What is an idiom? It is a noun that a group of words established by usage as having a meaning not deducible from those of the individual words (e.g., raining cats and dogs.) The Hebrew bible is full of Hebrew idioms, if you don’t understand the Hebrew traditions, culture, etc., of the Jewish men who wrote the bible, you will not understand the idiom (words/meaning/context) in which it was spoken. In order to understand a person, you need to understand their culture. To understand the Jewish men who wrote our bible, we must think Jewish, like they did. This section is intended for a quick ready reference. We hope you enjoy.
IDIOM…Dictionary meaning: NOUN
1 a group of words established by usage as having a meaning not deducible from those of the individual words (e.g., rain cats and dogs, see the light).
• a form of expression natural to a language, person, or group of people : he had a feeling for phrase and idiom.• the dialect of a people or part of a country.2 a characteristic mode of expression in music or art :they were both working in a neo-Impressionist idiom.
The following is a brief list of Hebrew idioms (cultural phrases with specific meanings understood by that culture only). I have provided a biblical example for most of these idioms.
Hermeneutics: The Meaning of Idioms, Ancient Hebrew Idioms Listed
| Verse | Idiom | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| Gen 4:6 | Face fallen | sad |
| Gen 6:8 | Found grace in the eyes | accepted |
| Gen 22.17 | Seed | descendants |
| Gen 24.60 | Possess gates | capture cities |
| Gen 27.41 | Said in heart | thought to self |
| Gen 31.35 | The way of women | menstruation |
| Gen 40.13 | Lift up your head | restore to honor |
| Ex 1.5 | Loins ? | descendants |
| Ex 3.8 | Flowing with milk and honey | fertile |
| Ex 3.19 | Mighty hand | force |
| Ex 13.2 | Open the womb | be born |
| Ex 15.25 | Sweet water | water fit to drink |
| Ex 32.19 | His anger burned | very angry |
| Ex 34.6 | Long of anger | slow to get angry |
| Lev. 20.18 | Her sickness | her period |
| Lev 22.6 | Soul | person |
| Deut 5.6 | House of bondage | (land of) slavery |
| Deut 8.14 | Heart lifted up | proud |
| Deut 15.7 | Close hand | selfish |
| Deut 20.8 | Heart melt | lose courage |
| Deut 21.17 | Beginning of his strength | his firstborn |
| Deut 23.13 | Squat outside | defecate |
| Deut 23.13 | What comes from you | excrement |
| Deut 28.28 | Heart | mind |
| Josh 10.6 | Slack hands | abandon |
| Judges 3.28 | Deliver them into your hands | defeat them for you |
| Judges 13.5 | From the womb | from birth |
| 1 Sam 10.9 | gave him another heart | changed his attitude |
| 1 Sam 24.3 | covered his feet | relieved himself |
| 1 Sam 25.22 | one who urinates against a wall | male |
| 2 Sam 1.12 | house | nation |
| 2 Sam 18.25 | good news is in his mouth | he brings good news |
| 1 Ki 2.10 | slept | died |
| 2 Ki 2.7 | sons of the prophets | group of prophets |
| 2 Ki 4.29 | gird up your loins | get ready |
| 2 Ki 19.26 | small of hand | weak |
| 2 Chr 25.17 | look each other in the face | meet each other in battle |
| 2 Chr 36.13 | stiffened his neck | became stubborn |
| Esther 1.7 | Open hand | generosity |
| Esther 1.14 | Saw his face | had access to him |
| Esther 2.21 | Send a hand against | assassinate |
| Esther 6.10 | let fall | neglect (3) |
| Job 1.12 | Put hand on | harm |
| Job 20.20 | Knew no quiet in their bellies | greedy |
| Job 23.16 | Soft heart | fearful |
| Job 31.10 | Kneel over | have sex with |
| Job 33.16 | Opens the ear | informs, reveals |
| Job 35.8 | Son of man | other humans |
