Hebrew word · H7324

רִיק

'arik

to empty

The root r-y-q means 'to be empty.' In its active forms it means to empty out or pour out (a sack, a vessel, a sword drawn out of its sheath). In the passive it means 'be emptied, poured out.'

Appears 19 times in 19 verses of the Hebrew Old Testament. ·

What it means

1) to make empty, empty out

1a) (Hiphil)

1a1) to empty, keep empty or hungry

1a2) to pour out or down

1a3) to empty out

1b) (Hophal) to be emptied out

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 Song of Songs 1:3

Range of meaning

The root r-y-q means 'to be empty.' In its active forms it means to empty out or pour out (a sack, a vessel, a sword drawn out of its sheath). In the passive it means 'be emptied, poured out.'

Against the English

Translations agree on 'poured out / poured forth.' NASB takes a different route with 'purified oil,' following a proposed alternative reading.

Used elsewhere in the period

Jer 48:11: Moab 'has not been emptied (hûraq) from vessel to vessel,' which is the image of wine poured from jar to jar. The Septuagint has μύρον ἐκκενωθέν ('ointment emptied out') and the Vulgate oleum effusum ('oil poured out'). Esther 2:3, 9, 12 use the similar-sounding tamrûq for beauty treatments, and some scholars propose that word here.

From the study of Genesis 14:14

Range of meaning

In its basic form the root means 'to be empty'. In the causative form used here it means 'to empty out, pour out' (Gen 42:35 emptying sacks; Eccl 11:3 clouds emptying rain). It also means 'to draw out, unsheathe' a weapon (Exod 15:9 'I will draw my sword'; Lev 26:33; Ps 35:3 'draw out the spear').

Against the English

KJV has 'armed', BSB and NLT 'mobilized', WEB and NASB 'led out', NIV 'called out', and YLT 'draweth out'. YLT keeps the physical image best. 'Mobilized' and 'called out' give the sense but lose the picture of a weapon being drawn. KJV's 'armed' follows Jewish tradition: the Aramaic Targum and the medieval commentator Rashi took it as 'equipped them'.

Used elsewhere in the period

The Samaritan Pentateuch reads wydq here, and the Septuagint (ēríthmēsen) and Vulgate (numeravit) read 'he counted'. Some scholars connect wydq with the Akkadian verb dekû, 'to call up, levy troops'. The Aramaic Genesis Apocryphon from the Dead Sea Scrolls retells it as Abram choosing picked men for battle.

From the study of Ecclesiastes 11:3

Range of meaning

In the causative form used here it means to empty out, pour out, or draw out until empty: emptying sacks (Gen 42:35), pouring oil (Zech 4:12), 'drawing' a sword from its sheath (Exod 15:9), leaving the hungry empty (Isa 32:6). It is related to rêq / rîq, 'empty, vain.' The basic idea is making something empty by letting out what was in it.

Against the English

KJV/WEB 'empty [themselves]' keeps the image of a container being drained. BSB 'pour out rain' is smoother but loses the empty/full contrast with the opening verb 'are filled.'

Used elsewhere in the period

BDB and HALOT list this use under the causative 'empty out.' The Septuagint renders it ekcheousin, 'they pour out.' The full/empty pair is an ordinary way of describing a cause and its sure result.

Where it appears

Genesis · 2

  1. Genesis 14:14 וַיָּ֨רֶק and he drew out

    And when Abram heard that his relative had been captured, he mobilized the 318 trained men born in his household, and they set out in pursuit as far as Dan.

    Here: Literally 'he emptied out', the verb used for drawing a sword or spear from its sheath (Exod 15:9; Ps 35:3). Abram 'unsheathes' his men: he calls out the whole of his fighting force at once. Other ancient witnesses read 'he counted/mustered' (see textual notes).

  2. Genesis 42:35 מְרִיקִ֣ים [were] emptying

    As they began emptying their sacks, there in each man’s sack was his bag of silver! And when they and their father saw the bags of silver, they were dismayed.

Exodus · 1

  1. Exodus 15:9 אָרִ֣יק I will draw

    The enemy declared, ‘I will pursue, I will overtake. I will divide the spoils; I will gorge myself on them. I will draw my sword; my hand will destroy them.’

    Here: 'I will empty out,' meaning unsheathe the sword (the sheath is 'emptied'). It is a vivid idiom for drawing a blade to kill.

Leviticus · 1

  1. Leviticus 26:33 וַהֲרִיקֹתִ֥י and I will draw

    But I will scatter you among the nations and will draw out a sword after you as your land becomes desolate and your cities are laid waste.

