אָמַר

to say

H559 Strong's Hebrew

ʼâmar Transliteration

/aw-mar'/ Pronunciation

Usage in the Hebrew Bible 5,314 appearances

Definition — BDB

to say, speak, utter - (Qal) to say, to answer, to say in one's heart, to think, to command, to promise, to intend - (Niphal) to be told, to be said, to be called - (Hithpael) to boast, to act proudly - (Hiphil) to avow, to avouch

Cite this entry

Strong's H559 — אמר (ʼâmar), "to say". Brown-Driver-Briggs (BDB, 1906). Lemma, https://lemma.gebible.app/w/H559.

Show BibTeX & RIS

BibTeX

@misc{lemma-H559,
  author       = {Lemma},
  title        = {H559 אמר (ʼâmar) — to say},
  howpublished = {\url{https://lemma.gebible.app/w/H559}},
  note         = {Brown-Driver-Briggs (BDB, 1906). Lemma interlinear Bible study tool}
}

RIS

TY  - GEN
AU  - Lemma
TI  - H559 — אמר (ʼâmar), "to say"
PB  - Lemma
N1  - Brown-Driver-Briggs (BDB, 1906)
UR  - https://lemma.gebible.app/w/H559
ER  -

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See every Qal verb in the Hebrew Bible →

Grammar key — what these labels mean

Verb: An action or state-of-being word.

Qal: The basic, simple active stem — the plain form of the verb (“he wrote”).
Niphal: Usually the simple passive or reflexive of the Qal (“he was written”).
Hiphil: The causative active stem (“he caused / brought about”). Here: ‘avow’
Hithpael: The reflexive or reciprocal stem (the subject acts on itself).

Sequential Imperfect: An imperfect with prefixed waw — the standard past-narrative form (waw-consecutive imperfect).
Infinitive Construct: A bound verbal noun, frequently with prepositions (“to write / in writing”).
Perfect: A completed action or state — Hebrew marks aspect (completeness) more than strict tense (“he wrote”).
Sequential Perfect: A perfect with prefixed waw continuing a preceding imperfect or command (waw-consecutive perfect).
Imperative: A direct command (“write!”).
Imperfect: An incomplete, ongoing, or future action (“he will / would write”).
Participle Active: A verbal adjective expressing ongoing or characteristic action (“writing / one who writes”).
Jussive: A third- or second-person volitional form expressing wish or command (“let him write”).
Infinitive Absolute: An unbound verbal noun, often intensifying or standing in for a finite verb.
Cohortative: A first-person volitional form expressing wish or resolve (“let me / let us write”).
Participle Passive: A verbal adjective expressing action received (“written”).

Absolute: The independent form of a noun, not bound to a following word.

3rd Person: The one spoken about (“he / she / it / they”).
2nd Person: The one addressed (“you”).
1st Person: The speaker (“I / we”).

Masculine: Grammatically masculine.
Feminine: Grammatically feminine.
Common: Either gender — not distinguished for this form.

Singular: One.
Plural: More than one (in Hebrew, generally three or more).

Grammatical forms 54 distinct

Verb, Qal, Sequential Imperfect, 3rd Person, Masculine, Singular 2,074 times (39%)
Verb, Qal, Infinitive Construct 961 times (18%)
Verb, Qal, Perfect, 3rd Person, Masculine, Singular 704 times (13%)
Verb, Qal, Sequential Imperfect, 3rd Person, Masculine, Plural 302 times (6%)
Verb, Qal, Sequential Imperfect, 3rd Person, Feminine, Singular 193 times (4%)
Verb, Qal, Sequential Perfect, 2nd Person, Masculine, Singular 126 times (2%)
Verb, Qal, Sequential Imperfect, 1st Person, Common, Singular 112 times (2%)
Verb, Qal, Perfect, 1st Person, Common, Singular 80 times (2%)

+46 more forms (762 occurrences)

Parsed forms decoded from the imported morphology (morphhb / Westminster Leningrad Codex — WLC text public domain, morphhb tagging CC BY 4.0), counted across 5,314 parsed occurrences — not distinct verses.

Page 11 of 22 — showing verses 2,001–2,200 of 4,336 distinct verses where H559 appears, across 39 books. 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.

2 Samuel 258 verses

1 Kings 244 verses

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.

The Hebrew verb אמר centers on the idea of “to say.” One archaism survives in the King James Version — “saith” — where modern Bibles read “said”; see the renderings breakdown. Spanning 4,336 verses in 39 books, it ranks among the most common words of the Hebrew Bible. Its earliest occurrence is Genesis 1:3. Different stems carry different senses — BDB groups them under 4 stems, among them Qal and Niphal. Dig into 4,336-verse concordance and the renderings breakdown below.

