Hebrew word · H5978

עִמָּדִי

'imadi

with me

“With me, beside me, in my company.” It is a fuller, mostly poetic form of the ordinary ʿimmî. It suggests standing beside someone or companionship, not just being nearby.

Appears 42 times in 42 verses of the Hebrew Old Testament. ·

What it means

with

A grammatical form of im (עִם "with" H5973A)

§ 1) with

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 Genesis 3:12

Range of meaning

“With me, beside me, in my company.” It is a fuller, mostly poetic form of the ordinary ʿimmî. It suggests standing beside someone or companionship, not just being nearby.

Against the English

KJV/WEB/ESV add “to be with me,” and KJV marks “to be” as supplied. BSB drops the phrase (“whom You gave me”), which is smooth but loses the companionship idea and the echo of 3:6. The Latin Vulgate makes the idea explicit: “whom you gave me as a companion (sociam).”

Used elsewhere in the period

The form ʿimmād- turns up in a few places (e.g. Gen 31:5 “with me,” Job 17:3, Ps 23:4 in some analyses uses the ordinary form), with the same meaning as the shorter form. The Septuagint renders it met' emou, “with me.”

From the study of Psalm 55:18

Range of meaning

"With me, beside me, in my presence." With verbs of fighting or contending, "with" can mean "against" (compare Ps 94:16, "who will stand up for me against [ʿim] evildoers?"; Gen 26:20; Job 9:3).

Against the English

KJV's "many with me" lets readers hear allies. BSB, WEB, NIV and NLT have "oppose me," ESV "arrayed against me," NASB "strive with me."

How it drifted

KJV's literal rendering was not wrong, but modern readers naturally take "with me" as "on my side."

Used elsewhere in the period

Septuagint and Vulgate keep the literal "with me" (syn emoi / mecum), and both are as ambiguous as the Hebrew.

From the study of Genesis 35:3

Range of meaning

'With me … on the way that I went.' ʿImmādî is a rarer, fuller form of 'with me'. Derek means 'road, way, journey' and, by extension, a course of life.

Against the English

KJV, WEB and YLT keep 'in/on the way which I went', which preserves the echo. BSB, NIV, ESV and NASB render it 'wherever I have gone', which reads smoothly but hides the exact verbal link to the vow in 28:20. (Their wording does echo God's promise in 28:15, 'wherever you go'.)

Used elsewhere in the period

Genesis 28:20: 'If God will be with me (ʿimmādî) and will keep me on this way (badderek hazzeh) that I am going (ʾānōkî hōlēk)…' The repetition is nearly word for word. Compare 31:5, 'the God of my father has been with me', and 31:13, 'I am the God of Bethel… where you made a vow to me'.

Where it appears

Genesis · 14

  1. Genesis 3:12 עִמָּדִ֔י with me

    And the man answered, “The woman whom You gave me, she gave me fruit from the tree, and I ate it.”

    Here: A fuller, less common form of “with me,” meaning companionship or standing beside someone. It echoes 3:6, where she gave the fruit “to her husband with her.” The partner given to be with him is now offered as his excuse.

  2. Genesis 19:19 עִמָּדִ֔י with me

    Your servant has indeed found favor in your sight, and you have shown me great kindness by sparing my life. But I cannot run to the mountains; the disaster will overtake me, and I will die.

  3. Genesis 20:9 עִמָּדִֽי׃ with me

    Then Abimelech called Abraham and asked, “What have you done to us? How have I sinned against you, that you have brought such tremendous guilt upon me and my kingdom? You have done things to me that should not be done.”

    Here: 'With me / in your dealings with me'. 'Do with' someone is relationship language, and it comes back in 21:23 when Abimelech asks Abraham for loyal kindness 'as I have done with you'.

  4. Genesis 20:13 עִמָּדִ֑י with me

    So when God had me journey from my father’s house, I said to Sarah, ‘This is how you can show your loyalty to me: Wherever we go, say of me, “He is my brother.”’”

  5. Genesis 21:23 עִמָּדִ֔י with me

    Now, therefore, swear to me here before God that you will not deal falsely with me or my children or descendants. Show to me and to the country in which you reside the same kindness that I have shown to you.”