    Here: Literally "I will empty out": the sheath is emptied as the blade comes out. It is the verb Pharaoh used when he boasted "I will draw my sword" at the Red Sea (Exod 15:9). Now God draws the sword, and he draws it against Israel.

Psalms · 2

  1. Psalm 18:42 אֲרִיקֵֽם׃ I poured out them

    I ground them as dust in the face of the wind; I trampled them like mud in the streets.

  2. Psalm 35:3 וְהָ֘רֵ֤ק and draw out

    Draw the spear and javelin against my pursuers; say to my soul: “I am your salvation.”

Ecclesiastes · 1

  1. Ecclesiastes 11:3 יָרִ֔יקוּ they will pour [it] out

    If the clouds are full, they will pour out rain upon the earth; whether a tree falls to the south or to the north, in the place where it falls, there it will lie.

    Here: 'They empty [themselves] out.' The verb is related to the word for 'empty, vacant.' A full cloud does not stay full: it drains. The picture is of something that has to happen.

Song of Songs · 1

  1. Song of Songs 1:3 תּוּרַ֣ק [which] it is poured out

    The fragrance of your perfume is pleasing; your name is like perfume poured out. No wonder the maidens adore you.

    Here: A passive form, 'is emptied/poured out,' used of liquid poured from a vessel (compare Jer 48:11). The picture is a flask unstopped and poured so the scent fills the room. The feminine form does not match masculine 'oil,' which is a known textual puzzle.

Isaiah · 1

  1. Isaiah 32:6 לְהָרִיק֙ by keeping empty

    For a fool speaks foolishness; his mind plots iniquity. He practices ungodliness and speaks falsely about the LORD; he leaves the hungry empty and deprives the thirsty of drink.

    Here: A causative verb: he makes the hungry stay empty. The picture is an empty vessel or an empty stomach.

Jeremiah · 2

  1. Jeremiah 48:11 הוּרַ֤ק it has been poured

    Moab has been at ease from youth, settled like wine on its dregs; he has not been poured from vessel to vessel or gone into exile. So his flavor has remained the same, and his aroma is unchanged.

    Here: A passive form: 'he has not been emptied out'. It is the cellar word for decanting (pouring the clear wine off its sediment into a fresh jar). Verse 12 uses the active form of the same verb: enemies 'will empty his vessels'.

  2. Jeremiah 48:12 יָרִ֔יקוּ they will empty out

    Therefore behold, the days are coming, declares the LORD, when I will send to him wanderers, who will pour him out. They will empty his vessels and shatter his jars.

Ezekiel · 5

  1. Ezekiel 5:2 אָרִ֥יק I will draw

    When the days of the siege have ended, you are to burn up a third of the hair inside the city; you are also to take a third and slash it with the sword all around the city; and you are to scatter a third to the wind. For I will unleash a sword behind them.

    Here: 'I will empty out,' meaning to draw a sword by emptying its sheath. The speaker suddenly changes from 'you' (Ezekiel) to 'I' (the LORD). The acted sign gives way to God's own declaration.

  2. Ezekiel 5:12 אָרִ֥יק I will draw

    A third of your people will die by plague or be consumed by famine within you, a third will fall by the sword outside your walls, and a third I will scatter to every wind and unleash a sword behind them.

    Here: Literally "I will empty", meaning empty the scabbard: draw the blade. God himself unsheathes it.

  3. Ezekiel 12:14 אָרִ֥יק I will draw

    And I will scatter to every wind all the attendants around him and all his troops, and I will draw a sword to chase after them.

  4. Ezekiel 28:7 וְהֵרִ֤יקוּ and they will draw

    behold, I will bring foreigners against you, the most ruthless of nations. They will draw their swords against the beauty of your wisdom and will defile your splendor.

  5. Ezekiel 30:11 וְהֵרִ֤יקוּ and they will draw

    He and his people with him, the most ruthless of the nations, will be brought in to destroy the land. They will draw their swords against Egypt and fill the land with the slain.

Habakkuk · 1

  1. Habakkuk 1:17 יָרִ֣יק will he empty

    Will he, therefore, empty his net and continue to slay nations without mercy?

Zechariah · 1

  1. Zechariah 4:12 הַֽמְרִיקִ֥ים which are pouring out

    And I questioned him further, “What are the two olive branches beside the two gold pipes from which the golden oil pours?”

Malachi · 1

  1. Malachi 3:10 וַהֲרִיקֹתִ֥י and I will pour out

    Bring the full tithe into the storehouse, so that there may be food in My house. Test Me in this,” says the LORD of Hosts. “See if I will not open the windows of heaven and pour out for you blessing without measure.

    Here: 'And I will empty out': tipping a vessel until it is drained. A deliberately lavish picture.

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