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The Blue Letter Bible

Lexicon :: Strong's H4578 - mēʿê

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מֵעֶה
Transliteration
mēʿê
Pronunciation
may-aw'
Listen
Part of Speech
masculine noun
Root Word (Etymology)
From an unused root probably meaning to be soft
Dictionary Aids

TWOT Reference: 1227a

Strong’s Definitions

מֵעֶה mêʻeh, may-aw'; from an unused root probably meaning to be soft; used only in plural the intestines, or (collectively) the abdomen, figuratively, sympathy; by implication, a vest; by extension the stomach, the uterus (or of men, the seat of generation), the heart (figuratively):—belly, bowels, × heart, womb.

KJV Translation Count — Total: 32x

The KJV translates Strong's H4578 in the following manner: bowels (27x), belly (3x), heart (1x), womb (1x).

KJV Translation Count — Total: 32x
The KJV translates Strong's H4578 in the following manner: bowels (27x), belly (3x), heart (1x), womb (1x).

  1. internal organs, inward parts, bowels, intestines, belly

    1. inward parts

    2. digestive organs

    3. organs of procreation, womb

    4. place of emotions or distress or love (fig.)

    5. external belly

Strong’s Definitions [?](Strong’s Definitions Legend)
מֵעֶה mêʻeh, may-aw'; from an unused root probably meaning to be soft; used only in plural the intestines, or (collectively) the abdomen, figuratively, sympathy; by implication, a vest; by extension the stomach, the uterus (or of men, the seat of generation), the heart (figuratively):—belly, bowels, × heart, womb.
STRONGS H4578: Abbreviations
† [מֵעֶה] noun masculineIsaiah 16:11 only plural internal organs, inward parts (intestines, bowels), belly (Late Hebrew id.; Aramaic H4577 מְעָא, מַעֲיָא, bdb058804, bdb058805; Arabic bdb058806; Ethiopic bdb058807; — on form compare LagBN 156 BaZMG xiii. 1888, 345); — plural [מֵעִים] construct מְעֵי Psalm 71:6 + 3 times; suffix מֵעַי 2 Samuel 16:11 + 9 times, מֵעָ֑י Psalm 22:15; Psalm 40:9; מֵעֶיךָ Genesis 15:4 + 6 times; מֵעַיִךְ Genesis 25:23; Numbers 5:22; מֵעָיו 2 Samuel 20:10 + 5 times; מֵעֵיהֶם Ezekiel 7:19; —
1. literally:
a. אַ֫רְצָה מֵעָיו וַיִּשְׁפֹּךְ 2 Samuel 20:10 and he poured out his inward parts on the ground (through a wound); compare מ׳ מַחֲלֵה 2 Chronicles 21:15, 18, מ׳ יָֽצְאוּ 2 Chronicles 21:15; 2 Chronicles 21:19.
b. as digestive organs, but without precision, nearly = stomach, belly, Job 20:14; Ezekiel 3:3 (|| בֶּטֶן), Ezekiel 7:19 (|| נֶפֶשׁ; both with מָלֵא), Numbers 5:22; so of fish that swallowed Jonah Jonah 2:1; Jonah 2:2.
2. source of procreation: אשׁר יצא מִמּ׳ (said of offspring) Genesis 15:4 (JE), 2 Samuel 7:12 (|| זַרְעֲךָ), 2 Samuel 16:11; צֶאֱצָאֵי מ׳ Isaiah 48:19 (|| id.); מִיצִיאֵי מ׳ 2 Chronicles 32:21.
3. = womb, יִפָּרֵ֑דוּ מִמֵּעַיִח לְאֻמִּים שְׁנֵי Genesis 25:23 (J; || בֶּטֶן), compare Isaiah 49:1 (|| id.), Psalm 71:6 (|| id.), Ruth 1:11.
4. in general = inwards, inward part, לִבִּי ֗֗֗ נָמֵס בְּתוֺךְ מ׳ Psalm 22:15, compare תּוֺרָֽתְךָ בְּתוֺךְ מ׳ Psalm 40:9.
5. figurative = seat of emotions: pity, Isaiah 16:11 (|| קֶרֶב); of God's compassion, Jeremiah 31:20 (|| רחם; in both subject of verb הָמוּ); הֲמוֺן מֵעֶיךָ Isaiah 63:15 (|| רַחֲמֶיךָ); distress, Jeremiah 4:19 (twice in verse) (|| לֵב, מֵעַי חֳמַרְמָרוּ Lamentations 1:20 (|| לֵב), Lamentations 2:11 (|| כָּבֵד liver); מֵעַי רֻתְּחוּ Job 30:27 (dubious, see Bu); love, מֵעַי הָמוּ עָלָיו Songs 5:4.
6. the external belly, מֵעָיו עֶשֶׁת שֵׁן Songs 5:14.

