אִמְרָה H0565a
Utterance, word, or saying -- especially God's word or promise in poetry; also general or human speech in poetic diction.
The Hebrew noun imrah is the poetic sibling of the far more common dabar ('word'). Nearly confined to verse, it appears 36 times -- most strikingly in Psalm 119, where 'Your word' (imratekha) echoes like a refrain across 16 verses, naming God's utterance as the object of love, trust, hope, and obedience. While dabar is the prose workhorse, imrah is reserved for heightened, lyrical speech: Lamech's boast 'hear my speech' (Gen 4:23), Moses' song likening his teaching to rain (Deut 32:2), and the famous declaration 'the words of the LORD are pure words, like silver refined seven times' (Ps 12:6). French parole and German Wort render both imrah and dabar identically, but Spanish distinguishes slightly with dicho ('saying, utterance') alongside the more neutral palabra, hinting at the poetic register. The word clusters into three natural senses: divine promise, general-construct usage linking it to a source, and specifically human discourse.
Senses
1. divine word or promise — God's word, utterance, or promise, addressed directly in prayer or praise as the object of devotion and trust. This dominant sense (22 occurrences) is overwhelmingly concentrated in Psalm 119, where the psalmist treasures 'Your word' in his heart (119:11), asks God to establish his promise (119:38), hopes in God's word (119:41, 50, 58, 76, 82, 116, 140, 148, 158, 162, 170, 172), and confesses 'every word of God proves true' (Prov 30:5; cf. 2 Sam 22:31; Ps 18:30). Spanish dicho de ti, French parole, and German dein Wort all render the possessive devotional address. Deuteronomy 33:9 extends this to covenant faithfulness: the Levites 'kept Your word.' 22×
AR["أَقْوَالَكَ","أَقْوَالُكَ","أَقْوَالِكَ","بِ-أَقْوَالِكَ","قَوْلَكَ","كَ-أَقْوَالِكَ","كَلِمَتَكَ","كَلِمَتَهُ","لِ-أَقْوَالِكَ"]·ben["-আমাকে-তোমার-বাক্য-অনুসারে","-তোমার-বাক্য-অনুসারে","-তোমার-বাক্য-অনুসারে-আমাকে","-তোমার-বাক্যে","তাঁর-বাক্য","তোমার-বাক্য","বাক্যের-তোমার।"]·DE["auf-dein-Wort","bei-dein-Wort","dein-Wort","gemäss-zu-dein-Wort","ist-dein-Wort","sein-Wort","von-dein-Wort"]·EN["Your-word","according-to-Your-word","by-Your-word","his-word","is-Your-word","of-Your-word","on-Your-word","your-word"]·FR["comme-parole","dans-parole","parole","ton-parole","à-parole"]·heb["אמרתו","אמרתך","ב-אמרתך","כ-אמרתך","ל-אמרתך"]·HI["अपना-वचन","अपनी-वाणी-के-अनुसार","तेरी-वाणी","तेरी-वाणी-को","तेरे-वचन","तेरे-वचन-को"]·ID["dalam-janji-Mu","firman-Mu","firman-Nya","janji-Mu","sesuai-janji-Mu"]·IT["a-la-tua-parola","come-la-tua-parola","in-la-tua-parola","la-tua-parola","oracolo","tuo-parola"]·jav["ing-pangandikan-Paduka","miturut-pangandikan-Paduka","pangandikan-Paduka","pangandikan-Panjenengan","pangandikan-Panjenengané","pangandikan-ipun"]·KO["같이","그의-명령을","네-말씀을","당신-의-말씀-대로","당신-의-말씀-에","당신-의-말씀-을","당신-의-말씀-이"]·PT["a-tua-palavra","as-tuas-palavras","conforme-a-tua-palavra","na-tua-palavra","sua-palavra","tua-palavra","é-a-tua-palavra"]·RU["в-слове-Твоём","о-слове-Твоём","по-слову-Твоему","слова-Твоего","слова-Твои","слово-Своё","слово-Твоё","словом-Твоим"]·ES["dicho-de-ti","dichos-de-ti!","en-dicho-de-ti","palabra-de-ti","según-dicho-de-ti","su-dicho","tu-dicho","tu-palabra"]·SW["kama-neno-lako","kulingana-na-neno-lako","kwa-neno-lako","maneno-yako","neno-lake","neno-lako"]·TR["sözün","sözünde","sözüne-göre","sözünü","sözünün"]·urd["اُس-کا-کلام","اپنا-کلام","اپنے-کلام-میں","اپنے-کلام-کو","اپنے-کلام-کے-مطابق","تیرا-کلام","تیرے-کلام","تیرے-کلام-نے","تیرے-کلام-پر","تیرے-کلام-کو","تیرے-کلام-کی","تیرے-کلام-کے-مطابق","جیسے-پانے-والا"]
Deut 33:9, Ps 119:11, Ps 119:38, Ps 119:41, Ps 119:50, Ps 119:58, Ps 119:67, Ps 119:76, Ps 119:82, Ps 119:103, Ps 119:116, Ps 119:123 (+10 more)
2. word or utterance (general) — A word or utterance in general, used in construct ('the word of,' 'the saying of') without specifying whether the source is divine or human, and often functioning as a near-synonym of dabar in poetic parallelism. Seven occurrences carry this bridging sense: 'the word of the LORD is tested' (2 Sam 22:31; Ps 18:30), 'the words of the LORD are pure words' (Ps 12:6), and 'his word ran swiftly' (Ps 147:15, parallel to dabar). Spanish palabra de, French parole de, and German Wort von render the construct chain, while the parallelism with dabar confirms their near-synonymy in this register. 7×
