H2725 H2725
in the drought/heat of (summer), metaphorically describing fever or affliction
Found only in Psalm 32:4, this phrase 'in the drought of summer' (בְּחַרְבֹנֵי קַיִץ) serves as a vivid metaphor for the physical effects of unconfessed sin. The psalmist describes how God's hand pressed heavily, draining his vitality as if exposed to scorching summer heat. The plural construct form suggests intense, repeated waves of drought-like conditions. Spanish 'sequías de' (droughts of) and French 'sécheresse' (dryness) capture the dehydrating imagery, while English and German translations preserve the meteorological metaphor.
Senses
1. sense 1 — The drought metaphor appears in the context of David's penitential confession, where moral and spiritual distress manifests as physical suffering. The 'summer' specification intensifies the image—not ordinary dryness but the relentless heat of ancient Near Eastern summers that could prove fatal. This rare construct phrase links agricultural disaster imagery with the interior landscape of guilt and conviction. 1×
AR["بِجَفَافِ"]·ben["খরায়ে"]·DE["hinein-drought-von"]·EN["into-drought-of"]·FR["dans-sécheresse"]·heb["ב-חרבוני"]·HI["में-सूखे"]·IT["[בחרבני]"]·jav["ing-garing"]·KO["마름-으로"]·PT["em-securas-de"]·RU["в-засуху"]·ES["en-sequías-de"]·SW["kwa-ukame-wa"]·TR["yaz-"]·urd["-خشک-سالیوں-میں"]
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
† [חֵרָבוֹן] n.m. drought, only pl. cstr. בְּחַרְבֹנֵי קַ֫יִץ ψ 32:4 metaph. of fever heat.