מְעַט

From the study of Isaiah 1:9

Range of meaning

Məʿaṭ means 'a little, a few'. With kə- ('like') it can mean 'a mere little, very few', or as an adverb 'almost, nearly' (Psalm 73:2 'my feet had almost stumbled'; Psalm 94:17; 119:87; Proverbs 5:14), or 'soon'.

Against the English

KJV and WEB: 'a very small remnant' (with the first half). BSB and ESV: 'a few survivors'. YLT moves it forward: 'Shortly — as Sodom we had been'. Some modern commentators read 'we would nearly have become like Sodom'.

Used elsewhere in the period

In the Masoretic Text the main pause-accent of the verse (atnach) falls on this word, which joins it to the first half. The LXX does not translate it.

From the study of Isaiah 26:20

Range of meaning

Meʿaṭ means 'a little, a few, a short while'. Regaʿ means 'a moment, an instant', the briefest stretch of time. The particle 'like/as' in front softens it to 'only about' or 'just'.

Against the English

BSB 'a little while' drops one of the two words of brevity. KJV's 'as it were for a little moment' and YLT's 'shortly a moment' keep all three elements. WEB's 'for a little moment' is close.

Used elsewhere in the period

Isaiah 54:7–8: 'For a brief moment (bĕregaʿ qāṭōn) I forsook you… in a flood of anger I hid my face from you for a moment (regaʿ).' Isaiah 10:25: 'yet a very little while (ʿôd mĕʿaṭ mizʿār) and the indignation (zaʿam) will come to an end.' Psalm 30:5: 'his anger is but for a moment (regaʿ).' The Greek of this verse, 'a very little while' (mikron hoson hoson), is taken up in Hebrews 10:37.

From the study of Psalm 8:5

Range of meaning

A small amount, a few; used of quantity (Prov 15:16, "better is a little"), of distance (2 Sam 16:1, David "had gone a little past the summit"), and, especially with 'od ("yet"), of time (Ps 37:10, "yet a little while and the wicked will be no more").

Against the English

English "a little" fits well. The issue is whether it means degree ("a little lower") or time ("for a little while lower").

How it drifted

Not drift in English so much as a later reuse: the Septuagint's brachy ti can mean "a little" in degree or "briefly" in time, and Hebrews 2:9 seems to use the time sense of Jesus' brief humiliation before exaltation.

Used elsewhere in the period

Ps 37:10; Prov 15:16; 2 Sam 16:1; Hos 1:4. LXX brachy ti; Hebrews 2:7, 9.