Hebrew word · H7312

רוּם

rum

height

Noun from the verb rum, "to be high, rise, be lifted up." It means height or elevation (the height of the heavens, Proverbs 25:3) and, figuratively, haughtiness, especially "height of eyes" (Proverbs 21:4; Isaiah 10:12), the look of someone who looks down on others.

Appears 6 times in 6 verses of the Hebrew Old Testament. ·

What it means

1) haughtiness, height, elevation

1a) height, loftiness

1b) haughtiness

Aramaic equivalent: rum (רוּם "height" H7314)

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 Isaiah 2:17

Range of meaning

Noun from the verb rum, "to be high, rise, be lifted up." It means height or elevation (the height of the heavens, Proverbs 25:3) and, figuratively, haughtiness, especially "height of eyes" (Proverbs 21:4; Isaiah 10:12), the look of someone who looks down on others.

Against the English

KJV "haughtiness," WEB "arrogance," BSB "loftiness," YLT "loftiness." They are all fair. The literal "height" shows why the verse pairs it with verbs of sinking and bowing.

Used elsewhere in the period

Isaiah uses the same root for God: "high (ram) and lifted up" (6:1; 57:15). He also uses it for the Assyrian king's "haughty looks" (10:12). In 2:12 the day of the LORD is "against all that is proud and high (ram)."

From the study of Isaiah 10:12

Range of meaning

'Height of eyes', an idiom for haughtiness: looking down on others and up at nobody.

Against the English

KJV 'high looks', NIV 'haughty look', NASB 'haughty eyes' all keep the idiom adequately. The only loss is the link to Isaiah's repeated theme of 'high' things being made low.

Used elsewhere in the period

Isa 2:11 'the lofty eyes of man shall be brought low'; 5:15; Ps 18:27 (Heb. 28); Ps 101:5; Prov 6:17 'haughty eyes' first on the list of things YHWH hates; Prov 21:4.

From the study of Isaiah 2:11

Range of meaning

A noun from rûm, 'to be high, rise'. It means 'height, elevation' and so 'haughtiness'. The verb is used of Yahweh's legitimate exaltation (Isa 6:1, 'high and lifted up') and of illegitimate human self-raising (Deut 8:14; Isa 10:12, 'the haughtiness of his eyes').

Against the English

BSB 'loftiness', KJV 'haughtiness', WEB 'arrogance'. 'Loftiness' best keeps the height image. 'Arrogance' is correct in meaning but flat.

Used elsewhere in the period

Isa 10:12 rûm ʿênāyw ('the haughtiness of his eyes', said of the Assyrian king); Prov 21:4 rûm ʿênayim ('haughty eyes') is listed as sin; Jer 48:29.

Where it appears

Proverbs · 2

  1. Proverbs 21:4 רוּם־ haughtiness of

    Haughty eyes and a proud heart—the guides of the wicked—are sin.

    Here: A noun meaning 'height', tied directly to the next word: 'the height of'. Applied to eyes, it describes someone who holds his head and gaze high and looks down on everyone else.

  2. Proverbs 25:3 לָ֭רוּם for <the> height

    As the heavens are high and the earth is deep, so the hearts of kings cannot be searched.

Isaiah · 3

  1. Isaiah 2:11 ר֣וּם [the] pride of

    The proud look of man will be humbled, and the loftiness of men brought low; the LORD alone will be exalted in that day.

    Here: 'The height' or 'tallness' of human beings: their self-raising, arrogance pictured as towering stature. It pairs with gabhût, so that height-words fill the human side of the verse.

  2. Isaiah 2:17 ר֣וּם [the] pride of

    So the pride of man will be brought low, and the loftiness of men will be humbled; the LORD alone will be exalted in that day,

    Here: "The height of": literally elevation. Used figuratively, as here, it means arrogance, 'looking down' on others (compare "haughty eyes," literally "height of eyes," Proverbs 21:4).

  3. Isaiah 10:12 ר֥וּם [the] haughtiness of

    So when the Lord has completed all His work against Mount Zion and Jerusalem, He will say, “I will punish the king of Assyria for the fruit of his arrogant heart and the proud look in his eyes.

    Here: 'Height', in the idiom 'height of eyes', meaning to look down on others. In Isaiah, everything 'high' that rivals God is brought low (2:11-17).

Jeremiah · 1

  1. Jeremiah 48:29 וְרֻ֥ם and [the] loftiness of

    We have heard of Moab’s pomposity, his exceeding pride and conceit, his proud arrogance and haughtiness of heart.

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