H3770 H3770
Belly or stomach; the digestive cavity, used metaphorically for consuming or devouring
This noun appears only in Jeremiah 51:34, in a vivid metaphor where Nebuchadnezzar is portrayed as a sea-monster who has 'filled his belly' with Israel's treasures. The term designates the belly or stomach, cognate with Aramaic and Arabic words for the ruminant stomach. Its use here is figurative—Babylon has consumed and absorbed Israel's wealth and people, storing them like food in a beast's digestive system.
Senses
1. sense 1 — The belly or stomach, here used metaphorically for voracious consumption and storage. Jeremiah's sea-monster imagery presents Nebuchadnezzar swallowing Jerusalem like a dragon, filling his belly with treasures. Spanish 'vientre' (belly/womb) preserves the anatomical metaphor. The image emphasizes both the violence of conquest (swallowing) and the temporary nature of Babylon's possession—what is swallowed can be disgorged, as the oracle promises in the following verses. 1×
AR["بَطْنَهُ"]·ben["তার-পেটকে"]·DE["[כרשו]"]·EN["his-belly"]·FR["[כרשו]"]·heb["כרסו"]·HI["अपना-पेट"]·ID["perutnya"]·IT["[כרשו]"]·jav["weteng-ipun"]·KO["배를-그의"]·PT["seu-ventre"]·RU["чрево-своё"]·ES["su-vientre"]·SW["tumbo-lake"]·TR["karnını"]·urd["اپنا-پیٹ"]
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
† [כָּרֵשׂ] n.[m.] belly (NH כֶּרֶס id.; Aramaic כַּרְסָא, ܟܰܪܣܳܐ id.; Mand. כראס, כארסא, uterus, NöM 151, 157; Arabic كَرِشٌ, Ethiopic ከርሥ wrinkled or folded stomach of cud-chewing animals; cf. LagBN 20, 44; Assyrian karšu, body, belly);—only sf. כְּרֵשׂוֹ Je 51:34 of Nebuchadrezzar under fig. of sea-monster.