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# אָלַם

Biblical Hebrew · Strong's H481

**bind** — used 8 times in the Hebrew Bible. Below: its meanings with their sources, MACULA's glosses, and 2 verses word for word and in JPS 1917.

## Meaning

### OpenScriptures lexical index

bind [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/tanakh/1488/481/#m1)

### Brown–Driver–Briggs 1906

אָלַם: vb. bind be dumb [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/tanakh/1488/481/#m2)

**The whole BDB entry:** vb. bind (perhaps cf. Assyrian \[alāmu\], alamattu, fortress Dl in ZimBP 114 & in BD Ezek.xi; Arabic أَلِمَ be in pain, Aramaic ܐܶܠܰܡ retain anger). (be bound =) be dumb, Pf. 3 fs. נֶאֱלָמָ֑ה Is 53:7; וְנֶאֱלַמְתָּ֫ Ez 3:26, etc.; Impf. 2 ms. תֵּאָלֵם Ez 24:27; 3 fpl. תֵּאָלַמְנָה ψ 31:19.— be dumb, i.e. silent ψ 39:3 נ׳ דוּמִיָּה (‖ הֶחֱשֵׁיתִי); cf. v 10 (‖ לֹא אֶפְתַּח־פִּי); sim. of sheep Is 53:7 (‖ id.); be dumb, i.e. unable to speak Ez 3:26 (result of וּלְשׁוֹנְךָ אַדְבִּיק אֶל־חִכֶּ֑ךָ) cf. 24:27 יִפָּתַח פִּיךָ … וּתְדַבֵּר וְלֹא תֵאָלֵם עוֹד; 33:22 וַיִּפָּתַח פִּי וְלֹא נֶאֱלַמְתִּי עוֹד; also Dn 10:15 (cf. v 16). be made dumb subj. שִׂפְתֵי שָׁ֑קֶר lying lips ψ 31:19 (‖ יִדְּמוּ לִשְׁאוֹל v 18). Pt. bind Gn 37:7(×4) (E) מְאַלְּמִים אֲלֻמִּים binding sheaves.

Why these entries: BDB: headword, part of speech agrees, 8 of its verses cited, 1 words shared with the glosses, lists its Strong's number (11 candidates); OSHB: headword, part of speech agrees, 1 words shared with the BDB entry, 0 with the glosses (8 candidates)

## Glosses

MACULA's English glosses of the word in the text, with how often each is used: I was dumb (3); you will be dumb (2); I am dumb (1).

## In the verses

[Psalms 39:10](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/ketuvim/PSA.39.10/) · [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/ketuvim/PSA.39.10/#tree)

נֶ֭אֱלַמְתִּי לֹ֣א אֶפְתַּח־פִּ֑י כִּ֖י אַתָּ֣ה עָשִֽׂיתָ׃

*Word for word:* I.am.dumb not I.open mouth my (dm) you you.have.acted

*JPS 1917:* I am dumb, I open not my mouth; because Thou hast done it.

[Psalms 39:3](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/ketuvim/PSA.39.3/) · [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/ketuvim/PSA.39.3/#tree)

נֶאֱלַ֣מְתִּי ד֭וּמִיָּה הֶחֱשֵׁ֣יתִי מִטּ֑וֹב וּכְאֵבִ֥י נֶעְכָּֽר׃

*Word for word:* I.was.dumb silence I.was.silent from good and pain my it.was.stirred.up

*JPS 1917:* I was dumb with silence; I held my peace, had no comfort; and my pain was held in check.

## On Mova

- [This word in the Tanakh dictionary](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/dictionaries/tanakh/w/481.html) on Mova free.
- [Trees and pragmatics of its meanings](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/tanakh/1488/481/): every English meaning parsed by Mova, with its dependency tree and frames.

Sources. The words, their counts, glosses and the word-for-word renderings: MACULA Hebrew (the Westminster Leningrad Codex; Clear Bible, CC BY 4.0). Meanings: the OpenScriptures lexical index (CC BY 4.0), Brown–Driver–Briggs 1906 and Jastrow 1903 (public domain, via Sefaria); Targum Onkelos from Sefaria (public domain). Translation: JPS 1917 (public domain, from eBible.org).