Hebrew word · H6819

צָעַר

veyitz'aru

be little

To be small, insignificant, of little account; to be brought low. Related words are tsa'ir ("little, young, lowest in rank") and the town Zoar ("Little", Gen 19:20–22).

Appears 3 times in 3 verses of the Hebrew Old Testament. ·

What it means

1) to be or grow insignificant, grow small

1a) (Qal) to ge insignificant

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 Jeremiah 30:19

Range of meaning

To be small, insignificant, of little account; to be brought low. Related words are tsa'ir ("little, young, lowest in rank") and the town Zoar ("Little", Gen 19:20–22).

Against the English

KJV "shall not be small" can read as if it were only about numbers, which would repeat the previous clause. BSB "belittled" and NASB "insignificant" catch the social meaning better: low status and contempt.

Used elsewhere in the period

Job 14:21 ("his sons are brought low"); Zech 13:7 ("the little ones"); Jer 14:3 and 48:4 use the related word tsa'ir for the lowly or insignificant ones.

Where it appears

Job · 1

  1. Job 14:21 וְ֝יִצְעֲר֗וּ and they may be insignificant

    If his sons receive honor, he does not know it; if they are brought low, he is unaware.

Jeremiah · 1

  1. Jeremiah 30:19 יִצְעָֽרוּ׃ they will be insignificant

    Thanksgiving will proceed from them, a sound of celebration. I will multiply them, and they will not be decreased; I will honor them, and they will not be belittled.

    Here: "They will be small," meaning of no account, looked down on. It is the opposite of "weighty". A people that others had treated as negligible (compare "outcast" in v. 17) will matter again.

Zechariah · 1

  1. Zechariah 13:7 הַצֹּעֲרִֽים׃ the little [ones]

    Awake, O sword, against My Shepherd, against the man who is My Companion, declares the LORD of Hosts. Strike the Shepherd, and the sheep will be scattered, and I will turn My hand against the little ones.

    Here: 'The little ones': from a verb meaning 'be small, be of no account'. In the flock picture these are the weak and young of the flock, the ones with least standing. The word refers to their lowliness, not to human children.

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