Gloss history

Strong's 1890 vs modern scholarship

Strong's · 1890

answer

Modern gloss

to say

About this word

Strong's H559 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 →

4,336: distinct verses; The word appears in 4,336 distinct verses.
39 / 39: OT books; The word appears in 39 of 39 Old Testament books.
Genesis 1:3: first appearance; The earliest occurrence is in Genesis 1:3.
Malachi 4:3: last appearance; The latest occurrence is in Malachi 4:3.
#7: by frequency; Top 10 most frequent Hebrew words (rank 7 of 8,640 Hebrew words by occurrence).

View all 4,336 occurrences in the concordance →

Most concentrated in

Genesis 496 verses 11%
Jeremiah 379 verses 9%
1 Samuel 336 verses 8%

By section of the Old Testament

Pentateuch 1,175 · 27%
Historical 1,783 · 41%
Wisdom 241 · 6%
Prophets 1,137 · 26%

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 4,336 distinct verses.

Prophets (Nevi'im) 2,521 verses · 58%
Torah (Pentateuch) 1,175 verses · 27%
Writings (Ketuvim) 640 verses · 15%

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).

King James Version: Said 1,837×, Saying 793×, Saith 467×
American Standard Version: Said 1,687×, Saying 689×, He said 416×
Berean Standard Bible: Said 1,107×, Says 559×, Saying 313×
unfoldingWord Literal Text: Said 1,617×, And 929×, Saying 867×

King James Version Public Domain

Renders H559 across 5,308 tagged occurrences — most commonly:

“Said” 1,837×
“Saying” 793×
“Saith” 467×
“He said” 431×
“Say” 244×
“They said” 119×
“Spake” 83×
“I said” 77×
“She said” 68×
“Therefore thus saith” 60×
“Came unto me saying” 44×
“Answered” 34×

Plus other, less common renderings. Plus 365 renderings that appear only once — usually multi-word phrases or single function words the recovered tagging swept in, not distinct renderings.

American Standard Version Public Domain

Renders H559 across 5,297 tagged occurrences — most commonly:

“Said” 1,687×
“Saying” 689×
“He said” 416×
“Saith” 386×
“Say” 218×
“Him” 126×
“They said” 115×
“Them” 88×
“I said” 75×
“Spake” 74×
“She said” 67×
“Therefore thus saith” 58×

Plus other, less common renderings. Plus 419 renderings that appear only once — usually multi-word phrases or single function words the recovered tagging swept in, not distinct renderings.

Berean Standard Bible Public Domain

Renders H559 across 4,549 tagged occurrences — most commonly:

“Said” 1,107×
“Says” 559×
“Saying” 313×
“Replied” 225×
“Say” 172×
“He said” 169×
“Asked” 148×
“Tell” 104×
“Told” 75×
“He replied” 65×
“They said” 65×
“Answered” 61×

Plus other, less common renderings. Plus 401 renderings that appear only once — usually multi-word phrases or single function words the recovered tagging swept in, not distinct renderings. Not rendered by a distinct English word in 754 further occurrences.

unfoldingWord Literal Text CC BY-SA 4.0

Renders H559 across 6,405 tagged occurrences — most commonly:

“Said” 1,617×
“And” 929×
“Saying” 867×
“He said” 702×
“Says” 488×
“Say” 233×
“Then” 185×
“They said” 182×
“I said” 130×
“She said” 110×
“You shall say” 74×
“But” 68×

Plus other, less common renderings. Plus 130 renderings that appear only once — usually multi-word phrases or single function words the recovered tagging swept in, not distinct renderings.

8 senses and sub-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. This entry also uses Hithpael (reflexive or reciprocal).

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 8 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.