  6. Genesis 28:20 עִמָּדִ֗י with me

    Then Jacob made a vow, saying, “If God will be with me and watch over me on this journey, and if He will provide me with food to eat and clothes to wear,

    Here: "With me." This is a fuller form of the usual word, and it picks up God's promise in v.15, "I am with you." In Genesis, God's being "with" someone means his protection and his making their way succeed (cf. 26:3, 28; 39:2–3).

  7. Genesis 29:19 עִמָּדִֽי׃ with me

    Laban replied, “Better that I give her to you than to another. Stay here with me.”

  8. Genesis 29:27 עִמָּדִ֔י with me

    Finish this week’s celebration, and we will give you the younger one in return for another seven years of work.”

  9. Genesis 31:5 עִמָּדִֽי׃ with me

    and he told them, “I can see from your father’s countenance that his attitude toward me has changed; but the God of my father has been with me.

  10. Genesis 31:7 עִמָּדִֽי׃ with me

    And although he has cheated me and changed my wages ten times, God has not allowed him to harm me.

    Here: 'With me' means 'to me' or 'in his dealings with me'. Laban later echoes the phrase when he says he has the power to do Jacob harm, but God warned him (31:29).

  11. Genesis 31:32 עִמָּדִ֖י [is] with me

    If you find your gods with anyone here, he shall not live! In the presence of our relatives, see for yourself if anything is yours, and take it back.” For Jacob did not know that Rachel had stolen the idols.

  12. Genesis 35:3 עִמָּדִ֔י with me

    Then let us arise and go to Bethel. I will build an altar there to God, who answered me in my day of distress. He has been with me wherever I have gone.”

    Here: A less common, longer form of 'with me'. Jacob used exactly this form in his vow at Bethel ('if God will be with me', 28:20), so the echo is deliberate.

  13. Genesis 40:14 עִמָּדִ֖י with me

    But when it goes well for you, please remember me and show me kindness by mentioning me to Pharaoh, that he might bring me out of this prison.

    Here: 'With me.' This is the standard partner word in the idiom 'do ḥesed with someone'. It frames the favour as something passing between two people who are now bound to each other.

  14. Genesis 47:29 עִמָּדִי֙ with me

    When the time drew near for Israel to die, he called his son Joseph and said to him, “If I have found favor in your eyes, put your hand under my thigh and promise to show me kindness and faithfulness. Do not bury me in Egypt,

    Here: “With me” – toward me personally, even after death.

Exodus · 1

  1. Exodus 17:2 עִמָּדִ֔י with me

    So the people contended with Moses, “Give us water to drink.” “Why do you contend with me?” Moses replied. “Why do you test the LORD?”

    Here: 'With me.' Moses names himself as the one they are attacking, and the next clause shows he is not the real party.

Leviticus · 1

  1. Leviticus 25:23 עִמָּדִֽי׃ with me

    The land must not be sold permanently, because it is Mine, and you are but foreigners and residents with Me.

    Here: "With me, beside me, in my presence." Israel are not outsiders in some vague sense. They are resident on God's estate, living under his protection as his household dependants. The phrase gives both humility (you do not own it) and security (you live with him).

Deuteronomy · 1

  1. Deuteronomy 5:31 עִמָּדִי֒ with me

    But you stand here with Me, that I may speak to you all the commandments and statutes and ordinances you are to teach them to follow in the land that I am giving them to possess.”

Judges · 1

  1. Judges 17:10 עִמָּדִ֗י with me

    “Stay with me,” Micah said to him, “and be my father and priest, and I will give you ten shekels of silver per year, a suit of clothes, and your provisions.” So the Levite went in

1 Samuel · 4

  1. 1 Samuel 10:2 מֵעִמָּדִ֔י from with me

    When you leave me today, you will find two men at Rachel’s tomb in Zelzah on the border of Benjamin. They will say to you, ‘The donkeys you seek have been found, and now your father has stopped worrying about the donkeys and started worrying about you, asking, “What should I do about my son?”’

  2. 1 Samuel 20:14 עִמָּדִ֛י with me

    And as long as I live, treat me with the LORD’s loving devotion, that I may not die,

  3. 1 Samuel 20:28 מֵעִמָּדִ֖י from with me

    Jonathan answered, “David urgently requested my permission to go to Bethlehem,

  4. 1 Samuel 22:23 עִמָּדִֽי׃ with me

    Stay with me; do not be afraid, for he who seeks your life is seeking mine as well. You will be safe with me.”

