Hebrew word · H537

אֲמֵלָל

ha'amelalim

weak

Withered, feeble, pitiful. Related to the root ʾ-m-l, 'to languish, droop, dry up', used of fields and vines that wither (Isa 24:7; Joel 1:10, 12), of a woman who has lost her children (Jer 15:9), and of a weak heart (Ezek 16:30).

Appears once in the Hebrew Old Testament. ·

What it means

weak, feeble

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 Nehemiah 4:2

Range of meaning

Withered, feeble, pitiful. Related to the root ʾ-m-l, 'to languish, droop, dry up', used of fields and vines that wither (Isa 24:7; Joel 1:10, 12), of a woman who has lost her children (Jer 15:9), and of a weak heart (Ezek 16:30).

Against the English

'Feeble' (KJV, BSB, WEB) and 'weak' (YLT) are accurate, but the Hebrew carries the picture of something drooping and dried up, past its life, not merely lacking strength.

Used elsewhere in the period

This exact form occurs only here. The related verb is common in prophetic laments over drought and devastation, and similar roots appear in other Semitic languages with the sense 'be weak, faint'.

Where it appears

Nehemiah · 1

  1. Nehemiah 4:2 הָאֲמֵלָלִ֖ים <the> feeble

    before his associates and the army of Samaria, saying, “What are these feeble Jews doing? Can they restore the wall by themselves? Will they offer sacrifices? Will they complete it in a day? Can they bring these burnt stones back to life from the mounds of rubble?”

    Here: From a root used of plants wilting and people languishing; 'these pathetic, shrivelled Judeans'. Found only here in the Bible.

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