Hebrew word · H4507
מְנִי
lamni
Destiny
Appears only here. It is generally understood as the name of a god of fate or allotted portion, from the root m-n-h, 'to count, number, allot, assign'.
Appears once in the Hebrew Old Testament. ·
What it means
§ Meni = "fate" or "fortune"
god of fate who the Jews worshipped in Babylonia
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 Isaiah 65:11
- Range of meaning
Appears only here. It is generally understood as the name of a god of fate or allotted portion, from the root m-n-h, 'to count, number, allot, assign'.
- Against the English
Modern versions have 'Destiny'. KJV's 'that number' translates the root ('count') and hides the deity. YLT keeps 'Meni'.
- How it drifted
As with Gad, rendering the meaning turns a named god into an abstract idea ('destiny') that modern readers do not hear as a being.
- Used elsewhere in the period
Not otherwise found in the Hebrew Bible. Many scholars link it with Manat (mnwtw in Nabataean inscriptions), the Arabian goddess of fate later named in Qur'an 53:20, though the connection is debated. The Septuagint renders it tychē, 'Fortune' (it shifts its words so that Gad becomes 'the demon' and Meni becomes 'Fortune'). Jerome's Vulgate merges the two into one 'Fortuna'.
Where it appears
Isaiah · 1
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Isaiah 65:11 לַמְנִ֥י for <the> Destiny
But you who forsake the LORD, who forget My holy mountain, who set a table for Fortune and fill bowls of mixed wine for Destiny,
Here: 'For the Meni', a god of fate or allotted portion. The name probably comes from the root 'to count, allot', and it sets up the pun in verse 12, where God says 'I will allot (ûmānîtî) you to the sword.'
Word data: STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0), main text only.