See related Aramaic BDB entry H4577.
Brown-Driver-Briggs Hebrew and English Lexicon, Unabridged, Electronic Database.
Copyright © 2002, 2003, 2006 by Biblesoft, Inc.
All rights reserved. Used by permission. BibleSoft.com

BLB Scripture Index of Brown-Driver-Briggs

Genesis

15:4; 15:4; 25:23; 25:23

Numbers

5:22; 5:22

Ruth

1:11

2 Samuel

7:12; 16:11; 16:11; 20:10; 20:10

2 Chronicles

21:15; 21:15; 21:18; 21:19; 32:21

Job

20:14; 30:27

Psalms

22:15; 22:15; 40:9; 40:9; 71:6; 71:6

Song of Songs

5:4; 5:14

Isaiah

16:11; 16:11; 48:19; 49:1; 63:15

Jeremiah

4:19; 31:20

Lamentations

1:20; 2:11

Ezekiel

3:3; 7:19; 7:19

Jonah

2:1; 2:2

H4578

Read the Full Entry

Word / Phrase / Strong's Search

Strong's Number H4578 matches the Hebrew מֵעֶה (mēʿê),
which occurs 32 times in 30 verses in the WLC Hebrew.

Tools

Unchecked Copy Box Gen 15:4

Unchecked Copy BoxGen 15:4 - And behold, the word of the LORD came to him: “This man shall not be your heir; your very own son[fn] shall be your heir.”

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Unchecked Copy Box Gen 25:23

Unchecked Copy BoxGen 25:23 - And the LORD said to her,
“Two nations are in your womb,
and two peoples from within you[fn] shall be divided;
the one shall be stronger than the other,
the older shall serve the younger.”

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Unchecked Copy Box Num 5:22

Unchecked Copy BoxNum 5:22 - May this water that brings the curse pass into your bowels and make your womb swell and your thigh fall away.’ And the woman shall say, ‘Amen, Amen.’

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Unchecked Copy Box Rth 1:11

Unchecked Copy BoxRth 1:11 - But Naomi said, “Turn back, my daughters; why will you go with me? Have I yet sons in my womb that they may become your husbands?

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Unchecked Copy Box 2Sa 7:12

Unchecked Copy Box2Sa 7:12 - When your days are fulfilled and you lie down with your fathers, I will raise up your offspring after you, who shall come from your body, and I will establish his kingdom.

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Unchecked Copy Box 2Sa 16:11

Unchecked Copy Box2Sa 16:11 - And David said to Abishai and to all his servants, “Behold, my own son seeks my life; how much more now may this Benjaminite! Leave him alone, and let him curse, for the LORD has told him to.

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Unchecked Copy Box 2Sa 20:10

Unchecked Copy Box2Sa 20:10 - But Amasa did not observe the sword that was in Joab’s hand. So Joab struck him with it in the stomach and spilled his entrails to the ground without striking a second blow, and he died. Then Joab and Abishai his brother pursued Sheba the son of Bichri.

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Unchecked Copy Box 2Ch 21:15

Unchecked Copy Box2Ch 21:15 - and you yourself will have a severe sickness with a disease of your bowels, until your bowels come out because of the disease, day by day.’”

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Unchecked Copy Box 2Ch 21:18

Unchecked Copy Box2Ch 21:18 - And after all this the LORD struck him in his bowels with an incurable disease.

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Unchecked Copy Box 2Ch 21:19

Unchecked Copy Box2Ch 21:19 - In the course of time, at the end of two years, his bowels came out because of the disease, and he died in great agony. His people made no fire in his honor, like the fires made for his fathers.

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Unchecked Copy Box 2Ch 32:21

Unchecked Copy Box2Ch 32:21 - And the LORD sent an angel, who cut off all the mighty warriors and commanders and officers in the camp of the king of Assyria. So he returned with shame of face to his own land. And when he came into the house of his god, some of his own sons struck him down there with the sword.

