מָסַס

Exodus 16:21 וְנָמָֽס׃ and it melted

Every morning each one gathered as much as was needed, and when the sun grew hot, it melted away.

Deuteronomy 1:28 הֵמַ֨סּוּ they have made melt

Where can we go? Our brothers have made our hearts melt, saying: ‘The people are larger and taller than we are; the cities are large, with walls up to the heavens. We even saw the descendants of the Anakim there.’”

Here: 'They caused to melt': the scouts' report turned the people's resolve to liquid. It is a picture of courage draining away, not of tenderness.

Deuteronomy 20:8 יִמַּ֛ס it will be melted

Then the officers shall speak further to the army, saying, “Is any man afraid or fainthearted? Let him return home, so that the hearts of his brothers will not melt like his own.”

Here: 'Melt': the standard Hebrew picture of courage dissolving like wax or water. As vowel-pointed, 'the heart melts'; the same consonants can be read 'he makes [their heart] melt.'

Joshua 2:11 וַיִּמַּ֣ס and it melted

When we heard this, our hearts melted and everyone’s courage failed because of you, for the LORD your God is God in the heavens above and on the earth below.

Here: "And it melted": the verb is used for wax or ice turning to liquid. Applied to the heart, it means courage dissolving in terror. It describes losing the will to fight, not growing tender.

Joshua 5:1 וַיִּמַּ֣ס and it melted

Now when all the Amorite kings west of the Jordan and all the Canaanite kings along the coast heard how the LORD had dried up the waters of the Jordan before the Israelites until they had crossed over, their hearts melted and their spirits failed for fear of the Israelites.

Here: 'Melted, dissolved, turned to liquid.' It is a picture of courage collapsing, the way wax runs in heat. It is not about being softened with tenderness.

Joshua 7:5 וַיִּמַּ֥ס and it melted

And the men of Ai struck down about thirty-six of them, chasing them from the gate as far as the quarries and striking them down on the slopes. So the hearts of the people melted and became like water.

Judges 15:14 וַיִּמַּ֥סּוּ and they dropped off

When Samson arrived in Lehi, the Philistines came out shouting against him. And the Spirit of the LORD came mightily upon him. The ropes on his arms became like burnt flax, and the bonds broke loose from his hands.

Here: 'And they melted'. This is the word for wax melting or hearts melting in fear. The bonds do not snap. They dissolve, as if they had stopped being solid.

1 Samuel 15:9 וְנָמֵ֖ס and worthless

Saul and his troops spared Agag, along with the best of the sheep and cattle, the fat calves and lambs, and the best of everything else. They were unwilling to devote them to destruction, but they devoted to destruction all that was despised and worthless.

2 Samuel 17:10 הִמֵּ֣ס יִמָּ֑ס surely <melt>, he will melt

Then even the most valiant soldier with the heart of a lion will melt with fear, because all Israel knows that your father is a mighty man who has valiant men with him.

Psalm 22:14 נָ֝מֵ֗ס it has melted

I am poured out like water, and all my bones are disjointed. My heart is like wax; it melts away within me.

Here: The standard verb for a heart 'melting' in terror or despair, used of armies that lose their nerve (Deut 20:8; Josh 2:11). Here it completes the wax picture: his heart has run liquid.

Psalm 68:2 כְּהִמֵּ֣ס as melts

As smoke is blown away, You will drive them out; as wax melts before the fire, the wicked will perish in the presence of God.

Here: 'As/like' joined to a passive verbal noun of masas, 'to melt, dissolve'. It opens the second picture, matching the first in shape. Elsewhere the word is used for hearts 'melting' in fear, and that sense hangs in the background.

Psalm 97:5 נָ֭מַסּוּ they melt

The mountains melt like wax at the presence of the LORD, before the Lord of all the earth.

Here: "They melt" or "they melted." The form describes a complete act, and in a hymn about God appearing it can be read as past (a remembered appearance) or as what always happens when he appears. The same verb is used for hearts "melting" in terror, so it carries a sense of collapse as well as heat.

Psalm 112:10 וְנָמָ֑ס and he will melt away

The wicked man will see and be grieved; he will gnash his teeth and waste away; the desires of the wicked will perish.

Here: He dissolves like wax or a melting heart. The word suggests a man consumed from within by his own fury, and also a man who simply disappears (compare Ps 68:2).

Isaiah 10:18 כִּמְסֹ֥ס as wastes away

The splendor of its forests and orchards, both soul and body, it will completely destroy, as a sickness consumes a man.

Here: 'As the melting/wasting of': the word is used of wax melting and of hearts melting in fear. Here it is the slow wasting of strength.

Isaiah 13:7 יִמָּס׃ it will melt

Therefore all hands will fall limp, and every man’s heart will melt.

Here: 'It will melt (away).' The form is passive or reflexive: the heart dissolves like wax or runs like water. This is Israel's stock image for courage collapsing before a battle.

Isaiah 19:1 יִמַּ֥ס it will melt

This is the burden against Egypt: Behold, the LORD rides on a swift cloud; He is coming to Egypt. The idols of Egypt will tremble before Him, and the hearts of the Egyptians will melt within them.

Here: 'It will melt.' This is a fixed idiom of the holy-war tradition for an enemy losing all will to fight (Josh 2:11; 5:1; Deut 20:8). It describes paralysing loss of nerve, not tender emotion.

Isaiah 34:3 וְנָמַ֥סּוּ and they will melt away

Their slain will be left unburied, and the stench of their corpses will rise; the mountains will flow with their blood.

Ezekiel 21:7 וְנָמֵ֣ס and it will melt

And when they ask, ‘Why are you groaning?’ you are to say, ‘Because of the news that is coming. Every heart will melt, and every hand will go limp. Every spirit will faint, and every knee will turn to water.’ Yes, it is coming and it will surely happen, declares the Lord GOD.”

Here: The heart will melt away like wax or dissolve like water. This is the stock biblical picture of courage collapsing in the face of a military threat.

Micah 1:4 וְנָמַ֤סּוּ and they will melt

The mountains will melt beneath Him, and the valleys will split apart, like wax before the fire, like water rushing down a slope.

Here: To dissolve, run, lose solid form. The 'and' plus perfect form carries on from 'is coming out' in v.3, so it points to the future: 'and the mountains will melt.' Hebrew uses the same verb for courage giving way ('hearts melted', Josh 2:11), so a hint of terror sits under the physical picture.

Nahum 2:10 נָמֵ֜ס [is] melting

She is emptied! Yes, she is desolate and laid waste! Hearts melt, knees knock, bodies tremble, and every face grows pale!

Here: 'Melting, dissolving.' A standard Hebrew picture of courage collapsing in the face of an enemy (Joshua 2:11; 7:5). The heart turns to liquid: no resolve is left to fight.