H1742 H1742
faint—describing the heart sick with grief, sorrow, or distress
This adjective describes a heart that has become faint or sick from distress. Isaiah 1:5 asks why Israel continues in rebellion when the whole heart is 'faint' (davvay). Jeremiah 8:18 laments 'my heart is faint (davvay) within me' over the people's calamity. Lamentations 1:22 speaks of sighing with a faint heart. The word appears only with 'heart' (lev), indicating emotional and spiritual exhaustion rather than mere physical weakness. It captures the heavy, sick feeling of a heart overwhelmed by prolonged grief or the weight of sin.
Senses
1. sense 1 — Adjective meaning faint or sick, used exclusively with 'heart' (lev) to describe emotional/spiritual exhaustion. Isaiah 1:5 uses it in rebuke: 'the whole heart is faint' (kal-levav davvay), parallel to 'the whole head is sick.' Jeremiah 8:18 and Lamentations 1:22 both express personal anguish: 'my heart is faint within me' (alai libi davvay). Cross-linguistic glosses: English 'faint/is faint,' Spanish 'enfermo/desfalleciente' (sick/fainting), French and German use placeholder brackets. The word always modifies 'heart,' emphasizing the inner collapse of strength under sorrow, affliction, or the burden of sin. This is vocabulary of deep emotional distress. 3×
AR["سَقِيمٌ", "مَرِيضٌ"]·ben["অসুস্থ", "দুর্বল"]·DE["[דוי]"]·EN["faint", "is-faint"]·FR["[דוי]"]·heb["דווי"]·HI["दुर्बल-है", "बीमार-है", "रोगी-है"]·ID["lemah", "sakit"]·IT["[דוי]"]·jav["lemes", "nandhang-gerah", "ringkih"]·KO["쇠약하도다", "아프도다", "아픈"]·PT["está-enfermo", "fraco"]·RU["болезненное", "болит", "изнемогает"]·ES["desfalleciente", "está-enfermo"]·SW["mgonjwa", "umechoka", "unadhoofu"]·TR["hasta", "zayıf"]·urd["بیمار", "بیمار-ہے", "کمزور"]
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
† [דַּוַּי] adj. faint (on form cf. BaNB 487)—דַּוָּי֑ Is 1:5 + 2 times—faint, always of heart Is 1:5 (‖ לָחֳלִי fig. of condition of people); Je 8:18 La 1:22 of sorrow and distress.