מָהַר
to acquire
‘to acquire’ is one of 2 main senses fuller range ↓
Full lexicon entry — Brown-Driver-Briggs (BDB)
From Brown-Driver-Briggs (BDB)
Where this word appears
Grammar key — what these labels mean
Part of speech
- Verb
- An action or state-of-being word.
Stem
- Qal
- The basic, simple active stem — the plain form of the verb (“he wrote”).
Form
- Infinitive Absolute
- An unbound verbal noun, often intensifying or standing in for a finite verb.
- Imperfect
- An incomplete, ongoing, or future action (“he will / would write”).
Person
- 3rd Person
- The one spoken about (“he / she / it / they”).
Gender
- Masculine
- Grammatically masculine.
Number
- Singular
- One.
Grammatical forms
- Verb, Qal, Infinitive Absolute 1 time (50%)
- Verb, Qal, Imperfect, 3rd Person, Masculine, Singular 1 time (50%)
Parsed forms decoded from the imported morphology (morphhb / Westminster Leningrad Codex — WLC text public domain, morphhb tagging CC BY 4.0), counted across 2 parsed occurrences — not distinct verses.
Every verse where H4117 appears — 1 distinct verse across 1 book. Click any verse to open its interlinear word-by-word view. Verse text shown in the World English Bible for context — . Each verse’s Hebrew form is shown with its reference; the English is not keyword-highlighted, since the data carries no word-level English alignment. Use “Compare translations” on any verse to read it across multiple English versions. This concordance covers the Hebrew Bible; Septuagint (Greek Old Testament) occurrences are not indexed here.
Exodus 1 verse
About this entry
At a glance — auto-summarized from this page’s data, not written by a person. Every figure links to its source below. This summary describes the numbers; it doesn’t interpret them.
At its core, מהר (mâhar) means “to acquire.” With only 1 verse it sits in the long tail of Hebrew Bible vocabulary. The word gravitates to Exodus (100%). It occurs only once, in Exodus 22:16. Different stems carry different senses — BDB groups them under 3 stems, among them Niphal and Piel. See the sense tree, 1-verse concordance, and the renderings breakdown below.
Gloss history
Strong's 1890 vs modern scholarship
About this word
Strong's H4117 catalogs a Hebrew word from the Hebrew Old Testament.
These counts are not copied from any lexicon or concordance. They are computed here, from the morphology-tagged Hebrew Old Testament. What Lemma adds →
- 1
- distinct verses
- The word appears in 1 distinct verse.
- 1 / 39
- OT books
- The word appears in 1 of 39 Old Testament books.
- #4,807
- by frequency
- Top 5000 most frequent Hebrew words (rank 4,807 of 8,640 Hebrew words by occurrence).
View all 1 occurrence in the concordance →
Most concentrated in
- Exodus 1 verse 100%
By section of the Old Testament
By traditional corpus
Conventional, traditional groupings — biblical authorship is debated, so this is a traditional corpus grouping, not an authorship claim. Each share is this word’s portion of its verses in that division of the Hebrew canon. Each figure is a share of the word’s 1 distinct verse.
- Torah (Pentateuch) 1 verse · 100%
How translations render this word
Counts come from each version’s own published word-to-Strong’s tagging or interlinear alignment — an approximate guide to how each version renders this word, not a word-level alignment the data otherwise carries. Because each total is that version’s own tagged count, the per-version totals vary from one another and need not match the appearance or distinct-verse counts above. These counts may also differ from a printed concordance because Lemma counts each distinctly tagged rendering and does not collapse phrase taggings into a single head-word total. This is a fixed set of word-tagged versions (KJV, ASV, BSB, ULT) and does not change with the reading translation you choose elsewhere. Each version’s license is shown beside its name below (and on Sources).
BDB lists this Strong’s number as 4 distinct words (homographs). Each count above pools all of them and is not split by sense — see the Senses section below. A low-frequency rendering may belong to a different one of those words, not the primary meaning.
