רֶ֫גַע

Exodus 33:5 רֶ֧גַע a moment

For the LORD had said to Moses, “Tell the Israelites, ‘You are a stiff-necked people. If I should go with you for a single moment, I would destroy you. Now take off your jewelry, and I will decide what to do with you.’”

Here: A blink of time. The word stresses how quickly the danger would strike: no slow decline, but instant ruin.

Numbers 16:21 כְּרָֽגַע׃ like a moment

“Separate yourselves from this congregation so that I may consume them in an instant.”

Here: Literally 'like a moment,' a Hebrew idiom for 'in an instant, at once.' The judgment would not be a slow decline like the forty years' dying-off announced in chapter 14. It would be one stroke.

Numbers 16:45 כְּרָ֑גַע like a moment

“Get away from this congregation so that I may consume them in an instant.” And Moses and Aaron fell facedown.

Here: Literally 'as a moment', meaning instantly, in no time. The judgment would not be a slow decline. It would be over in a blink.

Ezra 9:8 רֶגַע֩ a moment

But now, for a brief moment, grace has come from the LORD our God to preserve for us a remnant and to give us a stake in His holy place. Even in our bondage, our God has given us new life and light to our eyes.

Here: An instant, a blink. It echoes Isaiah 54:7–8, where God 'for a brief moment' abandoned Israel but gathers them with great compassion. Here the moment is the short span of favor, and it is fragile.

Job 7:18 לִ֝רְגָעִ֗ים to moments

that You attend to him every morning, and test him every moment?

Job 20:5 רָֽגַע׃ a moment

the triumph of the wicked has been brief and the joy of the godless momentary?

Here: An instant, a blink. It is the word in Psalm 30:5 ("his anger lasts only a moment") and Isaiah 54:7 ("for a brief moment I forsook you"). Here it measures how long the godless man's gladness lasts.

Job 21:13 וּ֝בְרֶ֗גַע and in a moment

They spend their days in prosperity and go down to Sheol in peace.

Job 34:20 רֶ֤גַע׀ a moment

They die in an instant, in the middle of the night. The people convulse and pass away; the mighty are removed without human hand.

Here: Used as an adverb, 'in an instant.' It is the shortest unit of time in biblical Hebrew, like a blink. It stands first in the line for emphasis: before anything else, the death is sudden.

Psalm 6:10 רָֽגַע׃ a moment

All my enemies will be ashamed and dismayed; they will turn back in sudden disgrace.

Here: Used as an adverb: "in an instant," "suddenly." It is the last word of the psalm, so the poem itself stops abruptly, acting out the sudden collapse it describes.

Psalm 30:5 רֶ֨גַע׀ a moment

For His anger is fleeting, but His favor lasts a lifetime. Weeping may stay the night, but joy comes in the morning.

Here: A blink, a split second. It stands first in the line for emphasis: 'A moment, that is all his anger is.'

Psalm 73:19 כְרָ֑גַע like a moment

How suddenly they are laid waste, completely swept away by terrors!

Here: 'As in a moment,' meaning in an instant. Their prosperity seemed to last for years (vv.3–12), but their collapse takes no time at all. The Hebrew accents end the first half of the verse here, so 'in a moment' goes with 'they have become a horror'.

Isaiah 26:20 רֶ֖גַע a moment

Go, my people, enter your rooms and shut your doors behind you. Hide yourselves a little while until the wrath has passed.

Here: 'A moment', the smallest unit of time Hebrew has a word for. 'A little moment' together means 'only the briefest instant'.

Isaiah 27:3 לִרְגָעִ֖ים to moments

I, the LORD, am its keeper; I water it continually. I guard it night and day so no one can disturb it;

Here: Literally 'at moments', a plural with a sense of repetition that means 'moment by moment, every moment, continually'. The watering never lapses.

Isaiah 47:9 רֶ֛גַע a moment

These two things will overtake you in a moment, in a single day: loss of children, and widowhood. They will come upon you in full measure, in spite of your many sorceries and the potency of your spells.

Here: Used as an adverb: 'in an instant'. Her long-built security (v. 8, 'who sits securely') is undone in a blink.

Isaiah 54:7 בְּרֶ֥גַע for a moment

“For a brief moment I forsook you, but with great compassion I will bring you back.

Here: An instant, the shortest stretch of time Hebrew has a word for. The prefix בְּ ("in/for") makes it a time phrase: the abandonment lasted only a moment. The same prefix comes back on the matching word in the second line.

Isaiah 54:8 רֶ֙גַע֙ a moment

In a surge of anger I hid My face from you for a moment, but with everlasting kindness I will have compassion on you,” says the LORD your Redeemer.

Here: An instant or blink of time. It picks up 'for a brief moment' from verse 7 and is set directly against the 'perpetuity' coming next: the anger is brief, the loyalty lasts.

Jeremiah 4:20 רֶ֖גַע a moment

Disaster after disaster is proclaimed, for the whole land is laid waste. My tents are destroyed in an instant, my curtains in a moment.

Here: Used as an adverb with no preposition: '[in] an instant.' The verb 'devastated' is understood from the line before. The clipped phrasing makes the line end abruptly, the way the tents fell.

Jeremiah 18:7 רֶ֣גַע a moment

At any time I might announce that a nation or kingdom will be uprooted, torn down, and destroyed.

Here: Used as a time word: 'at one moment'. It pairs with the same word opening verse 9 ('and at another moment'), setting up two contrasting cases. It stresses that God can make such a declaration at any point, without warning.

Jeremiah 18:9 וְרֶ֣גַע and a moment

And if at another time I announce that I will build up and establish a nation or kingdom,

Here: It picks up the same word that opens verse 7 ('one moment… another moment'). It means 'at any given moment' and works as the 'if' of a conditional sentence: whenever God makes such a declaration, what follows in verse 10 applies.

Lamentations 4:6 רָ֔גַע a moment

The punishment of the daughter of my people is greater than that of Sodom, which was overthrown in an instant without a hand turned to help her.

Ezekiel 26:16 לִרְגָעִ֔ים to moments

All the princes of the sea will descend from their thrones, remove their robes, and strip off their embroidered garments. Clothed with terror, they will sit on the ground, trembling every moment, appalled over you.

Here: 'At moments.' The trembling is not a single shock. It keeps coming in waves, again and again: 'every moment.'

Ezekiel 32:10 לִרְגָעִים֙ to moments

I will cause many peoples to be appalled over you, and their kings will shudder in horror because of you when I brandish My sword before them. On the day of your downfall each of them will tremble every moment for his life.’