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מָמוֹת

𐤌𐤌𐤅𐤕

mâmôwth

H4463 noun

SILEX Entry

Root מות to die, perish, be destroyed

Definition

A terminal, fatal illness—an affliction marked by its lethality or association with the process of dying. Also, by extension or poetic usage, refers to a corpse as the tangible result of such an illness, or more generally, to the state of death resulting from mortal sickness. The word emphasizes disease in its deadly capacity rather than sickness in general.

Semantic Range

fatal disease, terminal illness, mortal sickness, corpse (by extension), death (personified or as a force), plague

Root / Etymology

Root: מות (m-w-t), meaning 'to die.' The noun מָמוֹת is derived from this verbal root, indicating the process or result of dying, with an intensifying mem- prefix often denoting instruments or results in Hebrew morphology. Thus, מָמוֹת focuses on death specifically as brought about by a mortal sickness or plague.

Historical & Contextual Notes

מָמוֹת appears infrequently in the Hebrew Bible (e.g., Psalm 49:15, Habakkuk 2:5), typically conveying a sense of disease with inevitable fatal outcome or the personified force of death. The word stands in contrast to חֹלִי (ḥoli, 'illness, sickness'), which covers general sickness or affliction without necessarily implying death. In most biblical contexts, מָמוֹת retains a strong sense of finality, marking the transition between mortal affliction and actual physical death. Later translators occasionally render the term as 'corpse,' but this reflects metonymic extension rather than the core meaning. The term relates mainly to the Israelite and monarchic periods, with limited usage in post-exilic literature. Standard English translations usually use 'death,' 'plague,' or occasionally 'mortal disease,' which may obscure its specifically terminal connotation in Hebrew usage.

Original Strong's Gloss (1890)

from מוּת; a mortal disease; concretely, a corpse; death.

Bantu Hebrew

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Root Family

מות (m-w-t) — to die, perish, be destroyed

Strong's Lemma SIBI-P1
H4131 מוֹט in death of
H4191 מוּת I will cause to die
H4192 מוּת death-of
H4193 מוֹת to death
H4194 מָוֶת in death

Word Forms

2 distinct forms

SIDANCE Surface Transliteration Morphology Common SIBI-P1 Occurrences
H4463-02 מְמוֹתֵ֨י memotey HNcmpc deaths fatal diseases of 2
H4463-01 ה/ממותתים hmmvttym HTd/VHsmpa who were dying the death-doomed ones 1

Occurrences in Scripture

3 total occurrences

SIDANCE Reference Word Transliteration Morphology Common SIBI-P1
H4463-01 2 Kings 11:2 ה/ממותתים hmmvttym HTd/VHsmpa who were dying the death-doomed ones
H4463-02 Jeremiah 16:4 מְמוֹתֵ֨י memotey HNcmpc deaths fatal diseases of
H4463-02 Ezekiel 28:8 מְמוֹתֵ֥י memotey HNcmpc deaths-of fatal diseases of
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