- King James Version†: Endow 1×, He shall surely 1×
- American Standard Version†: He shall surely pay 1×, Her 1×
- Berean Standard Bible†: He must pay the full dowry 1×
- unfoldingWord Literal Text†: He shall 1×, Pay her bride price 1×, Surely 1×
King James Version Public Domain
Renders H4117 across 2† tagged occurrences — most commonly:
American Standard Version Public Domain
Renders H4117 across 2† tagged occurrences — most commonly:
Berean Standard Bible Public Domain
Renders H4117 across 1† tagged occurrence — most commonly:
Not rendered by a distinct English word in 1 further occurrence.
unfoldingWord Literal Text CC BY-SA 4.0
Renders H4117 across 3† tagged occurrences — most commonly:
Senses in the full BDB
Hebrew verbs can shift meaning by stem (binyan): Qal is the basic action, Niphal is often passive or reflexive, Piel often intensifies or makes it factitive, and Hiphil is typically causative. The senses below are grouped under the stem BDB assigns to each.
What do BDB’s symbols mean?
BDB uses these scholarly abbreviations:
| Symbol | Meaning |
|---|---|
| 𝔊 | the Septuagint (the ancient Greek translation, LXX) |
| 𝔙 | the Vulgate (the Latin translation) |
| 𝔖 | the Syriac version (the Peshitta) |
| 𝔗 | the Targum (the Aramaic translation) |
| ψ | the Psalms |
| √ | root (the underlying root or stem) |
| ‖ | parallel passage (a synonymous or contrasted parallel) |
| † | the dagger: every passage where the word occurs is cited |
The 6 senses and sub-senses the full Brown-Driver-Briggs lexicon distinguishes for this word, in lexicon order (not ranked by frequency), with BDB’s own verbatim wording and sub-sense lettering. Shown in Hebrew script with BDB’s own scholarly abbreviations. The condensed entry is in the Lexicon Entry tab. See also the Forms in the corpus table below.
מהר I hasten (NH Pi., and deriv.
Niphal
- Pf. 3 fs. נִמְהָ֑רָה Jb 5:13; Pt. נִמְהָר Hb 1:6; pl. נִמְהָרִים Is 32:4; cstr. נִמְהֲרֵי Is 35:4;—be hurried = anxious, disturbed נִמְהֲרֵי־לֵב Is 35:4; hasty, precipitate, subj. עֵצָה Jb 5:13; so pt. as subst. Is 32:4; impetuous, of Chaldeans, Hb 1:6 (‖ מַר). e.g. Job 5:13
Piel
- Pf. מִהַר 1 S 4:14; Is 51:14; 3 fs. מִהֲרָה Je 48:16 etc.; Impf. יְמַהֵר Is 5:19 + 2 times; וַיְמַהֵר Gn 18:6 + 8 times (1 S 28:20 v. infr.); 3 fpl. תְּמַהֵרְנָה Je 9:17 etc.; Imv. ms. מַהֵר Gn 19:22 +; מַהֲרָה 1 S 23:27; 1 K 22:9, etc.; Inf. cstr. מַהֵר Pr 7:23 +; Pt. מְמַהֵר Gn 41:32; Mal 3:5 (on מַהֵר Zp 1:14 [1 S 23:22] cf. Kö i. 268, Schwally ZAW x. 1890, 176 vid. i. מַהֵר infra), fpl. מְמַהֲרוֹת Pr 6:18;— e.g. 1 Samuel 4:14
- 1. hasten, make haste, = go or come quickly Gn 18:6 1 S 9:12 (but del. 𝔊 We Dr Kit Bu HPS), Na 2:6; Is 49:17; 1 Ch 12:9; = go eagerly, (sq. Inf. of purpose) Pr 1:16; Is 59:7; Pt. = swift, prompt Mal 3:5; of bird Pr 7:23; fig. of calamity Is 5:19 (‖ חוּשׁ), Je 48:16, cf. מַהֵר שָׁלָל חָשׁ בַּז Is 8:1, 3, infr. e.g. Genesis 18:6
- 2. hasten + vb., (מ׳ having really adverbial force): sq. Inf. Gn 18:7 (מִהַר לַעֲשׂת); cf. 27:20; 41:32 (subj. God), Ex 2:18; 10:16; 12:33; 2 S 15:14; Is 32:4; 51:14; Pr 6:18; Ec 5:1; more often sq. vb. c. ו Gn 24:18, 20, 46; 44:11 (all J), 45:9, 13 (E), prob. 43:30 (J), also Ex 34:8 (J), Jos 4:10; 8:14, 19 (all JE), Ju 13:10; 1 S 4:14; 17:48; 23:27; 25:18, 23, 34(×2); 28:24; 2 S 15:14; 19:17; 1 K 20:33, 41; 2 K 9:13; Je 9:17; so even when act. is not wholly voluntary 1 S 28:20 (but read prob. וַיִּבָּהֵל 𝔊 We Dr Kit Bu); also, ו om., ψ 106:13; especially c. Imv. Gn 19:22 (J), Ju 9:48; Est 6:10; so also מַהֵר עֲנֵנִי ψ 69:18; 102:3; 143:7; cf. 79:8 (v. Olad loc.). e.g. Genesis 18:7
- 3. trans. hasten, = prepare quickly Gn 18:6; = bring quickly 1 K 22:9 = 2 Ch 18:8, Est 5:5; = do quickly 2 Ch 24:5(×2). e.g. Genesis 18:6
מהר II hastening, speedy, swift (strictly Pi. Pt. for מְמַהֵר v. sub מהר)
מהר III quickly, speedily (strictly Pi. inf. abs.) always immediately after vb.
