StrongerBible

amoq

עָמֹק

HebrewH6013deep

Appears 17 times · tap a cell to see the verses

Lev 13:3Lev 13:4Lev 13:25Lev 13:30Lev 13:31Lev 13:32Lev 13:34Job 11:8Job 12:22Psa 64:6(7)Pro 18:4Pro 20:5Pro 22:14Pro 23:27Ecc 7:24 (2×)Ezk 23:32
Root family
Word studyah-MOKEadjective

What amoq means

deep: reaching far down below the surface, whether measured with the eye or felt as something beyond reach

TranslatabilityDirectCertaintySettled

At its plainest this word means "deep": a surface that sinks below what surrounds it. Its most concrete use is the priest inspecting a skin sore to see whether it looks lower than the healthy skin around it (Leviticus 13), and it describes a pit dug deep enough to trap someone or a cup made deep enough to hold a great deal.

From there the word stretches, exactly as "deep" does in English, to name what is deep in the sense of unreachable: too far down to be measured or searched out. It is used of the human heart that no one else can see into (Psalm 64:6), of wisdom that runs deeper than the grave (Job 11:8), of truths too far down to be found (Ecclesiastes 7:24), and of the hidden things God brings up into the light (Job 12:22).

Because English "deep" does this same double duty, the word is easy to translate. What shifts with it is the tone, not the meaning. Depth can be a wonder, like words of counsel that never run dry, or a danger, like a pit you cannot climb out of or a schemer whose plans you cannot read. The word itself passes no judgment; the surrounding verse tells you whether the depth is inviting or threatening.

Nuances

1aphysically deep: sunk or reaching down below the surrounding surface
Lev 13:3Lev 13:4Lev 13:25Lev 13:30Lev 13:31Lev 13:32Lev 13:34Pro 22:14Pro 23:27Ezk 23:32
1bdeep beyond reach: unfathomable, hidden, too far down to be measured or searched out
Job 11:8Job 12:22Psa 64:6(7)Pro 18:4Pro 20:5Ecc 7:24 (2×)

What scholars say about amoq

The lexica treat עָמֹק as the verbal adjective of the root ʿmq "to be deep", with a settled core sense "deep" that extends from spatial depth to the figurative "unfathomable, inscrutable" (HALOT; BDB; DCH). The concentration of occurrences in Leviticus 13 reflects a fixed diagnostic idiom, מַרְאֶה עָמֹק מִן־הָעוֹר, "an appearance deeper than the skin", where the adjective marks the visible sign by which an active skin affliction is distinguished from a superficial one. The figurative extension to the inaccessible (the human heart, divine wisdom, hidden knowledge) is standard for depth vocabulary and is not treated as a separate lexical sense.

Sources

  • HALOT, s.v. עָמֹקlexicon
  • BDB, s.v. עָמֹקlexicon
  • DCH, s.v. עָמֹקlexicon

All attested forms of עָמֹק

m s absolute

עָמֹק

Lev 13:3, Lev 13:4, Lev 13:25, Lev 13:30, Lev 13:31, Lev 13:32, Lev 13:34, Psa 64:6

f s absolute

עֲמֻקָּה

Job 11:8, Pro 22:14, Pro 23:27, Ezk 23:32

m p absolute

עֲמֻקִּים

Pro 18:4, Pro 20:5

f p absolute

עֲמֻקוֹת

Job 12:22