Hebrew word · H7878

שִׂיחַ

siach

to muse

To muse, meditate, ponder. Also to talk, speak out, and to complain or pour out one's concern (the related noun śîaḥ means 'musing' or 'complaint'). The core idea is speech that comes from absorbed, preoccupied thought, whether spoken aloud or turned over inwardly.

Appears 20 times in 20 verses of the Hebrew Old Testament. ·

What it means

1) to put forth, mediate, muse, commune, speak, complain, ponder, sing

1a) (Qal)

1a1) to complain

1a2) to muse, meditate upon, study, ponder

1a3) to talk, sing, speak

1b) (Polel) to meditate, consider, put forth thoughts

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 Proverbs 6:22

Range of meaning

To muse, meditate, ponder. Also to talk, speak out, and to complain or pour out one's concern (the related noun śîaḥ means 'musing' or 'complaint'). The core idea is speech that comes from absorbed, preoccupied thought, whether spoken aloud or turned over inwardly.

Against the English

'Speak to you' (BSB, NIV) and 'talk with you' (KJV, WEB, ESV) are adequate, but they can suggest casual conversation. The Hebrew points to the thing that fills your mind: what you find yourself turning over as soon as you wake.

Used elsewhere in the period

Psalm 119 uses it repeatedly of the worshipper meditating on God's precepts (vv. 15, 23, 27, 48, 78). Psalm 119:148 joins it with being awake at night: 'my eyes are awake before the night watches, that I may meditate (lāśîaḥ) on your word.' Psalm 77:6 has 'my spirit muses.' Here the verb takes a direct object ('she will śîaḥ you'), which is unusual. Lexicons such as BDB and HALOT take it as 'talk with, address.'

From the study of Psalm 105:2

Range of meaning

To be occupied with something inwardly and give it voice: to muse, ponder, talk about, rehearse, and also to complain or pour out one's concern. The noun śîaḥ can mean "musing" or "complaint" (Hannah's "great complaint," 1 Sam 1:16; the title of Ps 102). The common thread is preoccupation that comes out in words.

Against the English

BSB, WEB, ESV and NIV have "tell (of)"; NASB "speak of"; KJV "talk ye of"; YLT "meditate ye on." Each English verb gets half the word. "Tell" loses the dwelling and pondering. "Meditate" loses the speaking.

How it drifted

Modern English "meditate" usually means silent, inward and contemplative. In the ancient world, musing on a text or a story was normally murmured or spoken aloud.

Used elsewhere in the period

Judg 5:10: "you who ride on white donkeys… śîḥû," meaning tell or recount the LORD's victories. Ps 69:12: those sitting at the gate "talk about me." Ps 77:3, 6, 12: the poet "muses" on God's ancient deeds. Ps 119:27 is close to this verse: "I will śîaḥ on your wonders (niflə'ôtêkā)." So is Ps 145:5: "on the words of your wonders I will muse." The Septuagint here has diēgēsasthe, "narrate, recount in full."

From the study of Psalm 143:5

Range of meaning

To muse or ponder (Psalm 77:6; 119:15, 27, 48); to talk about or tell of (Judges 5:10; Psalm 105:2, 'tell of all his wondrous works'; Psalm 145:5); to complain or lament (Job 7:11; Psalm 55:17; 77:3). The noun siach means 'musing, talk, complaint' (1 Samuel 1:16; Psalm 142:2).

Against the English

KJV and NASB 'muse' and BSB 'consider' are accurate. In modern English, though, 'muse' can sound like idle daydreaming. The Hebrew word is closer to 'talk it through', and it can be voiced and emotionally charged.

How it drifted

English 'muse' has drifted toward light, dreamy reflection. The Hebrew word often belongs to anguished prayer.

Used elsewhere in the period

In the previous psalm (142:2) the same root gives 'I pour out my complaint (sichi) before him'. Psalm 77:3 (Hebrew 77:4) joins it to the same 'my spirit faints' phrase found in Psalm 143:4.

Where it appears

Judges · 1

  1. Judges 5:10 שִֽׂיחוּ׃ tell out

    You who ride white donkeys, who sit on saddle blankets, and you who travel the road, ponder

1 Chronicles · 1

  1. 1 Chronicles 16:9 שִׂ֖יחוּ tell

    Sing to Him, sing praises to Him; tell of all His wonders.

Job · 2

  1. Job 7:11 אָ֝שִׂ֗יחָה I will complain

    Therefore I will not restrain my mouth; I will speak in the anguish of my spirit; I will complain in the bitterness of my soul.

    Here: "Let me pour out my lament." The verb covers going over one's trouble again and again, aloud, often before God. It is the language of a lament prayer (Psalm 55:17; 77:3), not of petty griping.

  2. Job 12:8 שִׂ֣יחַ complain

    Or speak to the earth, and it will teach you; let the fish of the sea inform you.

Psalms · 14

  1. Psalm 55:17 אָשִׂ֣יחָה I will complain

    Morning, noon, and night, I cry out in distress, and He hears my voice.

