E.D. Reymond, «The Hebrew Word hmmd and the Root d-m-m I ('To Be Silent')», Vol. 90 (2009) 374-388
The definition of the Hebrew word hmmd (found in Biblical as well as in Dead Sea Scrolls Hebrew) has been debated for many years. Recent dictionaries and studies of the word have proposed defining it as “sighing” or “whisper” and deriving it
from the root d-m-m II associated with mourning and/or moaning. This study considers how the word is used in the Bible, in the Dead Sea Scrolls, as well as how similar words are used in other post-biblical Hebrew and Aramaic texts; it
concludes that the word hmmd is more likely to mean “silence, quiet” or the absence of loud sound and motion in both the Hebrew of the Bible and that of the Dead Sea Scrolls and should be derived from the root d-m-m I (“to be silent”).
378 E.D. Reymond
They cried to the Lord in their distress,
and he delivered them from their anguish.
He turned the storm to calm (hmmd),
and the waves grew silent (Ps 107,28-29) (10).
A spirit passed by my face,
it bristled the hair of my skin.
It stood (still), but I could not see its shape.
A (vague) form was before my eyes;
I could hear a quiet (hmmd) voice (Job 4,15-16) (11).
As illustrated above, part of the argument for understanding hmmd
as “sighing†or “whisper†is the discrepancy between the assumed
meaning of d-m-m I (absolute silence or stillness) and the context of at
least two of the above biblical passages that describe a slight sound or
voice (1 Kgs 19,12 and Job 4,16). Like other scholars, I too assume
that d-m-m I (together with hmmd) indicates absolute silence or stillnes.
However, this does not preclude the root’s use (or the use of hmmd) in
First and Second King (Interpretation, Atlanta, GA 1987) 123-125, on the other
hand, asserts that there is no theological import to the phrase or the apparent word
play. See also those studies mentioned above, especially in relation to 1 Kgs
19,12: LUST, “A Gentle Breeze or a Roaring Thunderous Sound?â€, 110-115;
MASSON, “L’expérience mystique du prophète Eliâ€, 243 and idem, Élie ou l’appel
du silence, 20.
(10) E. DHORME, A Commentary on the Book of Job (London 1967) 51,
commenting on Job 4,16, finds in this psalmic verse clear indication of hmmd’s
meaning: “In Ps 107,29, the noun hm;m;D] certainly means the calm which succeeds
the storm: silence and peaceâ€. Other commentators translate the word as
“murmurâ€: J.W. ROGERSON – J.W. MCKAY, Psalms: 101-150 (CBC; Cambridge
1977) 53, or “whisperâ€: M. DAHOOD, Psalms III: 101-150 (AB 17A; Garden City,
NY 1970) 79.
(11) DHORME, Commentary on the Book of Job, 51-52, recognizing that “most
commentators see in lwqw hmmd a hendiadys ‘murmur and voice,’†bases his own
analysis on the meaning of hmmd in Ps 107,29 (“silenceâ€) and its usage in 1 Kgs
19,12 where it modifies lwq; he writes of Job 4,16: “The most objective translation
of the last hemistich is therefore simply: ‘And I hear a whispered voice’â€. R.
GORDIS, The Book of Job. Commentary, New Translation, and Special Studies
(New York 1978) 42, also understands hmmd to mean “silence†here, but detaches
it from lwqw, to translate: “a form stood before my eyes; silence — then I heard a
voiceâ€. He explains: “The pausal vocalization with Qames links lwOqw: to hm;m;D],
while the accentuation joins it to [m'v]a,†(ibid., 50). Pope and Whybray understand
the syntax similarly. M.H. POPE, Job (AB 15; Garden City, NY 1965) 37,
comments “the meaning of the word is ‘stillness, silence’â€. N. WHYBRAY, Job
(Readings; Sheffield 1998) 43, translates: “the silence followed by a voice
speakingâ€. N.C. HABEL, The Book of Job (CBC; Cambridge 1975) 28, on the other
hand, translates: “and I heard the sound of a low voiceâ€.
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