Hebrew word · H5100

נְהָמָה

minahamat

groaning

A growl, roar or rumble. From the verb נָהַם (nāham), used of a young lion's growl (Prov 19:12; 20:2; 28:15), of the sea's roar (Isa 5:30), and of people groaning in misery (Prov 5:11; Ezek 24:23). As a noun it occurs only here and in Isa 5:30 ('growl like the roaring of the sea').

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

What it means

growling, groaning

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 Psalm 38:8

Range of meaning

A growl, roar or rumble. From the verb נָהַם (nāham), used of a young lion's growl (Prov 19:12; 20:2; 28:15), of the sea's roar (Isa 5:30), and of people groaning in misery (Prov 5:11; Ezek 24:23). As a noun it occurs only here and in Isa 5:30 ('growl like the roaring of the sea').

Against the English

KJV 'disquietness', YLT 'disquietude', ESV 'tumult', NASB 'agitation', BSB/NIV/WEB 'anguish'. All of these turn the word into an abstract mental state. The Hebrew is a sound: a low rumbling growl inside him.

How it drifted

'Disquietness' in the KJV goes back to older English translation tradition. In modern English it sounds like mild unease, much weaker than a growl. The newer 'anguish' keeps the intensity but loses the sound picture.

Used elsewhere in the period

The Septuagint has στεναγμοῦ ('groaning, sighing'), and the Vulgate gemitu ('groaning'). So the ancient translations already softened this second word, even though they kept 'roar' for the verb.

Where it appears

Psalms · 1

  1. Psalm 38:8 מִֽנַּהֲמַ֥ת from [the] groaning of

    I am numb and badly crushed; I groan in anguish of heart.

    Here: 'From the growling of.' The noun comes from a root used of a lion's growl (Proverbs 19:12; 28:15) and of the sea's roar (Isaiah 5:30, the only other place this noun occurs). The prefix 'from' marks the source: the roar heard outside comes from a growl inside.

Isaiah · 1

  1. Isaiah 5:30 כְּנַהֲמַת־ like [the] growling of

    In that day they will roar over it, like the roaring of the sea. If one looks over the land, he will see darkness and distress; even the light will be obscured by clouds.

    Here: The noun from the same root as the opening verb, so the line is literally 'it will growl... like the growl of the sea'. The repeated sound pounds like the thing it describes.

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