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גֹּלֶם

𐤂𐤋𐤌

gôlem

H1564 noun

SILEX Entry

Root גלם to wrap up, enclose, be unshaped

Definition

An unshaped or unfinished substance, particularly referencing an unformed embryonic body. In its biblical occurrence, refers specifically to the human embryo or fetus in its earliest, unshaped stage within the womb, prior to completion or full formation.

Semantic Range

unformed substance, an embryo or fetus, unfinished body, formless mass

Root / Etymology

Derived from the root גָּלַם (galam), which means 'to wrap up, enclose, to be unshaped.' The noun form גֹּלֶם (gôlem) signifies something in a raw, unfinished, or unformed state, especially in a physical sense.

Historical & Contextual Notes

גֹּלֶם appears only once in the Hebrew Bible (Psalm 139:16), where it denotes the human embryo or fetus as an undeveloped, unshaped mass, emphasizing both its physical incompleteness and the divine knowledge of its eventual form. The concept encapsulates both biological and metaphysical dimensions—both the unfinished nature of physical life and the comprehensive attention given to development by the deity. Later Hebrew usage extended the word to mean a lump or formless mass (such as undeveloped material), a sense supported by rabbinic literature, which uses golem for an unfinished vessel or an unformed person. English translations sometimes obscure the physical, embryonic sense by using abstract phrases such as 'substance yet unperfect,' but the original text is specifically corporeal and developmental. The word is not used in broader anthropological or philosophical ways in the TaNaKh, but later medieval and mystical Hebrew adopted 'golem' for various concepts of raw material or incomplete creation—most famously, the legendary anthropoid created from clay. The biblical use, by contrast, remains strictly biological and poetic, not mythological.

Original Strong's Gloss (1890)

from גָּלַם; a wrapped (and unformed mass, i.e. as the embryo); substance yet being unperfect.

Bantu Hebrew

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Root Family

גלם (g-l-m) — wrap up, enclose, be unshaped

Strong's Lemma SIBI-P1
H1545 גְּלוֹם in wrap-garments of
H1563 גָּלַם and he enclosed
H1565 גַּלְמוּד desolate and uninhabited

Word Forms

1 distinct form

SIDANCE Surface Transliteration Morphology Common SIBI-P1 Occurrences
H1564-01 גָּלְמִ֤/י galemi HNcmsc/Sp1cs my unformed substance my unformed embryo 1

Occurrences in Scripture

1 total occurrence

SIDANCE Reference Word Transliteration Morphology Common SIBI-P1
H1564-01 Psalms 139:16 גָּלְמִ֤/י galemi HNcmsc/Sp1cs my unformed substance my unformed embryo
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