H0820 H0820
among the vigorous/in desolate places (obscure term in Isaiah's confession, possibly vigor or desolation)
This difficult phrase appears in Isaiah's communal confession where the people lament groping like the blind and stumbling at noon as if at twilight. The comparison "among the vigorous/stout ones, like the dead" suggests vitality inverted into deathlike weakness, though some interpreters propose "in desolate places." The context emphasizes spiritual blindness producing practical helplessness.
Senses
1. sense 1 — Prepositional phrase of uncertain meaning in Isaiah 59:10, within a catalog of sin's debilitating effects. The contrast pits the healthy/vigorous against the dead, or alternately situates the people in desolate places like corpses. German and French leave the term untransliterated, acknowledging lexical uncertainty. The surrounding imagery of blindness and stumbling supports either interpretation. 1×
AR["بِ-الْأَقْوِيَاءِ"]·ben["সুস্থদের-মধ্যে"]·DE["[באשמנים]"]·EN["among-the-vigorous"]·FR["[באשמנים]"]·heb["ב-אשמנים"]·HI["हष्ट-पुष्टों-में"]·ID["di-antara-yang-kuat"]·IT["[באשמנים]"]·jav["ing-kiyat"]·KO["튜튜한-자들-사이에서"]·PT["entre-os-robustos"]·RU["в-сильных"]·ES["entre-robustos"]·SW["katika-wenye-nguvu"]·TR["sagliklilar-icinde"]·urd["تندرستوں-میں"]
Related Senses
H7200 1. Qal: to see, perceive (1257×)G4771 2. you (singular address) (1077×)H8085 1. Qal: hear, perceive aurally (921×)H0859a 1. you (2nd person masculine singular pronoun) (743×)H0398 1. eat (consume food) (697×)H4191 1. die (Qal: natural/general death) (645×)G3708 1. see, perceive visually (419×)G0191 1. hear, perceive sound (360×)H???? 3. (352×)G3708 2. behold, look (exclamatory) (256×)H7272 1. foot (body part) (236×)H8354 1. drink, consume liquid (209×)H3205 1. Qal active: bear/give birth (female subject) (204×)H3205 2. Qal active: beget/father (male subject) (198×)H2421 1. Qal: live, be alive (177×)H8085 2. Qal: listen, heed, pay attention (172×)H2416a 1. alive, living (state/attribute) (146×)H2416e 1. life, lifespan, lifetime (145×)G2198 1. be alive, have life (133×)H8193 1. lip, lips (body part) (123×)
BDB / Lexicon Reference
† אַשְׁמַנִּים (elative, Ges§ § 85b, 133a; on נּ v. Id. §§ 20a, 93ee) appar. n.[m.]pl. בָּא׳ כַּמֵּתִים Is 59:10 perhaps: (we are) among the stout (RV lusty) like dead men, cf. Di-Kit; or abstr. in (actual) vigour (Buhl) > AV (after Jos Ki from אָשַׁם Ho 14:1 ‘be desolate’) in desolate places (other conj. v. CheHpt Marti).