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Unchecked Copy Box Job 20:14

Unchecked Copy BoxJob 20:14 - yet his food is turned in his stomach;
it is the venom of cobras within him.

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Unchecked Copy Box Job 30:27

Unchecked Copy BoxJob 30:27 - My inward parts are in turmoil and never still;
days of affliction come to meet me.

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Unchecked Copy Box Psa 22:14

Unchecked Copy BoxPsa 22:14 - I am poured out like water,
and all my bones are out of joint;
my heart is like wax;
it is melted within my breast;

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Unchecked Copy Box Psa 40:8

Unchecked Copy BoxPsa 40:8 - I delight to do your will, O my God;
your law is within my heart.”

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Unchecked Copy Box Psa 71:6

Unchecked Copy BoxPsa 71:6 - Upon you I have leaned from before my birth;
you are he who took me from my mother’s womb.
My praise is continually of you.

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Unchecked Copy Box Sng 5:4

Unchecked Copy BoxSng 5:4 - My beloved put his hand to the latch,
and my heart was thrilled within me.

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Unchecked Copy Box Sng 5:14

Unchecked Copy BoxSng 5:14 - His arms are rods of gold,
set with jewels.
His body is polished ivory,[fn]
bedecked with sapphires.[fn]

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Unchecked Copy Box Isa 16:11

Unchecked Copy BoxIsa 16:11 - Therefore my inner parts moan like a lyre for Moab,
and my inmost self for Kir-hareseth.

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Unchecked Copy Box Isa 48:19

Unchecked Copy BoxIsa 48:19 - your offspring would have been like the sand,
and your descendants like its grains;
their name would never be cut off
or destroyed from before me.”

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Unchecked Copy Box Isa 49:1

Unchecked Copy BoxIsa 49:1 - Listen to me, O coastlands,
and give attention, you peoples from afar.
The LORD called me from the womb,
from the body of my mother he named my name.

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Unchecked Copy Box Isa 63:15

Unchecked Copy BoxIsa 63:15 - Look down from heaven and see,
from your holy and beautiful[fn] habitation.
Where are your zeal and your might?
The stirring of your inner parts and your compassion
are held back from me.

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Unchecked Copy Box Jer 4:19

Unchecked Copy BoxJer 4:19 - My anguish, my anguish! I writhe in pain!
Oh the walls of my heart!
My heart is beating wildly;
I cannot keep silent,
for I hear the sound of the trumpet,
the alarm of war.

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Unchecked Copy Box Jer 31:20

Unchecked Copy BoxJer 31:20 - Is Ephraim my dear son?
Is he my darling child?
For as often as I speak against him,
I do remember him still.
Therefore my heart[fn] yearns for him;
I will surely have mercy on him,
declares the LORD.

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Unchecked Copy Box Lam 1:20

Unchecked Copy BoxLam 1:20 - “Look, O LORD, for I am in distress;
my stomach churns;
my heart is wrung within me,
because I have been very rebellious.
In the street the sword bereaves;
in the house it is like death.

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Unchecked Copy Box Lam 2:11

Unchecked Copy BoxLam 2:11 - My eyes are spent with weeping;
my stomach churns;
my bile is poured out to the ground
because of the destruction of the daughter of my people,
because infants and babies faint
in the streets of the city.

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Unchecked Copy Box Eze 3:3

Unchecked Copy BoxEze 3:3 - And he said to me, “Son of man, feed your belly with this scroll that I give you and fill your stomach with it.” Then I ate it, and it was in my mouth as sweet as honey.

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Unchecked Copy Box Eze 7:19

Unchecked Copy BoxEze 7:19 - They cast their silver into the streets, and their gold is like an unclean thing. Their silver and gold are not able to deliver them in the day of the wrath of the LORD. They cannot satisfy their hunger or fill their stomachs with it. For it was the stumbling block of their iniquity.

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Unchecked Copy Box Jon 1:17

Unchecked Copy BoxJon 1:17 - [fn] And the LORD appointed[fn] a great fish to swallow up Jonah. And Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights.

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Unchecked Copy Box Jon 2:1

Unchecked Copy BoxJon 2:1 - Then Jonah prayed to the LORD his God from the belly of the fish,
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