2 Samuel · 2

  1. 2 Samuel 10:2 עִמָּדִי֙ with me

    And David said, “I will show kindness to Hanun son of Nahash, just as his father showed kindness to me.” So David sent some of his servants to console Hanun concerning his father. But when they arrived in the land of the Ammonites,

  2. 2 Samuel 19:33 עִמָּדִ֖י with me

    The king said to Barzillai, “Cross over with me, and I will provide for you at my side in Jerusalem.”

Job · 14

  1. Job 6:4 עִמָּדִ֗י [are] with me

    For the arrows of the Almighty have pierced me; my spirit drinks in their poison; the terrors of God are arrayed against me.

    Here: Literally 'with me'. Here the sense is 'lodged in me': the arrows are stuck in him and stay there. It does not describe the moment they hit.

  2. Job 9:35 עִמָּדִֽי׃ with myself

    Then I would speak without fear of Him. But as it is, I am on my own.

  3. Job 10:12 עִמָּדִ֑י with me

    You have granted me life and loving devotion, and Your care has preserved my spirit.

  4. Job 10:17 עִמָּדִ֑י with me

    You produce new witnesses against me and multiply Your anger toward me. Hardships assault me in wave after wave.

  5. Job 13:19 עִמָּדִ֑י with me

    Can anyone indict me? If so, I will be silent and die.

  6. Job 13:20 עִמָּדִ֑י with me

    Only grant these two things to me, so that I need not hide from You:

  7. Job 17:2 עִמָּדִ֑י [are] with me

    Surely mockers surround me, and my eyes must gaze at their rebellion.

    Here: A longer, poetic form of 'with me'. It suggests company and presence: where friends should be standing beside him, mockery is what stands there.

  8. Job 23:6 עִמָּדִ֑י with me

    Would He contend with me in His great power? No, He would certainly take note of me.

  9. Job 23:10 עִמָּדִ֑י with me

    Yet He knows the way I have taken; when He has tested me, I will come forth as gold.

    Here: "The way [that is] with me": the path Job actually walks, his life as he has lived it. It is an unusual phrase, and the ancient translations simplify it to "my way".

  10. Job 28:14 עִמָּדִֽי׃ [is] with me

    The ocean depths say, ‘It is not in me,’ while the sea declares, ‘It is not with me.’

  11. Job 29:5 עִמָּדִ֑י [was] with me

    when the Almighty was still with me and my children were around me,

  12. Job 29:6 עִ֝מָּדִ֗י beside me

    when my steps were bathed in cream and the rock poured out for me streams of oil!

  13. Job 29:20 עִמָּדִ֑י with me

    My glory is ever new within me, and my bow is renewed in my hand.’

  14. Job 31:13 עִמָּדִֽי׃ with me

    If I have rejected the cause of my manservant or maidservant when they made a complaint against me,

    Here: After a word for dispute, 'with me' means 'against me.' Job himself is the one accused. This is a longer form of 'with me' found in poetry.

Psalms · 4

  1. Psalm 23:4 עִמָּדִ֑י [are] with me

    Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for You are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me.

    Here: 'With me', a fuller poetic form of ʿimmî. It echoes God's repeated promise to the patriarchs and Moses, 'I will be with you'. No verb 'are' is needed in Hebrew. The bare statement 'you with-me' is the hinge of the psalm.

  2. Psalm 50:11 עִמָּדִֽי׃ [are] with me

    I know every bird in the mountains, and the creatures of the field are Mine.

  3. Psalm 55:18 עִמָּדִֽי׃ with me

    He redeems my soul in peace from the battle waged against me, even though many oppose me.

    Here: Literally "with me." In contexts of fighting, "to be with" someone can mean to be engaged against them, much as English "fight with" can mean "fight against." Most interpreters read it that way here. KJV leaves it ambiguous.

  4. Psalm 101:6 עִמָּ֫דִ֥י with me

    My eyes favor the faithful of the land, that they may dwell with me; he who walks in the way of integrity shall minister to me.

    Here: A longer, poetic form of 'with me' (ʿim + me). It stresses being close to the king's own person: these people will be around him.

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