Hebrew word · H4489
מֹנֶה
monim
time
'Ten counts' means ten times. Mōneh comes from מנה, 'to count', and appears only here and in 31:41. Ten is a common Hebrew round number for 'many times' or 'again and again'.
Appears 2 times in 2 verses of the Hebrew Old Testament. ·
What it means
something weighed out, counted number, time
Aramaic equivalent: min.yan (מִנְיָן "number" H4510)
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 Genesis 31:7
- Range of meaning
'Ten counts' means ten times. Mōneh comes from מנה, 'to count', and appears only here and in 31:41. Ten is a common Hebrew round number for 'many times' or 'again and again'.
- Against the English
'Ten times' is the right translation. Modern readers may take it as an exact tally, which the Hebrew does not require.
- Used elsewhere in the period
Num 14:22: Israel 'tested me these ten times' (with a different word for 'times'). Job 19:3: 'these ten times you have reproached me.' Dan 1:20: 'ten times better'. The Septuagint misread the phrase as 'the ten lambs'.
Where it appears
Genesis · 2
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Genesis 31:7 מֹנִ֑ים times
And although he has cheated me and changed my wages ten times, God has not allowed him to harm me.
Here: A rare word from the root 'to count'. It appears only here and in 31:41, so 'ten counts' means ten times.
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Genesis 31:41 מֹנִֽים׃ times
Thus for twenty years I have served in your household—fourteen years for your two daughters and six years for your flocks—and you have changed my wages ten times!
Word data: STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0), main text only.