StrongerBible

gam

גַּם

HebrewH1571also, even, ...

Appears 769 times · tap a cell to see the verses

Gen 3:6Gen 3:22Gen 4:4Gen 4:22Gen 4:26Gen 6:3Gen 6:4Gen 7:3Gen 10:21Gen 13:5Gen 13:16Gen 14:7
Root family
Word studyGAHMadverb

What gam means

also: a small word that adds one more thing to what was just said, or leans on it for emphasis

TranslatabilityPartialCertaintySettled

This is one of the most common little words in the Hebrew Bible, and almost all of its uses grow out of a single idea: it takes something already in view and adds to it, points at it, or piles on top of it. At its plainest it means "also, too, as well," tacking another person or item onto a list ("she gave to her husband too"). The same adding move, pressed harder, becomes emphasis: it can spotlight a surprising or extreme case and shade into "even, indeed, in fact."

Hebrew also doubles the word to make a matched pair, one in front of each item, to say "both this and that" (or, with a negative, "neither this nor that"). And when it leans on a whole clause it can grant a point only to push past it, giving the sense "even though, although, yet."

Because English has no single particle that does all of this, translators reach for a different small word almost every time: also, too, even, indeed, yea, moreover, both, and. The thread running through them all is inclusion. The word never starts a new thought on its own; it always attaches to something already said and adds weight or another member to it.

The senses below are shades of that one idea, sorted by how the word is leaning in each place, not separate meanings. Which shade is in play is usually clear from the surrounding words, and the lines between "also," "even," and "indeed" are often soft.

Nuances

1aalso, too, as well: it adds one more person or thing to what was just mentioned
Gen 3:6Gen 3:22Gen 4:4Gen 7:3Gen 24:14Gen 24:19Gen 30:6Gen 48:11Rut 2:211Sa 1:282Sa 19:30Neh 5:8
1beven, indeed: it spotlights a surprising or extreme case, heightening rather than just adding
Gen 6:3Gen 16:13Gen 20:4Gen 20:12Gen 27:33Gen 30:8Psa 14:3Pro 14:13Pro 17:28Ecc 9:3Isa 49:15Lam 4:3
1cboth ... and (or, with a negative, neither ... nor): the word repeated in front of each of two paired items
Gen 14:16Gen 21:26Gen 24:25Gen 24:44Gen 27:45Gen 32:20Gen 43:8Gen 44:16Gen 47:3Num 18:31Sa 28:6Jer 51:12
1deven though, although, yet: it grants a point about a whole clause only to press past it
Lev 26:44Psa 23:4Ecc 4:14Isa 1:15Lam 3:8Hos 8:10

Uncategorized

Awaiting AI sense categorization.

12 verses
2Sa 15:242Sa 16:232Sa 17:52Sa 17:102Sa 17:122Sa 17:132Sa 17:162Sa 18:22Sa 18:222Sa 18:262Sa 19:402Sa 19:43

What scholars say about gam

BDB and HALOT treat the particle as a single lexeme covering an additive ("also, too"), an emphatic ("even, indeed"), a correlative (the repeated gam...gam, "both...and" / with negation "neither...nor"), and a concessive force ("even though, although," often with ki). DCH catalogs the same range. The standard grammars (Gesenius-Kautzsch-Cowley 153; Joüon-Muraoka 177; Waltke-O'Connor 39.3.4d) classify it among the focusing or scalar adverbs whose scope falls on the constituent it precedes, the additive and emphatic functions forming a continuum rather than discrete homonyms. Recent pragmatic studies (C. H. J. van der Merwe and others on Biblical Hebrew focus particles) analyze it as a focus marker signaling addition, with emphasis as a contextually heightened addition; this consensus underlies treating the word as one meaning with several context-driven shades.

Sources

  • Brown, Driver, Briggs, A Hebrew and English Lexicon of the Old Testament, s.v. גַּםlexicon
  • Koehler, Baumgartner, The Hebrew and Aramaic Lexicon of the Old Testament, s.v. גַּםlexicon
  • Clines (ed.), The Dictionary of Classical Hebrew, s.v. גַּםlexicon
  • Joüon, Muraoka, A Grammar of Biblical Hebrew, 177grammar
  • Waltke, O'Connor, An Introduction to Biblical Hebrew Syntax, 39.3.4grammar

All attested forms of גַּם

adv

גַּם

Gen 3:6, Gen 3:22, Gen 4:4, Gen 4:22, Gen 4:26, Gen 6:3, Gen 6:4, Gen 7:3