Qal

Pf. א׳ Gn 3:1 +, etc.; Impf. יֹאמַר Gn 31:8 +; וַיֹּא֫מֶר Gn 1:3 +; וַיֹּאמַ֑ר Gn 14:19 +; in Jb always וַיֹּא֑מַר Jb 3:2 +; 3 fs. תֹּאמַר Gn 21:12 +; תֹּאמֵ֑ר Pr 1:21; 1 s. אֹמַר Gn 22:2 +; אוֹמְרָה ψ 42:10; וָאֹמַר Gn 20:13 +; וָאוֹמַר Ne 2:7, 17, 20; 3 m. pl. יֹאמְרוּ Ex 4:1 + etc.; sf. יֹמְרוּךָ ψ 139:20; 2 mpl. תֹּמְרוּ 2 S 19:14 (cf. Köi. p. 385); Imv. אֱמֹר (אֱמָר־) Gn 45:17 +, etc.; Inf. abs. אָמוֹר Ex 21:5 +; cstr. אֱמֹר Ez 25:8 +; (הַ)אֲמֹר Jb 34:18 but read הָאֹמֵר 𝔊 𝔙 Di, or better הֶאָמֹר Inf. abs. c. ה interrog. cf. Ew§ 328 d; sf. אָמְרִי Jos 6:10 +; אֲמָרְכֶם Je 23:38; אֱמָרְכֶם Mal 1:7 +; לֵאמֹר Gn 1:22 +, etc.; Pt; act. אֹמֵר Gn 32:10 +, etc.; pass. הֶאָמוּר Mi 2:7, but this grammatically indefensible, read הֶאָמוֹר, Inf. abs. c. ה interrog., v. DrExpositor, April, 1887, 263. e.g. Genesis 3:1
1. Say (subj. God Gn 3:1 + or man 32:5, serpent 3:1, ass Nu 22:28, horse יֹאמַר הֶאָח Jb 39:25 etc.; inanimate things, personif. Jb 28:14 cf. v 22 etc.; so in allegory or fable Ju 9:8 2 K 14:9 etc.; especially in narrat., וַיֹּאמֶר etc., Gn 4:6 + very often): mostly sq. thing said, either subst. Je 14:17 (c. cl. app.) Dt 27:16 f. Ju 12:6; pronoun Gn 44:16 2 K 20:14 +; or (usually) clause Gn 1:3; 3:1; 37:20 + often (orat. recta); with adv. thus, so Gn 32:5 Nu 20:14 1 K 20:3, 5 +; especially כֹּה אָמַר י׳ Ex 5:1; 7:17, 26; 8:16; 1 Ch 17:4 + often; the person addressed usually introduced by אֶל Gn 3:1; 15:7; 22:7; Lv 21:1; 2 S 3:7; 1 K 12:5, 23, or לְ Gn 3:13; 4:15; 1 S 20:2; 2 S 2:21; 1 K 14:2 + often; rarer combinations are, א׳ בְּאָזְנֵי Is 49:20 (cf. 5:9 & vid. דבר); א׳ לִפְנֵי Ez 28:9; א׳ לְעֵינֵי Dt 31:7; Jos 10:12; Je 28:11; א׳ בְּ Jo 2:17 ψ 126:2, where בְּ local; in all cases usually sq. dir. obj. of words said, Ex 19:25; Ju 17:2 being singular; Gn 4:8 the object-clause has probably fallen out, cf. Vrss Di; = mention, name, designate Gn 22:2, 3; 43:27, 29 Ex 32:13; Nu 14:40; 1 S 10:16; 16:3; 2 S 6:22 Ne 6:19; cf. ψ 139:20 יֹמְרוּךָ לִמְזִמָּה speak of thee for falsehood (but many, as Hup Pe Dy Che, read יַמְרוּךָ); = tell, declare, proclaim (sq. dir. obj. only) ψ 40:11; Ez 13:7; in reply to question = answer Ex 12:27; Jos 4:7; 1 K 9:9; Je 5:19; 22:9. The obj. spoken of may be referred to by אֶל 2 K 19:32; Je 22:18; 27:19, or לְ Gn 20:13 אִמְרִי לִי say of me, etc. Dt 33:9; Ju 9:54; Is 5:20 ψ 3:3; 71:10, very rarely by a simple accus. Is 3:10 (where read prob. for אִמְרוּ, אַשְׁרֵי), except after אֲשֶׁר where the words used follow (cf. אֲשֶׁר 4 d) Gn 3:17; Nu 10:29; 14:31 Dt 28:68; Ju 7:4; 1 S 9:17, 23b; 1 K 8:29; La 4:20; cf. Nu 21:16; 2 K 17:12; 21:4, & (two extreme cases) Is 8:12; La 2:15 (v. DrSm i. 25, 5); הֶֽאָמוּר Mi 2:7 read inf. abs. c. ה interrog. הֶאָמוֹר (v. supr.) shall one say? shall it be said? After another vb. of saying, introducing thing said: Dt 21:7; 25:9; 27:15; Ct 2:10 +, even after אמר Gn 22:7; Lv 21:1; Je 34:2; Est 7:5 +; especially inf. לֵאמֹר, after דבר Gn 8:15, צוה 2:16; 3:17, ענה 41:16, ברך 1:22, נשׁבע 24:7, נדר 28:20, etc.; after אמר 2 S 3:18; 1 K 12:23; 1 Ch 21:18 +; after שׁלח 2 Ch 35:21 שׁוּב Gn 32:7; cf. also Gn 28:6 Ex 5:13; 9:5; 13:8; 17:4; Nu 11:20; Dt 1:28; 13:7; Ju 8:15; 1 S 23:2; 1 K 13:3; Je 32:3; 37:9; Ru 4:4 +; when subj. of לֵאמֹר differs from that of preceding clause Gn 31:1; 38:13, 24 etc.; after שׁמע Is 37:9 = 2 K 19:9. e.g. Genesis 3:1
2. Say in the heart (= think) א׳ בלבב Dt 8:17 cf. 1 K 12:26 ψ 10:6, 11, 13; 14:1; 35:25; Is 14:13; 47:8, 10; 49:21; Ec 2:1, 15; 3:17, 18; א׳ לִלְבָבָם Ho 7:2; א׳ אֶל־לִבּוֹ Gn 8:21 said unto his heart (to himself), subj. י׳, cf. 1 S 27:1; אָֽמְרָה נַפְשִׁי La 3:24; thence א׳ alone Gn 20:11; 26:9 Nu 24:11; Ru 4:4; 1 S 20:26; 2 S 5:6; 12:22; 2 K 5:11; Mal 1:7; with כִּי Ju 15:2; in particular = desire מַה־תֹּאמַר נַפְשְׁךָ 1 S 20:4 cf. Est 2:13; sq. inf. = purpose, Ex 2:14 thinkest thou to kill me, as thou killedst the Egyptian? Jos 22:33; 1 S 30:6; 1 K 5:19; 2 Ch 28:10, 13; expect 2 S 21:16 he expected to slay David 2 Ch 13:8; 32:1. e.g. Deuteronomy 8:17
3. Promise (sq. inf.) 1 Ch 27:23; 2 Ch 21:7; Est 4:7; (id. + ל of pers.) 2 K 8:19; Ne 9:15; (sq. acc. of dir. obj. + ל of pers. + inf. of purpose) Ne 9:23. e.g. 1 Chronicles 27:23
4. Command (especially late) sq. אֶל־ of person addressed, Nu 15:28; 1 Ch 21:18; sq. ל Jos 11:9; 2 S 16:11 2 K 4:24; Jb 9:7 ψ 106:24 (v. sub אֲשֶׁר 8 e); sq. inf. 1 S 24:11 1 Ch 21:17; 2 Ch 1:18; 29:27, 36; 31:11; 35:21 Est 1:17; 4:13, 15; 6:1; 9:14; inf. + ל of pers. 2 Ch 14:3; 29:21; 31:4; Ne 9:15; Est 1:10; sq. acc. dir. obj. 2 Ch 29:24 the king commanded the burnt-offering and the sin-offering, cf. 1 K 5:20; Est 2:15; sq. cl. with אשׁר = that Ne 13:19; id. + ל of pers. v 22; sq. cl. with כִּי Jb 36:10; abs. 1 S 16:16 (read however prob. יאמרו for יאמר, cf. Dr); also ψ 105:31, 34; 107:25; 1 Ch 14:12; 2 Ch 24:8; Ne 13:9, 19 (all sq. vb. consec.); command by leter א׳ עִם־הַסֵּפֶר Est 9:25 (sq. impf.); appoint, assign לֶחֶם א׳ לוֹ 1 K 11:18 = threaten sq. inf. Dt 9:25 ψ 106:23. e.g. Numbers 15:28