מהר IV denom. acquire by paying purchase-price (Arabic مَهَرَ give a dowry, marry for a مَهْرٌ
Qal
- Pf. 3 pl. מָהָ֑רוּ ψ 16:4 usually obtain another in exchange (or, by paying a price, cf. Che), but text dub.; Impf. 3 ms. sf. + Inf. abs. מָהֹר יִמְהָרֶנָּה לוֹ לְאִשָּׁה Ex 22:15 (E). e.g. Psalms 16:4
Senses from the full Brown-Driver-Briggs lexicon (Brown, Driver, Briggs; Oxford 1906 — public domain), digitized via Sefaria, supplemented by the OpenScriptures HebrewLexicon (CC BY 4.0). Full attribution on Sources.
Word origin
I. vb. hasten (NH Pi., and deriv.; Arabic مَهَرَ be practised, skilled (with Assyrian mâru, send, order, govern, cf. ii. מהר); Ethiopic መሀረ train, teach; Syriac ܡܗܪ Pa. id.; cf. also Egypt. māhar, trained warrior Bondi 57);—
I. adj. hastening, speedy, swift (strictly Pi. Pt. for מְמַהֵר v. sub מהר);—of יוֹם י׳, קָרוֹב וּמ׳ מְאֹד Zp 1:14; read also f. הַמְּהֵרָה (רַגְלוֹ) 1 S 23:22 his swift foot (for MT ר׳ מִי רָאָהוּ) Th We Dr Bu; deeper corruption assumed by HPS.
II. adv. quickly, speedily (strictly Pi. inf. abs.) always immediately after vb.; Ex 32:8 (J), Dt 4:26; 7:4, 22; 9:3, 12(×2), 16; 28:20 Jos 2:5 (J), Ju 2:17, 23 Pr 25:8 (on ψ 69:18; 79:8; 102:3; 143:7, where מ׳ precedes, v. supr. sub מָהַר).
II. vb. denom. acquire by paying purchase-price (Arabic مَهَرَ give a dowry, marry for a مَهْرٌ; cf. GerberVerb. denom. 12 Buhl SS);—
— Brown-Driver-Briggs (Oxford 1906, public domain), digitized via Sefaria, supplemented by the OpenScriptures HebrewLexicon (CC BY 4.0). See Sources.
Derived from מהר (mâhar) (H4116) — to hasten.
Jastrow Dictionary
A second Hebrew/Aramaic lexicon for comparison, covering Aramaic and post-biblical (Talmudic, Targumic, Midrashic) usage that the biblical-Hebrew BDB does not. Matched by lemma rather than by Strong’s number, so a lemma may carry more than one Jastrow headword (shown separately below), and the entries cover usage well beyond the Bible.
