דָּמַם dâmam — to be dumb

pronounced daw-man' · Strong's H1826 · 30 occurrences in the Hebrew Bible · 4 stems: Qal (Pa'al), Niph'al, Polel, Hiph'il

Translated in the KJV as cease, be cut down, forbear, hold peace, quiet self, rest, be silent, keep silence, be still, tarry, wait.

a primitive root (compare H1724, H1820); to be dumb; by implication, to be astonished, to stop; also to perish.

dâmam in each stem

Qal (Pa'al) 23×

Simple · active — the plain action; the subject does it

Imperative 8Imperfect (yiqtol) 7Wayyiqtol 3Perfect (qatal) 2Jussive 2Cohortative 1

יִדְּמ֣וּ Exod 15:16 Imperfect (yiqtol), 3rd person masculine plural

Fear and dread shall fall upon them; by the greatness of thine arm they shall be as still as a stone; till thy people pass over, O Lord, till the people pass over, which thou hast purchased. (KJV)

וַיִּדֹּ֖ם Lev 10:3 Wayyiqtol, 3rd person masculine singular

Then Moses said unto Aaron, This is it that the Lord spake, saying, I will be sanctified in them that come nigh me, and before all the people I will be glorified. And Aaron held his peace. (KJV)

דּ֔וֹם Josh 10:12 Imperative, 2nd person masculine singular

Then spake Joshua to the Lord in the day when the Lord delivered up the Amorites before the children of Israel, and he said in the sight of Israel, Sun, stand thou still upon Gibeon; and thou, Moon, in the valley of Ajalon. (KJV)

Niph'al 5×

Simple · passive — the plain action; the subject has it done to them

Imperfect (yiqtol) 3Sequential perfect (weqatal) 1Jussive 1

יִדָּ֑מּוּ 1Sam 2:9 Imperfect (yiqtol), 3rd person masculine plural

He will keep the feet of his saints, and the wicked shall be silent in darkness; for by strength shall no man prevail. (KJV)

וְנָדַ֖מּוּ Jer 25:37 Sequential perfect (weqatal), 3rd person common plural

And the peaceable habitations are cut down because of the fierce anger of the Lord. (KJV)

יִדַּ֨מּוּ֙ Jer 49:26 Imperfect (yiqtol), 3rd person masculine plural

Therefore her young men shall fall in her streets, and all the men of war shall be cut off in that day, saith the Lord of hosts. (KJV)

Polel 1×

Intensive · active — the action intensified, repeated or brought about; the subject does it

Perfect (qatal) 1

וְדוֹמַ֗מְתִּי Ps 131:2 Perfect (qatal), 1st person common singular

Surely I have behaved and quieted myself, as a child that is weaned of his mother: my soul is even as a weaned child. (KJV)

Hiph'il 1×

Causative · active — causing someone or something to do the action; the subject does it

Perfect (qatal) 1

הֲדִמָּ֨נוּ֙ Jer 8:14 Perfect (qatal), 3rd person masculine singular

Why do we sit still? assemble yourselves, and let us enter into the defenced cities, and let us be silent there: for the Lord our God hath put us to silence, and given us water of gall to drink, because we have sinned against the Lord. (KJV)

What the stems mean

A Hebrew verb is its root letters set into a pattern. The pattern — the binyan — is the grammar's way of saying three things at once: whether the action is simple, intensive or causative, and whether its subject is active, passive or reflexive. That is why one Hebrew word can need six English ones. All seven binyanim, explained ›

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In the app, tap any Hebrew verb while reading: its root, stem and form are named, the letters of the word itself are coloured to show which is which, and the stem's meaning is put in plain English. dâmam in the lexicon ›

Morphology from OpenScriptures MorphHB (CC BY 4.0); definitions from Strong's Hebrew Lexicon (public domain); text from the Westminster Leningrad Codex.

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