    Here: To go over one's troubles in words, whether thought, muttered or spoken aloud. Here it means pouring out a complaint. The form expresses resolve: "let me pour out my complaint" or "I will." It repeats the noun 'complaint' (siach) from verse 2.

  2. Psalm 69:12 יָשִׂ֣יחוּ they speak

    Those who sit at the gate mock me, and I am the song of drunkards.

    Here: They keep talking it over. The Hebrew tense shows something that keeps happening: the psalmist has become a regular topic of conversation. The same verb is used elsewhere for pondering God's works aloud. Here it means turning someone over in public talk, and the next half of the verse shows the talk is scornful.

  3. Psalm 77:3 אָשִׂ֓יחָה׀ I will complain

    I remembered You, O God, and I groaned; I mused and my spirit grew faint. Selah

    Here: 'I turn it over' or 'I pour it out.' The word means going over something again and again, often aloud. It can be devotion or distress, and here it is clearly distress, as in Hannah's 'complaint' (1 Sam 1:16).

  4. Psalm 77:6 אָשִׂ֑יחָה I will meditate

    At night I remembered my song; in my heart I mused, and my spirit pondered:

    Here: "Let me turn it over": musing that is half-spoken, rehearsing a matter in words, often as a complaint or troubled musing. The same verb in v. 3 goes with his spirit fainting. In v. 12 it is aimed at God's deeds.

  5. Psalm 77:12 אָשִֽׂיחָה׃ I will meditate

    I will reflect on all You have done and ponder Your mighty deeds.

  6. Psalm 105:2 שִׂ֝֗יחוּ tell

    Sing to Him, sing praises to Him; tell of all His wonders.

    Here: A third plural command. The word covers turning something over in the mind and putting it into words, usually spoken or murmured aloud. Here it means rehearsing and talking through God's deeds. It also sounds like the first word, shîrû.

  7. Psalm 119:15 אָשִׂ֑יחָה I will meditate

    I will meditate on Your precepts and regard Your ways.

    Here: "Let me muse / I will mull over." The form is a cohortative, a first-person form that expresses resolve or wish ("I am determined to…"). The verb means turning something over in your mind and often in your mouth too: rehearsing it, talking it through. It does not mean emptying the mind.

  8. Psalm 119:23 יָשִׂ֥יחַ he meditates

    Though rulers sit and slander me, Your servant meditates on Your statutes.

  9. Psalm 119:27 וְ֝אָשִׂ֗יחָה so let me meditate

    Make clear to me the way of Your precepts; then I will meditate on Your wonders.

    Here: 'And let me muse' or 'so that I may muse.' The form expresses resolve, and coming right after a request it often states the purpose or result: once God gives understanding, the poet will turn the wonders over in his mind and speak them aloud.

  10. Psalm 119:48 וְאָשִׂ֥יחָה and I will meditate

    I lift up my hands to Your commandments, which I love, and I meditate on Your statutes.

    Here: The ending on this verb marks resolve: "and let me go over," "I am determined to go over." It means turning something over in the mind and often on the lips, not emptying the mind or sitting in silence.

  11. Psalm 119:78 אָשִׂ֥יחַ I will meditate

    May the arrogant be put to shame for subverting me with a lie; I will meditate on Your precepts.

    Here: 'I will muse' or 'I keep musing.' This means thinking hard about a subject, often half out loud, going over it again and again. It is the psalmist's answer to his attackers: he does not hit back but stays with God's charges.

  12. Psalm 119:148 לָ֝שִׂ֗יחַ to meditate

    My eyes anticipate the watches of night, that I may meditate on Your word.

  13. Psalm 143:5 אֲשׂוֹחֵֽחַ׃ I meditate

    I remember the days of old; I meditate on all Your works; I consider the work of Your hands.

    Here: 'I keep musing / I keep talking it over'. The verb form shows an action that goes on and repeats. The word covers inner pondering, speaking about something aloud, and pouring out a complaint (the noun appears in Psalm 142:2, 'I pour out my complaint').

  14. Psalm 145:5 אָשִֽׂיחָה׃ I will meditate on

    the glorious splendor of Your majesty. And I will meditate on Your wondrous works.

    Here: 'Let me muse on / I will rehearse.' The form expresses resolve ('let me'). The verb means going over something with absorbed attention, often aloud, half-spoken and half-thought. It comes last, so everything before it is what the singer will go over.

Proverbs · 1

  1. Proverbs 6:22 תְשִׂיחֶֽךָ׃ it will speak to you

    When you walk, they will guide you; when you lie down, they will watch over you; when you awake, they will speak to you.

    Here: A verb for absorbed, inward talk: musing, mulling over, pouring out one's thoughts. Elsewhere a person 'muses' on God's precepts. Here the roles are reversed and the teaching 'muses with' the son. It is the first voice in his head when he wakes.

Isaiah · 1

  1. Isaiah 53:8 יְשׂוֹחֵ֑חַ will he consider

    By oppression and judgment He was taken away, and who can recount His descendants? For He was cut off from the land of the living; He was stricken for the transgression of My people.

    Here: To turn something over in the mind or put it into words, including lament or protest. Here: who thought about it, spoke up, or grieved?

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