Hebrew word · H7309
רְוָחָה
harevachah
relief
Relief, breathing space, respite. It comes from a root meaning to be wide, roomy, or able to breathe. In the Hebrew Bible it appears only here and in Lamentations 3:56. The closely related word rewaḥ ('relief, room') appears in Esther 4:14 and Genesis 32:16 ('space' between droves).
Appears 2 times in 2 verses of the Hebrew Old Testament. ·
What it means
respite, relief
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
- Range of meaning
Relief, breathing space, respite. It comes from a root meaning to be wide, roomy, or able to breathe. In the Hebrew Bible it appears only here and in Lamentations 3:56. The closely related word rewaḥ ('relief, room') appears in Esther 4:14 and Genesis 32:16 ('space' between droves).
- Against the English
'Relief' (BSB, NASB) and 'respite' (KJV, WEB, ESV) are both accurate. What gets lost is the picture of breathing room, of pressure taken off.
- Used elsewhere in the period
Lam 3:56 (the speaker's cry for relief); the related form rewaḥ in Esther 4:14 ('relief and deliverance will arise').
Where it appears
Exodus · 1
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Exodus 8:15 הָֽרְוָחָ֔ה the respite
When Pharaoh saw that there was relief, however, he hardened his heart and would not listen to Moses and Aaron, just as the LORD had said.
Here: 'Breathing room', from a root meaning to be wide or to breathe freely. It is ironic, because the previous verse says the land reeked with the stench of the dead frogs, and yet this is the 'breathing space' Pharaoh uses.
Lamentations · 1
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Lamentations 3:56 לְרַוְחָתִ֖י to relief my
You heard my plea: “Do not ignore my cry for relief.”
Word data: STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0), main text only.