Niphal

Pf. נֶאֱמַר Dn 8:26; Impf. יֵאָמֵר Gn 22:14 +; יֵאָ֫מֶר לוֹ Is 4:3; יֵאָמַ֑ר Gn 10:9 +; וַיֵּאָמַ֑ר Jos 2:2; be said, told Gn 10:9; 22:14 ψ 87:5; Je 4:11; 16:14 (all abs., indef. subj., of current saying); so said in a book Nu 21:14; be related, told, of vision Dn 8:26; said, told to (sq. ל ind. obj.) Jos 2:2; Ho 2:1(×2) Zp 3:16; either so, or told concerning Nu 23:23; Ez 13:12 (אֶל־); יֵאָמֵר לָכֶם = ye shall be called (it shall be said to you) Is 61:6 (‖ תִּקָּרֵ֔אוּ), cf. 4:3; 19:18; 32:5 (‖ יִקָּרֵא ל) 62:4(×2); hence be called, of Tophet לֹא־יֵאָמֵר עוֹד הַתֹּפֶת Je 7:32; subj. שֵׁם Gn 32:29; Jb 34:31 כִּי אֶל־אֵל חֶאָמַר, Rabb. (cf. AV) treat הֵאָמַר as Niph. Inf. for לְהֵאָמֵר, but against grammar; the form as it stands is Qal Pf., אֶל־אֵל being prefixed to the interrog. for emphasis (cf. Je 22:15; 23:26 Ne 13:27), v. Dr§ 9 Di al.; Hoffm., however, reads הֵאָמֵר inf. abs. = imv. ‘so must one speak (it be spoken) to God.’ e.g. Daniel 8:26

