Hebrew word · H8546

תְּמוּתָה

temutah

death

Temutah is a rare noun for "death," from mut, "to die" (HALOT, BDB). It appears only here and in Psalm 79:11. A close parallel is ben-mawet, "son of death," used for a man who must or deserves to die (1 Samuel 20:31, 26:16; 2 Samuel 12:5).

Appears 2 times in 2 verses of the Hebrew Old Testament. ·

What it means

death

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 102:20

Range of meaning

Temutah is a rare noun for "death," from mut, "to die" (HALOT, BDB). It appears only here and in Psalm 79:11. Combined with benei, "sons of," it follows a common Hebrew idiom in which "son of X" means someone who belongs to or deserves X: "son of strength" is a warrior, and "son of a year" is a one-year-old. A close parallel is ben-mawet, "son of death," used for a man who must or deserves to die (1 Samuel 20:31, 26:16; 2 Samuel 12:5).

Against the English

"Condemned to death" (BSB, WEB) and "appointed to death" (KJV) catch the idiom but can suggest a formal court verdict. YLT's "sons of death" keeps the Hebrew shape but sounds odd. "Doomed to die" is closest in range: death has been marked out for them, whether by an executioner, a captor's cruelty or the slow killing of captivity.

How it drifted

English "condemned" carries a legal sense: a person tried and sentenced, perhaps rightly. The Hebrew idiom only says death is their destined lot. It makes no statement about their guilt.

Used elsewhere in the period

Psalm 79:11 pairs the same two phrases: "the groaning of the prisoner … the sons of death." Both psalms draw on shared lament language about Israel's captives. The Septuagint reads tous huious tōn tethanatōmenōn, "the sons of those put to death," and the Vulgate filios interemptorum, "the children of the slain." Both take benei literally.

From the study of Psalm 79:11

Range of meaning

'Sons of death.' The idiom 'son of X' marks membership in a category or being destined for something. The singular 'son of death' (ben-māwet) in 1 Samuel 20:31, 26:16 and 2 Samuel 12:5 means 'a man who must die / deserves death'. The rare noun tǝmûtāh ('death, dying') appears only here and in Psalm 102:20 [102:21].

Against the English

BSB ('condemned to death'), NIV and NLT ('condemned to die') and WEB ('sentenced to death') suggest a court verdict. KJV ('appointed to die') and ESV/NASB ('doomed to die') are more neutral.

How it drifted

'Condemned' and 'sentenced' call up a legal process and, often, deserved guilt. The Hebrew idiom only says these people are in death's grip. In this psalm that grip belongs to foreign conquerors who have already 'poured out blood like water' (verse 3).

Used elsewhere in the period

In Psalm 102:20 [102:21] the same pair, 'prisoner' and 'sons of death', appears in a hymn about God looking down from heaven to rebuild Zion. The Greek Septuagint here has 'the sons of those put to death' (tōn tethanatōmenōn), reading it as the children of the slain.

Where it appears

Psalms · 2

  1. Psalm 79:11 תְמוּתָֽה׃ death

    May the groans of the captives reach You; by the strength of Your arm preserve those condemned to death.

    Here: Death. Together with the previous word, 'sons of death' means those marked for death or doomed to die: captives awaiting execution or wasting away in captivity. The noun occurs only here and in the parallel Psalm 102:20 (Hebrew 102:21).

  2. Psalm 102:20 תְמוּתָֽה׃ death

    to hear a prisoner’s groaning, to release those condemned to death,

    Here: A rare noun from *mut*, "to die," found only here and in Psalm 79:11. "Sons of death" means people who are doomed, destined or sentenced to die. In context these are captives whose captivity is expected to end in death.

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