AR["أَقْوَالٌ","أَقْوَالُ","قَولُ","كَلِمَةَ","كَلِمَةُ","كَلِمَةُ-","كَلِمَةِ"]·ben["বচন-","বাক্য","বাক্যগুলি"]·DE["Wort-von","[אמרת]","der-Wort-von-","der-Worte-von","der-saying-von","du-sprachst","sind-Worte"]·EN["are-words","the-saying-of","the-word-of-","the-words-of","word-of"]·FR["[אמרת]","parole","parole-de"]·heb["אמרות","אמרת","אמרת-"]·HI["कहावट","वचन","वचन-"]·ID["Perkataan-perkataan","firman","janji","perkataan-","perkataan-perkataan"]·IT["oracolo","parola-di","parole","tu-dicesti"]·jav["Pangandikan","pangandikan","pangandikan-","pangandikan-saking","sabda"]·KO["말씀-은","말씀-의","말씀-이","말씀들-은","말씀을","말씨이"]·PT["As-palavras","a-palavra","palavra-de","são-palavras"]·RU["слова","слово","слово-"]·ES["Palabras-de","dicho-de","palabra-de","palabras"]·SW["Maneno-ya","neno","neno-la","ni-maneno"]·TR["sozunu","sözler","sözleri","sözü","sözü-"]·urd["بات","کلام"]
3. speech or saying (human) — Human speech or saying -- a person's own words viewed as discourse, declaration, or teaching. Seven occurrences mark this specifically human referent: Lamech's defiant 'hear my speech' (Gen 4:23), Moses' comparison of his teaching to rain and dew (Deut 32:2), and the psalmist's plea 'give ear to my words' (Ps 17:6). Isaiah uses it for eerily subdued speech: 'your voice shall come from the ground like a ghost's, and your speech shall whisper from the dust' (Isa 29:4). Spanish mi palabra, French mon dit, and German mein Worte distinguish the human possessive from the divine 'Your word' of sense 1. 7×
AR["كَلاَمِي","كَلَامُكِ","كَلَامِي","كَلِمَتِي"]·ben["আমার-কথায়","আমার-বাক্য","আমার-বাণী","তোমার-বাক্য"]·DE["[אמרתך]","ich-sprach","mein-Worte","mein-sprechend","meine-Rede"]·EN["my-saying","my-speech","my-words","saying-my","to-my-speech","your-speech"]·FR["[אמרתי]","[אמרתך]","disant-mon","j'ai-dit","mon-disant"]·heb["אמרתי","אמרתי-י","אמרתך"]·HI["कहावत-तेरी","कहावत-मेरी","मेरा-वचन","मेरी-बात","मेरी-बात-को","मेरे-वचन-को"]·ID["perkataanku","perkataanmu"]·IT["comando","dicendo-mio","io-dissi","la-mia-parola","mio-dicendo"]·jav["pangandika-kula","pangandikan-Kawula","pangandikan-kawula","pangandikan-kula","pangandikan-panjenengan"]·KO["나의-말","나의-말을","내-말씀이","너의-말이","말씀-을"]·PT["a-minha-palavra","meu-dito","minha-palavra","minhas-palavras","tua-palavra"]·RU["речь-моя","речь-твоя","слово-мое","слово-моё","слову-моему"]·ES["mi-dicho","mi-palabra","tu-palabra"]·SW["maneno-yako","maneno-yangu","neno-langu","usemi-wangu"]·TR["soozun","sozume","sozumu","sozun","sözüm","sözüme","sözümü"]·urd["تیری-بات","میرا-کلام","میری-بات","کلام-میرا"]
Related Senses
H3808 1. simple negation (not) (4839×)G1722 1. locative: in, within (2442×)H1004b 1. house, dwelling, building (2015×)G3756 1. not (negation particle) (1635×)H4480a 1. source or separation (1198×)H5892b 1. city, town (1093×)G1519 1. direction: into, to, toward (1061×)H3427 1. Qal: to dwell, inhabit (937×)G1537 1. from, out of (source/origin) (886×)H8034 1. Name (designation / identifier) (856×)G3361 1. subjective negation (not) (834×)G1909 1. on, upon (spatial surface) (757×)H0369 1. existential negation: there is not (738×)H5869a 1. in the eyes/sight of (evaluative) (734×)H5650 1. Servant, attendant, subject (723×)H0408 1. prohibitive negation do-not (712×)G2443 1. so that, in order that (purpose/result) (665×)G0575 1. from (649×)G1223 1. through, by means of (582×)H3541 1. thus, so, in this manner (569×)
BDB / Lexicon Reference
[אִמְרָה] n.f. utterance, speech, word (poet., mostly sg. coll., cf. pl. vb. ψ 119:103; but here read prob. pl. n. cf. 𝔊 Ol Hi De Che)—cstr. אִמְרַת Is 5:24 +; אִמְרָתִי Gn 4:23 + etc.; Pl. abs. אֲמָרוֹת ψ 12:7; cstr. אִמְרֹת ib.;—utterance, speech Gn 4:23 (song of Lamech, ‖ קוֹל) so Is 28:23; 29:4; 32:9; Dt 32:2 (‖ לֶקַח), ψ 17:6; Is 29:4 (w. נָשָׂא, צִפְצֵף); especially saying(s), word(s) of…