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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.

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Unchecked Copy Box Gen 15:4

Unchecked Copy BoxGen 15:4 - Then the word of the LORD came to him: “This man will not be your heir, but a son who is your own flesh and blood will be your heir.”

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Unchecked Copy Box Gen 25:23

Unchecked Copy BoxGen 25:23 - The LORD said to her, “Two nations are in your womb, and two peoples from within you will be separated; one people will be stronger than the other, and the older will serve the younger.”

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Unchecked Copy Box Num 5:22

Unchecked Copy BoxNum 5:22 - May this water that brings a curse enter your body so that your abdomen swells or your womb miscarries.” “ ‘Then the woman is to say, “Amen. So be it.”

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Unchecked Copy Box Rth 1:11

Unchecked Copy BoxRth 1:11 - But Naomi said, “Return home, my daughters. Why would you come with me? Am I going to have any more sons, who could become your husbands?

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Unchecked Copy Box 2Sa 7:12

Unchecked Copy Box2Sa 7:12 - When your days are over and you rest with your ancestors, I will raise up your offspring to succeed you, your own flesh and blood, and I will establish his kingdom.

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Unchecked Copy Box 2Sa 16:11

Unchecked Copy Box2Sa 16:11 - David then said to Abishai and all his officials, “My son, my own flesh and blood, is trying to kill me. How much more, then, this Benjamite! Leave him alone; 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 - Amasa was not on his guard against the dagger in Joab’s hand, and Joab plunged it into his belly, and his intestines spilled out on the ground. Without being stabbed again, Amasa died. Then Joab and his brother Abishai pursued Sheba son of Bikri.

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Unchecked Copy Box 2Ch 21:15

Unchecked Copy Box2Ch 21:15 - You yourself will be very ill with a lingering disease of the bowels, until the disease causes your bowels to come out.’ ”

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Unchecked Copy Box 2Ch 21:18

Unchecked Copy Box2Ch 21:18 - After all this, the LORD afflicted Jehoram with an incurable disease of the bowels.

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Unchecked Copy Box 2Ch 21:19

Unchecked Copy Box2Ch 21:19 - In the course of time, at the end of the second year, his bowels came out because of the disease, and he died in great pain. His people made no funeral fire in his honor, as they had for his predecessors.

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Unchecked Copy Box 2Ch 32:21

Unchecked Copy Box2Ch 32:21 - And the LORD sent an angel, who annihilated all the fighting men and the commanders and officers in the camp of the Assyrian king. So he withdrew to his own land in disgrace. And when he went into the temple of his god, some of his sons, his own flesh and blood, cut him down with the sword.

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Unchecked Copy Box Job 20:14

Unchecked Copy BoxJob 20:14 - yet his food will turn sour in his stomach; it will become the venom of serpents within him.

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Unchecked Copy Box Job 30:27

Unchecked Copy BoxJob 30:27 - The churning inside me never stops; days of suffering confront 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 has turned to wax; it has melted within me.

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Unchecked Copy Box Psa 40:8

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

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Unchecked Copy Box Psa 71:6

Unchecked Copy BoxPsa 71:6 - From birth I have relied on you; you brought me forth from my mother’s womb. I will ever praise you.

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Unchecked Copy Box Sng 5:4

Unchecked Copy BoxSng 5:4 - My beloved thrust his hand through the latch-opening; my heart began to pound for him.

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Unchecked Copy Box Sng 5:14

Unchecked Copy BoxSng 5:14 - His arms are rods of gold set with topaz. His body is like polished ivory decorated with lapis lazuli.

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Unchecked Copy Box Isa 16:11

Unchecked Copy BoxIsa 16:11 - My heart laments for Moab like a harp, my inmost being for Kir Hareseth.

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Unchecked Copy Box Isa 48:19

Unchecked Copy BoxIsa 48:19 - Your descendants would have been like the sand, your children like its numberless grains; their name would never be blotted out nor destroyed from before me.”

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Unchecked Copy Box Isa 49:1

Unchecked Copy BoxIsa 49:1 - Listen to me, you islands; hear this, you distant nations: Before I was born the LORD called me; from my mother’s womb he has spoken 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 lofty throne, holy and glorious. Where are your zeal and your might? Your tenderness and compassion are withheld from us.

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Unchecked Copy Box Jer 4:19

Unchecked Copy BoxJer 4:19 - Oh, my anguish, my anguish! I writhe in pain. Oh, the agony of my heart! My heart pounds within me, I cannot keep silent. For I have heard the sound of the trumpet; I have heard the battle cry.

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Unchecked Copy Box Jer 31:20

Unchecked Copy BoxJer 31:20 - Is not Ephraim my dear son, the child in whom I delight? Though I often speak against him, I still remember him. Therefore my heart yearns for him; I have great compassion for him,”

declares the LORD.

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Unchecked Copy Box Lam 1:20

Unchecked Copy BoxLam 1:20 - “See, LORD, how distressed I am! I am in torment within, and in my heart I am disturbed, for I have been most rebellious. Outside, the sword bereaves; inside, there is only death.

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Unchecked Copy Box Lam 2:11

Unchecked Copy BoxLam 2:11 - My eyes fail from weeping, I am in torment within; my heart is poured out on the ground because my people are destroyed, because children and infants faint in the streets of the city.

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Unchecked Copy Box Eze 3:3

Unchecked Copy BoxEze 3:3 - Then he said to me, “Son of man, eat this scroll I am giving you and fill your stomach with it.” So I ate it, and it tasted as sweet as honey in my mouth.

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Unchecked Copy Box Eze 7:19

Unchecked Copy BoxEze 7:19 - “ ‘They will throw their silver into the streets, and their gold will be treated as a thing unclean. Their silver and gold will not be able to deliver them in the day of the LORD’s wrath. It will not satisfy their hunger or fill their stomachs, for it has caused them to stumble into sin.

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Unchecked Copy Box Jon 1:17

Unchecked Copy BoxJon 1:17 - Now the LORD provided a huge fish to swallow 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 - From inside the fish Jonah prayed to the LORD his God.
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