Hiphil

Pf. avow, avouch Dt 26:17 אֶת־י׳ הֶאֱמַרְתָּ הַיּוֹם לִהְיוֹת לְךָ לֵאלֹהִים; v 18 וי׳ הֶאֱמִירְךָ היום להיות לוֹ לְעַם (lit. cause to declare, i.e. through agency of Moses; on this & other interpr. vid. Di). e.g. Deuteronomy 26:17

Hithpael

Impf. יִתְאַמְּרוּ ψ 94:4 subj. כָּל־פֹּעֲלֵי אָ֑וֶן act proudly, boast (‖ יַבִּיעוּ יְדַבְּרוּ עָתָק); prob. also 2 mpl. תִּתְיַמָּ֑רוּ Is 61:6 (in good sense, sq. בְּ of thing gloried in) 𝔖 𝔙 𝔗 & cf. 𝔊; GesComm. so De Che Köi. 457 f. (from [ימר] exchange Thes Hi Kn Ew Di; but vid. ימר). e.g. Psalms 94:4

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

vb. utter, say (MI Ph. אמר, Aramaic אֲמַר, Ethiopic አመረ I. 2 shew, declare, Arabic أَمَرَ command; perhaps √ אמר orig. = be or make prominent, hence Hithp. infr., אָמִיר; Sab. אמר lofty, epith. of king JHMordtmZMG 1876, 37; cf. DlPr 28 who thinks orig. meaning hell, sichtbar sein, whence Assyrian amâru, see & shew, declare, say)—

— Brown-Driver-Briggs (Oxford 1906, public domain), digitized via Sefaria, supplemented by the OpenScriptures HebrewLexicon (CC BY 4.0). See Sources.

Origin: a primitive root

Part of speech: Verb TWOT: 118

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.

אָמַר I

(a) to join, knot; to be knotted, thick; b) to heap up; c) transf. to join words, compose, cmp. דבר; d) to contract, bargain, exchange. [As to Assyr. to see, cmp. חמא.])
1. to speak, think, say, relate &c. … א׳ ר׳ … א׳ ר׳ Rabbi … related in the name of R. … Ber. 3ᵇ; a. v. fr.—Part. pass. אָמוּר expression. Yoma 70ᵇ, a. fr. הוא הא׳ וכ׳ it is the same expression (‘one ram’) used here and in the Book of Numbers. Sifré Deut. s. 334, a. fr. אֱמוֹר מעתה say from now, i.e. from this draw the conclusion. Gen. R. s. 39 תאמר שהבירה וכ׳ (usu. שמא תאמר) will you say (is it possible), this castle has no commander?—אֲמוּרִים דברים במה (abbr. בד׳'א) in what case are these words said? i.e. this applies only. Ḥull. 3ᵃ; a. fr.—זאת אוֹמֶרֶת this tells, i.e. this proves. Ber. 11ᵇ; a. fr.—אָמְרוּ it is said, told &c.; v. next w.—Inf. לוֹמַר = לֵאמֹר. Ḥag. 14ᵇ; a. fr.
2. to vow, devote. אָמוּר (לגבוה) devoted to the Lord. Succ. 55ᵇ; v. אֲמִירָה I, 3, a. אֵימוּרִים.
- (b. h.) to be said, to read … נא׳ כאן … ונ׳ להלן we read here … and we read there … (the same expression is used here and there in the Scriptural text). Ber. 9ᵃ; a. v. fr.—שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר (abbr. שנ׳, שנא׳) for it is said in the Scriptures (as evidence in favor of an opinion). Snh. X, 1; a. v. fr.; also כמה שנ׳ (כמו) as it is said.—מִשּׁוּם שנ׳ because it is said in the Scriptures, i.e. you may possibly be misled by a certain expression to think …, therefore another term is used in its stead in an analogous case, or added to the ambiguous word; v. שׁוּם.