| Ps 3.7 | Break teeth | make powerless |
| Ps 4.1 | Enlarge space | set free |
| Ps 5.9 | Their throat is an open grave | they speak deceitfully |
| Ps 6.7 | Eye is consumed | vision is blurred |
| Ps 7.3 | Iniquity in my hands | guilty |
| Ps 7.9 | Hearts and kidneys | thoughts and emotions |
| Ps 10.5 | Snorts | scoffs |
| Ps 11.6 | the portion of their cup | their destiny |
| Ps 12.2 | double heart | duplicitous |
| Ps 17.8 | Little man of the eye | pupil |
| Ps 24.4 | Clean hands | act purely |
| Ps 25.1 | Lift up my soul | pray |
| Ps 27.8 | Seek my face | seek me |
| Ps 33.18 | Eyes are upon | watches over |
| Ps 41.9 | Lifted heel against | turned against |
| Ps 73.9 | Tongue struts through the earth | arrogantly order everyone |
| Ps 75.5 | Lift horn | defy God |
| Ps 89.13 | Right hand | might |
| Ps 89.22 | Son of wickedness | wicked person |
| Ps 90.12 | Number days | use time wisely |
| Ps 94.9 | Planted | created |
| Ps 102.2 | Hide your face | refuse to answer |
| Ps 121.1 | Lift up eyes | look up toward |
| Ps 124.3 | Swallowed alive | killed |
| Pro 17.22 | Dries bones | drains strength |
| Pro 22.9 | Good eye | generous |
| Pro 23.6 | Bad/Evil eye | stingy |
| Pro 18.20 | Fruit of the mouth | what someone says |
| Pro 24.20 | lamp will go out | will die |
| Song 2.4 | His banner over me is love | he loves me very much |
| Song 2.17 | Until the day breathes | until dawn |
| Song 4.2 | none is bereaved | none is missing |
| Is 9.9 | Arrogance of heart | arrogant |
| Is 14.12 | Son of the morning | morning star |
| Is 35.10 | Joy will crown their heads | they will be joyful |
| Is 52.7 | Feet | person |
| Is 57.4 | Open mouth wide | sneer |
| Is 60.16 | Suck the milk of nations | receive the wealth of other countries |
| Is 61.3 | Oil of gladness | joy |
| Jer 4.4 | Remove the foreskin of your heart | dedicate yourselves fully to God |
| Jer 4.19 | Walls | pain |
| Jer 4.30 | Seek your life | want to kill you |
| Jer 5.5 | Broken the yoke | rejected God’s authority |
| Jer 6.10 | Ears are uncircumcised | don’t listen |
| Jer 7.12 | Where I caused my name to dwell | where I chose to be worshiped |
| Jer 9.1 | waters | spring of water |
| Jer. 25.15 | Wine of wrath | my anger |
| Jer 50.33 | Sons of | people of |
| Jer 51.37 | Hissing | scorn |
| Lam 1.16 | Eyes run down with water | eyes flow with tears |
| Ezek 3.7 | Hard forehead | stubborn |
| Ezek 16.25 | Spread feet | offer self for sex |
| Ezek 16.26 | Big of phallus | lustful |
| Mal 1.11 | My name | me |
| Mal 2.12 | he who awakens and he who answers | every single person |
You missed a glaring idiom that causes much confuses in today’s English speaking world.
Heaven and earth has the meaning “the world of my chosen people” the old being physical Israel, the new being spiritual Israel.
The KJV translators knew this when they translated “end of the age” as “end of the world(of the Jews). Isaiah 51 tells us that God created the heavens and the earth after He had taken them out of Bondage in Egypt, parted the seas and then the waves crashed, and covered them with the shade of His hand when He made of covenant with them to protect them, bless then, be their husband and they will be His wife. But Moses told us the end from the beginning, there would be an end to their world and an New World would be created by God through the coming of a Messiah. We see that they joyously looked forward with great anticipation for the “coming of the New Heavens and the New Earth which we see coming when the old was destroyed for unfaithfulness. This is the close of John’s Apocalypse and the Marriage of the Lamb.