Hebrew word · H4477

מַמְתַֿקִּים

mamtakim

sweetness

From the root m-t-q, "to be sweet." A plural noun meaning "sweet things" or "sweetness." It occurs elsewhere only in Nehemiah 8:10 ("drink sweet drinks" at a festival). The root is used for honey (Judg 14:14, 18), for pleasant speech (Prov 16:21) and for what is delightful (Ps 55:14).

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

What it means

sweetness, sweet thing

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 Song of Songs 5:16

Range of meaning

From the root m-t-q, "to be sweet." A plural noun meaning "sweet things" or "sweetness." It occurs elsewhere only in Nehemiah 8:10 ("drink sweet drinks" at a festival). The root is used for honey (Judg 14:14, 18), for pleasant speech (Prov 16:21) and for what is delightful (Ps 55:14).

Against the English

KJV/BSB "most sweet" and NIV "sweetness itself" both capture the strengthening plural well. WEB/YLT "sweetness" is accurate but weaker.

Used elsewhere in the period

Neh 8:10. The Septuagint uses γλυκασμοί, "sweetnesses," keeping the plural.

Where it appears

Nehemiah · 1

  1. Nehemiah 8:10 מַֽמְתַקִּ֗ים sweet things

    Then Nehemiah told them, “Go and eat what is rich, drink what is sweet, and send out portions to those who have nothing prepared, since today is holy to our Lord. Do not grieve, for the joy of the LORD is your strength.”

    Here: "Sweetnesses": sweet drinks, probably sweet wine or drinks sweetened with honey or fruit syrup. Elsewhere it appears only in Song of Songs 5:16 ("his mouth is most sweet"), so it carries a sense of delight.

Song of Songs · 1

  1. Song of Songs 5:16 מַֽמְתַקִּ֔ים [is] sweetness<es>

    His mouth is most sweet; he is altogether lovely. This is my beloved, and this is my friend, O daughters of Jerusalem.

    Here: A plural noun used to make the idea stronger: not just "sweet" but "sweetness itself." The word appears elsewhere only in Nehemiah 8:10, for the sweet drinks of a festival.

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