of the Hebrew Old Testament. ·

What it means

death

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 Jeremiah 16:4

Range of meaning

Mᵉmôtê is the plural of a rare noun for 'death', found elsewhere only in Ezek 28:8 ('deaths of the slain'). Taḥălu'îm, 'sicknesses', is found in Deut 29:21 (Eng. 29:22), 2 Chr 21:19, Ps 103:3 and Jer 14:18.

Against the English

KJV/WEB 'grievous deaths', YLT 'painful deaths', BSB 'deadly diseases'. The Hebrew literally names the cause, death by disease, and the plural adds weight. 'Grievous' in the 1611 sense meant painful and heavy. Today it suggests 'very serious'.

How it drifted

'Grievous' has narrowed in modern English to mean 'serious', as in 'grievous error' or 'grievous bodily harm'.

Used elsewhere in the period

Jer 14:18 'the sicknesses of famine' links this word to siege conditions. Deut 29:22 places 'sicknesses' among the covenant curses on the land.

From the study of Ezekiel 28:8

Range of meaning

Death, or a manner of death. It is a rare form of the common noun mavet, found only here and in Jeremiah 16:4 ('they will die of deadly diseases', literally 'deaths of diseases').

Against the English

KJV keeps the plural, 'die the deaths of [them that are] slain'. YLT has 'by the deaths of the wounded'. Most modern versions make it singular ('the death', 'a violent death'), which reads more smoothly but drops the plural.

Used elsewhere in the period

Jeremiah 16:4 uses the plural the same way, to name a kind of death. Ezekiel 28:10 uses the parallel phrase 'the deaths of the uncircumcised' (motei arelim), with the common noun, also plural. That suggests a deliberate formula: 'you will die the death that X die'.

Where it appears

Jeremiah · 1

  1. Jeremiah 16:4 מְמוֹתֵ֨י deaths of

    “They will die from deadly diseases. They will not be mourned or buried, but will lie like dung on the ground. They will be finished off by sword and famine, and their corpses will become food for the birds of the air and beasts of the earth.”

    Here: A rare noun built from the verb 'to die'. It appears only here and in Ezekiel 28:8. The plural, 'deaths of', piles death on death: many deaths, deaths of many kinds. It stands first in the sentence for emphasis.

Ezekiel · 1

  1. Ezekiel 28:8 מְמוֹתֵ֥י [the] death<s> of

    They will bring you down to the Pit, and you will die a violent death in the heart of the seas.

    Here: This is a rare noun for death, found elsewhere only in Jeremiah 16:4. It is plural and linked to the next word: 'the deaths of'. The plural probably stresses how complete or severe the death is, or names a kind of death: the death that slain men die.

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