אֲמַר

1) as preced. 1). Targ. Gen. I, 3; a. v. fr.—א׳ מר above you quoted an authority, or, it has been stated. Ber. 2ᵃ; a. fr.—א׳ קרא the Scripture says. Ib. 13ᵃ; a. fr.—Y. Orl. III, end, 63ᵇ, a. fr. אמרונה בשם … (in Bab. heb. אֲמָרוּהָ) they said it in behalf of … i.e. as a tradition.—Y. Ber. I, 2ᵈ מילתיה אמרה his word (statement, opinion &c.) proves.—הדא אמרה = זאת אומרת; v. preced.—אַמְרֵי (h. אָמְרוּ) they say, it is said. Sabb. 19ᵃ אמרו עליו על … ואמרי לה וכ׳ it is told about R. …, and another relation refers this to R.—; a. fr.—קאמר, קאמרי &c. = קא אמר &c. Ḥull. 85ᵃ; a. fr.—מנא תימרא whence dost thou prove? Sabb. 23ᵃ; a. fr.—Inf. מֵימַר, מֵימְרָא. סבר מ׳, סבר למ׳ originally he was of the opinion. Y. Sabb. VI, 8ᶜ top; Keth. 87ᵇ; a. v. fr.—לְמֵימְרָא does this mean to say? Sabb. 15ᵇ; a. fr. לא אמרן אלא … אבל … this has been said, i.e. this applies only to a case … but if … Ber. 43ᵇ; a. fr.—כְּלוֹמַר as if saying, meaning to say, viz; v. כִּילּוּ.—Y. Kil. IV, 32ᶜ bot. אימורין לבני וכ׳ say ye to &c.—מאי איכא למימר, v. אִיכָּא; Answ. אֵימוּר say … Sabb. 6ᵃ; a. fr.—Hor. 13ᵃ א׳ כולה who orders every thing (as an etymol. of אֲמַרְכָּל).—2) to praise, proclaim. Targ. Is. VIII, 13; a. fr.—Part. pass. אָמִיר q. v.
- , contr. אִתְּמַר, אִיתְּ׳ it is said, taught. Targ. Job XXXIV, 31.—Y. Yoma V, end, 43ᵃ אתאמרת, contr. אִתַּמְרַת it has been said with refer. to the opinion of …—אִתְּ׳, אִיתְּ׳ it has been said (above);we have been taught. Succ. 15ᵃ; a. fr.
- same. Targ. Gen. XXII, 14; a. e.

אָמַר II

, v. אָמַר I, a) to be thick, strong.
- 1. to thrive; to boast, vaunt, be oppressive (cmp. Ps. XCIV, 4). Sot. IX, 15 (49ᵇ) יוקר יַאֲמִיר the nobility shall be oppressive (Snh. 97ᵃ יְעַוֵּת; Der. Er. Zut. X יעוות; Cant. R. to II, 13 הווה).—*[ e.g. Psalms 94:4
- 2. (denom. of מריא to fatten. Sabb. XXIV, 3 (155ᵇ) Bab. מַאֲמִירִין, Ms. Oxf., Mish. a. Y. מַמְרִים, מַמְרִין, v. מרי.]

אֵמֶר

, v. אֵימַר a. אִמְרָה.

אִמַּר

lamb, v. אִימַּר.

מְרַר

same, to be bitter; to grieve, mourn. Perf. מַר, imperf. יֵימַר, יֵמַר. Targ. Is. XXIV, 9. Targ. I Sam. XXX, 6; a. fr.—Targ. Zech. XII, 10 ויֵימְרוּן, v. infra.
- to embitter, aggrieve. Targ. Ruth I, 13 תְמָרְרוּן (ed. Amst. תִמְרְ׳). Targ. Y. I Deut. XXXII, 32 מְמַרְרִין (some ed. מְמַרְרַן; Y. II מַרְרַן).
- 1. same. Targ. Ruth I, 20 (not same. Targ. Ruth I, 20 (not אֲמַרִ׳). Targ. Ex. I, 14; a. e.
- 2. to arrange mourning. Targ. Zech. XII, 10 ויימרון … כמא דמַמְרִין וכ׳ they shall arrange mourning for him, as is arranged for &c. (v. infra).—[אָמְרָרוּ, v. Ithpa.]
- to aggrieve. Targ. Prov. XVII, 25. Targ. Y. I Gen. XLIX, 23 ממרירו, read: מַרְמִירוּ; (Y. II אֲמָרוּ, read: אַמָּ׳ Af.).
- 1. to be enraged, fight. Targ. O. Gen. l. c. (Var. אָמְרָרוּ, v. Berl. Targ. O. II, p. 18; oth. ed. אַמְרָרוּ Af.).
- 2. to mourn. Targ. Zech. l. c. Var. (v. Lag. Proph. I, p. XLII).

