H4213 H4213
a little, very small, trifling amount
An intensifying expression meaning 'very little' or 'a trifle,' used to emphasize the brevity of time or smallness of number. Isaiah uses it to stress how quickly God will act: 'yet a very little while' (Isaiah 10:25, 29:17) before divine intervention transforms the situation. It also describes the pitifully small remnant that will survive judgment (Isaiah 16:14, 24:6). The doubled expression creates emphasis—not just 'little' but emphatically minimal.
Senses
1. sense 1 — An emphatic diminutive meaning 'very little' or 'extremely small,' intensifying the ordinary word for 'little' (מְעַט). All occurrences are in Isaiah, where it stresses either the brevity of time before God acts or the tiny size of the surviving remnant. The multilingual glosses ('very little,' 'insignificante,' 'un peu') capture the minimizing force, though the rhetorical emphasis can be difficult to render precisely. 4×
AR["صَغِيرٌ-جِدًّا", "قَلِيلٌ", "قَلِيلٌ-جِدًّا", "يَسِيرٍ"]·ben["অল্প", "অল্প-সময়", "কিছুক্ষণ", "সামান্য"]·DE["ein-wenig"]·EN["small", "very-little", "while"]·FR["un-peu"]·heb["מזער", "מעט"]·HI["थोड़ा-और", "थोड़े", "बहुत-थोड़े", "समय"]·ID["sangat-kecil", "sebentar-lagi", "sedikit"]·IT["un-poco"]·jav["sakedhik-sanget", "sedhela", "sekedhik"]·KO["매우-작아", "잘은", "잠깐이면", "적게"]·PT["mui-pouco", "muito-pequeno", "pequeno", "poucos"]·RU["немного", "ничтожный", "совсем-мало", "совсем-немного"]·ES["insignificante", "más", "pocos", "un-poco"]·SW["kidogo-sana", "sana", "wachache"]·TR["az", "cok-az", "cok-kucuk"]·urd["بہت-تھوڑا", "بہت-تھوڑی", "تھوڑا", "تھوڑی-دیر-میں"]
Related Senses
H3605 1. all, every, whole (5352×)H0259 1. one (cardinal numeral) (940×)H8147 1. cardinal number two (666×)G3956 1. all (collective plural) (616×)H3967 1. cardinal numeral hundred (550×)H1419a 1. great, large (general quality) (486×)H7969 1. cardinal number three (431×)H0505 1. cardinal number thousand (427×)H7651 1. seven (cardinal number) (393×)G1520 1. cardinal number one (339×)H6240 1. ten (cardinal number) (334×)H6242 1. twenty (cardinal number) (315×)H2568 1. cardinal number five (309×)H0702 1. four (cardinal number) (277×)G3956 2. every, each (distributive) (227×)H8337 1. six (cardinal number) (215×)G3956 3. all things, everything (substantive) (211×)G3956 4. (187×)H6235 1. ten (177×)G3173 1. great in size or extent (176×)
BDB / Lexicon Reference
† מִזְעָר n.[m.] a little, a trifle, a few. 1. of time עוֹד מְעַט מִזְעָ֑ר Is 10:25; 29:17 yet a trifle, a little = a very little while. 2. of number שְׁאָר מְעַט מִזְעָר Is 16:14 a remnant, a very few (opp. לוֹא כַּבִּיר). In Is 3 without מעט:—ונשׁאר אנושׁ מִזְעָֽר ׃ Is 24:6.