Hebrew word · H6011
עֹ֫מֶק
la'omek
depth
Depth. The noun appears only here in the Hebrew Bible. Its root ('mq) gives 'deep', 'valley' and 'depths', and is often used figuratively of what cannot be reached or understood: deep waters, deep plans, deep schemes.
Appears once in the Hebrew Old Testament. ·
What it means
depth
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 Proverbs 25:3
- Range of meaning
Depth. The noun appears only here in the Hebrew Bible. Its root ('mq) gives 'deep', 'valley' and 'depths', and is often used figuratively of what cannot be reached or understood: deep waters, deep plans, deep schemes.
- Against the English
'The earth is deep' is accurate. A modern reader may picture soil or a mine shaft. An ancient hearer pictured the bottomless lower part of the world, reaching down to the subterranean waters and the realm of the dead.
- Used elsewhere in the period
Prov 18:4 and 20:5 use the related adjective for deep waters as a picture of a person's words and plans. Job 11:8 sets 'deeper ('amuqqah) than Sheol' beside 'higher than heaven' as the limits no human can reach.
Where it appears
Proverbs · 1
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Proverbs 25:3 לָעֹ֑מֶק for <the> depth
As the heavens are high and the earth is deep, so the hearts of kings cannot be searched.
Here: 'For depth'. The earth is the standard example of depth, reaching down to regions no one can explore. This rare noun comes from the root for being deep, which is also used of thoughts and plans that are hard to get at (Prov 18:4; 20:5).
Word data: STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0), main text only.