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 578 distinct written forms H559 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
וַ/יֹּ֣אמֶר	Verb, Qal, Sequential Imperfect, 3rd Person, Masculine, Singular	Amos 7:8	491
וַ/יֹּ֤אמֶר	Verb, Qal, Sequential Imperfect, 3rd Person, Masculine, Singular	Amos 7:12	336
וַ/יֹּ֨אמֶר	Verb, Qal, Sequential Imperfect, 3rd Person, Masculine, Singular	Amos 7:8	272
אָמַ֣ר	Verb, Qal, Perfect, 3rd Person, Masculine, Singular	Amos 1:3	247
לֵ/אמֹֽר	Verb, Qal, Infinitive Construct	Amos 3:1	225
לֵ/אמֹ֔ר	Verb, Qal, Infinitive Construct	Amos 2:12	220
לֵ/אמֹ֑ר	Verb, Qal, Infinitive Construct	Amos 7:10	219
וַ/יֹּ֥אמֶר	Verb, Qal, Sequential Imperfect, 3rd Person, Masculine, Singular	Daniel 1:11	153
וַ/יֹּ֨אמֶר֙	Verb, Qal, Sequential Imperfect, 3rd Person, Masculine, Singular	Daniel 8:19	140
וַ/יֹּ֗אמֶר	Verb, Qal, Sequential Imperfect, 3rd Person, Masculine, Singular	Amos 8:2	131
וַ/יֹּ֕אמֶר	Verb, Qal, Sequential Imperfect, 3rd Person, Masculine, Singular	Exodus 2:18	116
וַ/יֹּ֖אמֶר	Verb, Qal, Sequential Imperfect, 3rd Person, Masculine, Singular	Daniel 12:9	97
אָמַר֙	Verb, Qal, Perfect, 3rd Person, Masculine, Singular	Amos 3:11	94
לֵ/אמֹ֗ר	Verb, Qal, Infinitive Construct	Amos 8:5	89
לֵּ/אמֹֽר	Verb, Qal, Infinitive Construct	Exodus 6:10	74
אָמַ֖ר	Verb, Qal, Perfect, 3rd Person, Masculine, Singular	Amos 1:8	57
אָמַ֥ר	Verb, Qal, Perfect, 3rd Person, Masculine, Singular	Amos 1:5	56
וַ/יֹּאמְר֣וּ	Verb, Qal, Sequential Imperfect, 3rd Person, Masculine, Plural	Exodus 5:21	51
וְ/אָמַרְתָּ֣	Verb, Qal, Sequential Perfect, 2nd Person, Masculine, Singular	Deuteronomy 6:21	49
וַ/יֹּ֧אמֶר	Verb, Qal, Sequential Imperfect, 3rd Person, Masculine, Singular	Daniel 2:3	49
אָמַ֤ר	Verb, Qal, Perfect, 3rd Person, Masculine, Singular	Esther 4:7	48
וַ/יֹּאמֶר֩	Verb, Qal, Sequential Imperfect, 3rd Person, Masculine, Singular	Amos 9:1	48
וַ/יֹּאמַ֑ר	Verb, Qal, Sequential Imperfect, 3rd Person, Masculine, Singular	Exodus 5:22	47
וַ/יֹּ֣אמְר֔וּ	Verb, Qal, Sequential Imperfect, 3rd Person, Masculine, Plural	Deuteronomy 1:25	44
וַ/תֹּ֣אמֶר	Verb, Qal, Sequential Imperfect, 3rd Person, Feminine, Singular	Esther 5:4	43
אָמַ֞ר	Verb, Qal, Perfect, 3rd Person, Masculine, Singular	Esther 1:17	36
וַ/יֹּֽאמְרוּ֙	Verb, Qal, Sequential Imperfect, 3rd Person, Masculine, Plural	Exodus 20:19	32
לֵ/אמֹר֒	Verb, Qal, Infinitive Construct	Deuteronomy 2:4	32
וַ/תֹּ֤אמֶר	Verb, Qal, Sequential Imperfect, 3rd Person, Feminine, Singular	Esther 4:10	29
וַ/תֹּ֨אמֶר֙	Verb, Qal, Sequential Imperfect, 3rd Person, Feminine, Singular	Genesis 3:13	27
וַ/יֹּאמְר֖וּ	Verb, Qal, Sequential Imperfect, 3rd Person, Masculine, Plural	Exodus 5:1	26
וַ/יֹּאמַֽר	Verb, Qal, Sequential Imperfect, 3rd Person, Masculine, Singular	Job 3:2	26
וַ/תֹּ֗אמֶר	Verb, Qal, Sequential Imperfect, 3rd Person, Feminine, Singular	Genesis 21:7	23
וַ/יֹּ֛אמֶר	Verb, Qal, Sequential Imperfect, 3rd Person, Masculine, Singular	Exodus 3:4	23
