Hebrew word · H7454
רֵעַ
lere'i
thought
A rare noun meaning "thought, purpose, intention, desire." It is probably related to the Aramaic rəʿût ("will, decision, pleasure", Ezra 5:17; 7:18) and to a Hebrew verb root meaning "to desire, strive after." In the Hebrew Bible it appears only in Psalm 139, in verses 2 and 17.
Appears 2 times in 2 verses of the Hebrew Old Testament. ·
What it means
purpose, aim, thought
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 Psalm 139:17
- Range of meaning
A rare noun meaning "thought, purpose, intention, desire." It is probably related to the Aramaic rəʿût ("will, decision, pleasure", Ezra 5:17; 7:18) and to a Hebrew verb root meaning "to desire, strive after." In the Hebrew Bible it appears only in Psalm 139, in verses 2 and 17. It is a separate word from the very common rēaʿ, "friend, neighbour" (H7453), but it is written with the same letters.
- Against the English
English versions all give "thoughts." That is fair, but it can sound like passing mental notes or musings. The Aramaic link points to purposes, intentions, settled plans: what God wills, not just what crosses God's mind.
- How it drifted
Mild. English "thoughts" covers both stray notions and deliberate plans. Modern readers tend to hear the first.
- Used elsewhere in the period
In verse 2 the psalmist says God "discerns my rēaʿ from afar." In biblical Aramaic, rəʿût means the king's "will" or "decision" (Ezra 5:17; 7:18). Psalm 139 has several other Aramaic-flavoured words, for example ʾessaq "I ascend" in v. 8. The Greek Septuagint (LXX) read the consonants as the common word "friends" (οἱ φίλοι σου).
- Range of meaning
A rare noun, found only in Ps 139:2 and 139:17, meaning thought, purpose, intention, or desire. It is spelled like the common word rēaʿ, 'friend, neighbour' (H7453), but is a different word. It is linked to an Aramaic root meaning 'to will, desire, aim at'. In Biblical Aramaic, rᵊʿût means 'will, decision' (Ezra 5:17; 7:18). In Ecclesiastes, rᵊʿût rûaḥ / raʿyôn rûaḥ is usually translated 'striving after wind', literally 'a wanting or aiming at wind'.
- Against the English
Most versions have 'my thoughts' (plural), but the Hebrew is singular, 'my thought / my purpose', as KJV and NASB keep it. Modern 'thoughts' suggests a stream of passing ideas. Here the word leans toward what a person is intending or reaching for.
- How it drifted
Not a major drift. 'Thought' is a fair gloss. But English 'thoughts' has become strongly linked to inner mental chatter, and the plural spreads the word out. The Hebrew points to the will and its aim.
- Used elsewhere in the period
In v.17, 'How precious to me are your rēʿîm, O God' uses the same word for God's own thoughts or purposes, so the psalm deliberately sets God's purposes beside the psalmist's. The Septuagint has τοὺς διαλογισμούς μου ('my reasonings'), and the Vulgate cogitationes meas ('my thoughts').
Where it appears
Psalms · 2
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Psalm 139:2 לְ֝רֵעִ֗י <to> thought[s] my
You know when I sit and when I rise; You understand my thoughts from afar.
Here: 'My thought / my purpose'. The noun is singular. It is a rare word with an Aramaic flavour, found only here and in v.17. It leans toward what a person wants or intends, their aim, more than passing mental chatter. The little prefix lə- marks it as the object, an Aramaic-style way of building the sentence.
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Psalm 139:17 רֵעֶ֣יךָ thoughts your
How precious to me are Your thoughts, O God, how vast is their sum!
Here: "Your thoughts": God's purposes and intentions, the plans behind verse 16's book of days. This rare word appears only here and in verse 2. It is spelled the same as the common word for "friends", which is why the Greek translation read "your friends."
Word data: STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0), main text only.