שֵׁ֫מֶץ

From the study of Job 26:14

Range of meaning

Rare. It is usually understood as a faint whisper or murmur, a barely audible snatch of sound. Later Hebrew uses the word for 'a trace, a tinge, a tiny bit', and the ancient translators took it in that direction.

Against the English

BSB, ESV and WEB have 'whisper', and NIV 'faint the whisper'. These keep the sound picture that pairs with 'thunder'. NASB's 'faint a word' puts the weight on the noun that follows. KJV's 'how little a portion' takes it as an amount (a scrap) rather than a sound.

Used elsewhere in the period

In the Bible it appears only at Job 4:12, where Eliphaz claims that in a night vision 'my ear received a whisper of it'. Job may be throwing Eliphaz's word back at him: a whisper is all anyone gets. The Septuagint renders it ikmas 'a drop, moisture', and the Vulgate (the Latin Bible) has parvam stillam 'a small drop'. Both understood it as a tiny trace.

From the study of Job 4:12

Range of meaning

Found only here and in Job 26:14 ("how faint a whisper/how small a fragment of a word we hear of him"). It is usually understood as either (a) a faint sound or whisper, or (b) a small portion, trace or bit. Later Hebrew and Aramaic use related forms meaning "a little, a trace". Lexicons such as BDB and HALOT give both "whisper" and "a little" as possible senses.

Against the English

KJV and YLT: "a little thereof" (sense b). BSB, WEB, ESV, NASB, NIV: "a whisper" (sense a). Both fit, and the Hebrew may hold both at once: a quiet sound and only part of the message.

Used elsewhere in the period

Its one other use, Job 26:14, is in Job's speech: the great works of God are only "the edges of his ways", and what we hear of him is a mere shemets, while the "thunder of his power" is beyond understanding. The Vulgate here has "venas susurri eius", "the veins [threads] of its whisper", which combines both senses. The related Hebrew word shimtsah (Exod 32:25) means "derision". Whether it is connected in meaning is uncertain.