וַ/יֹּאמְר֗וּ	Verb, Qal, Sequential Imperfect, 3rd Person, Masculine, Plural	Genesis 26:28	23
לֵ/אמֹ֖ר	Verb, Qal, Infinitive Construct	Ezekiel 33:21	23
אָמַ֛ר	Verb, Qal, Perfect, 3rd Person, Masculine, Singular	Amos 5:4	22
אָמַר֮	Verb, Qal, Perfect, 3rd Person, Masculine, Singular	Ezekiel 11:7	21
אָמַ֨ר	Verb, Qal, Perfect, 3rd Person, Masculine, Singular	Amos 5:16	20
אָמַ֔ר	Verb, Qal, Perfect, 3rd Person, Masculine, Singular	Deuteronomy 33:8	19
וַ/יֹּאמְר֥וּ	Verb, Qal, Sequential Imperfect, 3rd Person, Masculine, Plural	Esther 2:2	19
וַ/תֹּ֕אמֶר	Verb, Qal, Sequential Imperfect, 3rd Person, Feminine, Singular	Exodus 2:6	18
וָ/אֹמַ֗ר	Verb, Qal, Sequential Imperfect, 1st Person, Common, Singular	Amos 7:2	18
וַ/יֹּאמְר֤וּ	Verb, Qal, Sequential Imperfect, 3rd Person, Masculine, Plural	Exodus 8:19	17
וְ/אָמַרְתָּ֖	Verb, Qal, Sequential Perfect, 2nd Person, Masculine, Singular	Deuteronomy 8:17	16
וַ/יֹּ֜אמֶר	Verb, Qal, Sequential Imperfect, 3rd Person, Masculine, Singular	Daniel 1:10	16
וָ/אֹמַ֖ר	Verb, Qal, Sequential Imperfect, 1st Person, Common, Singular	Amos 7:8	16
וְ/אָמַ֥ר	Verb, Qal, Sequential Perfect, 3rd Person, Masculine, Singular	Deuteronomy 27:16	15
וַ/יֹּ֔אמֶר	Verb, Qal, Sequential Imperfect, 3rd Person, Masculine, Singular	Exodus 4:1	15
וַ/יֹּ֡אמֶר	Verb, Qal, Sequential Imperfect, 3rd Person, Masculine, Singular	Exodus 34:9	15
וַ/יֹּאמֶר֮	Verb, Qal, Sequential Imperfect, 3rd Person, Masculine, Singular	Deuteronomy 31:23	15
וַ/תֹּ֖אמֶר	Verb, Qal, Sequential Imperfect, 3rd Person, Feminine, Singular	Genesis 24:18	15
יֹאמְר֣וּ	Verb, Qal, Imperfect, 3rd Person, Masculine, Plural	Amos 5:16	14
אֱמֹ֣ר	Verb, Qal, Imperative, 2nd Person, Masculine, Singular	Deuteronomy 5:30	14
אָֽמַר	Verb, Qal, Perfect, 3rd Person, Masculine, Singular	Exodus 17:10	14
וַ/יֹּאמְר֨וּ	Verb, Qal, Sequential Imperfect, 3rd Person, Masculine, Plural	Exodus 16:3	14
וַ/יֹּאמַ֔ר	Verb, Qal, Sequential Imperfect, 3rd Person, Masculine, Singular	Daniel 8:16	14
וַ/יֹּאמַ֕ר	Verb, Qal, Sequential Imperfect, 3rd Person, Masculine, Singular	Daniel 9:22	14
וָ/אֹמַ֣ר	Verb, Qal, Sequential Imperfect, 1st Person, Common, Singular	Deuteronomy 1:9	13
לֵ/אמֹר֙	Verb, Qal, Infinitive Construct	Deuteronomy 29:19	13

The 60 most common forms are shown; 518 rarer forms follow in the full concordance.

Same root — word family

Other BDB entries built from the same root as H559, 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.

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 9 — not the complete family. 4 of the same-root words are proper names (people or places). They share a root, not necessarily a meaning.

Septuagint verse parallels

Most of the 4,336 Hebrew verses this word occurs in also exist in the Greek Old Testament (Septuagint), so the same passages can be read 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.

אָמַר

Full lexicon entry — Brown-Driver-Briggs (BDB)

Where this word appears

Grammatical forms 54 distinct

2 Samuel 258 verses

1 Kings 244 verses

About this entry