הַר
- mound, mountain; trnsf. eminent person. Midd. II, 1, a. fr. הַר הבית the Temple mount. Yeb. 17ᵃ (play on ה̇ר̇פ̇נ̇יא) ה̇ר̇ שהכל פ̇ונ̇ין בו a hill to which all turn (whose spurious descent prevents them from getting wives elsewhere); a. v. fr.—Ḥull. 39ᵇ (in Chald. diction) רישיך והר here is thy head and here the mountain (a colloquial phrase for compelling one to give up a bargain).—Ex. R. s. 28 (ref. to Ex. XIX, 3) בזכות הה׳ for the merit of the distinguished one (Abraham), ואין הה׳ אלא אבות har means the patriarchs (ref. to Mic. VI, 2). Snh. 107ᵃ ה׳ שבכם the most prominent of you; a. fr.—[For proper nouns composed with הר, v. respective determinants.]—Pl. הָרִים, הֲרָרִים. Tam. 32ᵃ, a. e. הָרֵי חושך, v. חו̇שֶׁךְ.—Snh. 24ᵃ עוקר הרי הרים uprooting the highest mountains (a figure for dialectical ingenuity). Y. Yeb. I, 3ᵃ bot. בין שני הֶהָ׳ וכ׳ between the two high mountains (great scholars). Ex. R. s. 15 ואין ה׳ אלא אבות, v. supra.—Ḥag. I, 8 כה׳ תלויין בשערה like mountains suspended on a hair (a slender Bible text for numerous Talmudic laws); a. v. fr. e.g. Exodus 19:3
מָהַר
- to exchange, buy. Denom. מוֹהַר.
- (cmp. חָלַף)
- 1. to hurry, be speedy. Sabb. 97ᵃ מְמַהֶרֶת לבוא וכ׳ comes quicker than &c. B. Kam. 93ᵃ מְמַהֲרִין לצועק וכ׳ he who cries for revenge will sooner be punished than he who is cried against. Sifré Deut. 277 מְמַהֵר אני ליפרע ע"י עני I (the Lord) will sooner take revenge when a poor man is wronged than when a rich man is; a. fr.
- 2. to expedite. Kidd. 31ᵇ מַהֲרוּנִי expedite me (on my journey).
מֹהַר
- , v. מוֹהַר
מָהִר
- preced. art.) quick, ready. Ab. V, 12 מ׳ לשמוע ומ׳ לאבד quick of perception and quick to forget. Ex. R. s. 11, beg.; a. e.
A Dictionary of the Targumim, the Talmud Babli and Yerushalmi, and the Midrashic Literature (Marcus Jastrow; London, Luzac, 1903) — Public Domain. Digitized via Sefaria. Digitized via Sefaria. Full attribution on Sources.
Forms in the corpus
The 2 distinct written forms H4117 takes in the Hebrew Bible, most frequent first — each parse links to that stem’s occurrences in the concordance. Hebrew forms include their vowel points and cantillation, so a single lemma takes many written forms.
| Form | Parsing | Example | Uses |
|---|---|---|---|
| יִמְהָרֶ֥/נָּה | Verb, Qal, Imperfect, 3rd Person, Masculine, Singular | Exodus 22:16 | 1 |
| מָהֹ֛ר | Verb, Qal, Infinitive Absolute | Exodus 22:16 | 1 |
Same root — word family
Other BDB entries built from the same root as H4117, grouped by Strong’s listed origin. These share a root / origin per the lexicon — not necessarily a shared meaning. Each links to that word’s own entry.
Derives from
Shares the same root
Derived from this word
Proper names from this root
People and places named from this root — a name, not an additional meaning of the word.
Compare all same-root words → Showing 4 of 6 — not the complete family. 1 of the same-root words is a proper name (a person or place). They share a root, not necessarily a meaning.
Septuagint verse parallels
This word appears in 1 verse that also exists in the Greek Old Testament (Septuagint), out of the 1 Hebrew verse it occurs in. You can read those verses in Greek by switching the Old Testament edition to the Septuagint.
Read these verses in the Septuagint
This is a verse-level parallel only — the same verses exist in both the Hebrew and Greek Old Testaments. No word-level Hebrew↔Greek correspondence is claimed: the data carries no such alignment, so no Greek word is shown as this Hebrew word’s translation. Coverage is not total — the Septuagint omits the deuterocanon and renumbers the Psalms, so some Hebrew verses have no direct Greek parallel.
