StrongerBible

si'aḥ

שִׂיחַ

HebrewH7878“meditate, complain, ...”

Appears 20 times · tap a cell to see the verses

Jdg 5:101Ch 16:9Job 7:11Job 12:8Psa 55:17(18)Psa 69:12(13)Psa 77:3(4)Psa 77:6(7)Psa 77:12(13)Psa 105:2Psa 119:15Psa 119:23Psa 119:27Psa 119:48Psa 119:78Psa 119:148Psa 143:5Psa 145:5Pro 6:22Isa 53:8
Root family
Word studyResearch-gradeSEE-akhverb

What si'aḥ means

to voice what fills the heart aloud: to rehearse a matter over and over, as complaint, reflection, or proclamation

TranslatabilityPartialCertaintyStrong

This word describes what a person does out loud when something has taken hold of the heart. It is not silent, wordless thought. It is a grievance, a wonder, or a beloved command gone over again and again, whether murmured half under the breath or spoken fully aloud. One and the same act runs across very different moods, and the setting tells you which one is in view:

  • In bitter grief it is a complaint poured out before God (as in Job and several lament psalms).
  • In quiet reflection it is going back over God's deeds or his commands until they sink in (Psalm 77; Psalm 119).
  • In worship it is telling the whole assembly about his wonders (Judges 5; Psalm 105).
  • Between two parties it is simply speaking to or conversing with another (Job 12; Proverbs 6).

A close cousin is הגה, the low muttering also translated "meditate." The two overlap, but this word leans toward the heart and its outpouring rather than the lips and tongue: it carries love, longing, and grief that the plainer mutter does not, and it is always about some specific matter that fills the mind. Its Greek counterpart μελετάω covers the reflective, rehearsing side but not the note of complaint.

What holds the range together is that the word never quite leaves the mouth, even when it goes deep into the heart. It is what the mouth does when the heart is full.

Nuances

1ato pour out a complaint: to voice grief or distress aloud, especially before God
Job 7:11Psa 55:17(18)Psa 77:3(4)
1bto muse on: to go over God's works or his commands aloud, dwelling on them in reflection
Psa 77:6(7)Psa 77:12(13)Psa 119:15Psa 119:23Psa 119:27Psa 119:48Psa 119:78Psa 119:148Psa 143:5Isa 53:8
Isa 53:8

How to render the verb in Isaiah 53:8, in the clause traditionally translated "who shall declare his generation?"

  • majority"Consider" or "give thought to": who among his contemporaries reflected on his fate. The intensive form of the verb favors this weightier, reflective sense.; Blenkinsopp, Isaiah 40-55, Anchor Bible 19A; Goldingay and Payne, Isaiah 40-55, ICC
  • minority"Declare" or "tell out": who can recount his generation or descendants. This follows the earliest translations.; Septuagint, Isaiah 53:8 (diegēsetai); Vulgate, Isaiah 53:8 (enarrabit)
1cto recount: to tell out and proclaim God's wonders to others
Jdg 5:101Ch 16:9Psa 105:2Psa 145:5
1dto talk about: to speak of someone, often idly or in mockery
Psa 69:12(13)
1eto speak to: to address or converse with another
Job 12:8Pro 6:22

What scholars say about si'aḥ

The major modern lexica (HALOT, BDB, DCH, Gesenius 18) all separate this speaking verb and its noun שִׂיחַ I from the homonym שִׂיחַ II "shrub, bush" (Gen 2:5; Job 30:4). An older proposal, going back to Gesenius's Handwörterbuch and preserved in Klein and in TWOT (#2255), derived both from a single primitive sense "to bring forth, put forth" (leaves from a plant, words from a mouth), but comparative Semitists now favor two distinct roots: the plant-name has secure cognates across Akkadian, Syriac, and Arabic, while the speaking verb is nearly an isolate with support mainly in Aramaic and Syriac. The verb's meaning itself is well fixed. Genre disambiguates its range: bitter complaint in Job and the lament psalms (Clines, WBC; Seow, who reads Job's speech as rumination curdled into protest), reflective rehearsal of God's deeds and Torah in Psalms 77, 119, and 143 (Kraus; Hossfeld-Zenger; Goldingay), and public proclamation in hymnic material (Judg 5; Ps 105). A strong scholarly consensus (Alter; Niditch; Schniedewind) now reads the word, like its cousin הגה, as audible or sub-vocal recitation rather than silent contemplation, reflecting a culture in which reading was done aloud. The verb in Isaiah 53:8 (an intensive form) is the strongest witness to a "considered reflection" sense, though it competes with the older "declare" rendering.

In-depth research

This is a research paper, so it may be hard to read without scholarly background. It is useful if you want to dig even deeper into this word.

Sources

  • HALOT (Koehler-Baumgartner), s.v. שיח Ilexicon
  • BDB, s.v. שיחlexicon
  • Clines, The Dictionary of Classical Hebrew, vol. 8lexicon
  • TDOT (Botterweck-Ringgren), s.v. שיח, vol. XIVtheological-dictionary
  • Cohen, TWOT #2255theological-dictionary
  • Hossfeld and Zenger, Psalms 3, Hermeneiacommentary
  • Goldingay, Psalms, Baker Commentary on the Old Testamentcommentary
  • Seow, Job 1-21, Illuminationscommentary
  • Clines, Job 1-20, Word Biblical Commentary 17commentary
  • Alter, The Book of Psalms: A Translation with Commentarycommentary
  • Niditch, Oral World and Written Wordmonograph

AI-generated word study · claude-opus-4-8

All attested forms of שִׂיחַ

qal cohortative 1cs

אָשִׂיחָה

Job 7:11, Psa 55:17, Psa 77:3, Psa 77:6, Psa 77:12, Psa 119:15, Psa 119:27, Psa 119:48

qal imperative 2mp

שִׂיחוּ

Jdg 5:10, 1Ch 16:9, Psa 105:2

piel imperfect 1cs

אֲשׂוֹחֵחַ

Psa 143:5

piel imperfect 3ms

יְשׂוֹחֵחַ

Isa 53:8

qal imperative 2ms

שִׂיחַ

Job 12:8

qal imperfect 1cs

אָשִׂיחַ

Psa 119:78

qal imperfect 3fs

תְשִׂיחֶ

Pro 6:22

qal imperfect 3mp

יָשִׂיחוּ

Psa 69:12

qal imperfect 3ms

יָשִׂיחַ

Psa 119:23

qal infinitive-construct construct

שִׂיחַ

Psa 119:148