H4261 H4261
Desire, delight; something precious or treasured; used of persons beloved to the heart and of valuable possessions.
From the root chamad ('to desire, covet'), machmad names whatever the heart longs for or the eyes delight in. In its most intimate register, it describes persons or qualities deeply cherished — Ezekiel's wife is 'the desire of your eyes' (Ezek 24:16), and the beloved in Song of Songs is praised as 'altogether desirable' (Song 5:16), where the intensive plural machammaddim conveys an almost untranslatable superlative of delight. Spanish delicia and French delice capture this warmth beautifully. But the word also has a harder edge: when Jerusalem falls, her machammaddim are the precious vessels and treasured possessions plundered by invaders (Lam 1:10-11; 2 Chr 36:19). The same root that names love's delight also names what conquering armies seize — a poignant semantic range.
Senses
1. object of desire or delight — An object of desire or delight — that which is longed for, cherished, or found deeply desirable, applied to persons and to the abstract quality of desirability itself. The most striking occurrence is Song 5:16, where the beloved is described as kullo machammaddim ('all of him is delightfulness'), an intensive plural without real parallel in English. Ezekiel's wife is 'the desire of your eyes' (Ezek 24:16, 21, 25), and Ben-Hadad demands 'whatever is the desire of your eyes' from Ahab (1 Kgs 20:6). Spanish delicia-de and French delice-de both reach for vocabulary of sensory pleasure, while German leaves the Hebrew untranslated in some versions — a sign of how tightly bound this sense is to Hebrew poetic idiom. 7×
AR["شَهْوَةِ", "مَحبوبَ", "مَحَمِّدِيم", "مَحْبُوبَةَ", "مَرغوبُ"]·ben["কামনা", "কামনীয়", "বহুমূল্য-", "বহুমূল্যগুলি-", "বাসনা"]·DE["[מחמד]", "[מחמדי]", "[מחמדים]", "delight-von"]·EN["beloved-ones-of", "delight-of", "desirable", "desire-of-", "treasure-of"]·FR["délice-de", "délices.", "objet-désiré"]·heb["מחמד", "מחמדי", "מחמדים"]·HI["बहुमूल्य", "मनोहर", "रुचिकर"]·ID["Barang-berharga", "kesayangan", "kesukaan", "mengagumkan", "yang-berharga"]·IT["[מחמד]", "[מחמדי]", "compiaciti-di", "desirable"]·jav["ingkang-dados-kasenenganipun", "ingkang-dipun-kasihi", "kang-dipuntresnani", "kang-pepénginan", "weteng"]·KO["귀한-것들을", "귀한-것이", "기쁘을", "바람직한-것-의", "사랑스러움들-이라"]·PT["deleite-de", "desejo-de", "desejável", "queridos-de"]·RU["вожделенное", "драгоценность", "желание", "желания", "их", "силы"]·ES["delicia-de", "deseable", "deseo-de", "lo-preciado", "lo-preciado-de"]·SW["furaha-ya", "hazina-ya", "kupendeza", "tamaa-ya", "wapendwa-wa"]·TR["arzulanan", "değerli-olan", "değerli-olanlarını", "değerli-şeyleri", "gözdesi", "gözdesini"]·urd["خواہش", "پسندیدہ", "پیاروں", "پیارے"]
2. precious things, treasures — Precious things, treasures, or valued possessions — concrete items of worth, often in contexts of loss, plunder, or destruction. When Nebuchadnezzar destroys the temple, 'all its precious vessels' (kol klei machmad) are burned (2 Chr 36:19). Lamentations dwells on Jerusalem's machammadim twice: her people trade their treasured things for food (Lam 1:11), and foreigners enter the sanctuary to seize 'her precious things' (Lam 1:10). Isaiah mourns 'all our precious things' laid waste (Isa 64:11). Spanish lo precioso and French chose desiree shift to economic vocabulary here, confirming the move from personal desire to material treasure. Joel 3:5 likewise accuses the nations: 'my treasures you carried into your temples.' 6×
AR["(نَفَائِسَهُمْ)", "مَحْبُوبَاتِ-", "مَحْبُوبَاتِنَا", "نَفَائِسِهَا", "وَ-نَفائِسي"]·ben["(তাদের-মূল্যবান-জিনিস)", "আমাদের-প্রিয়-জিনিস", "এবং-আমার-মনোরম", "চোখের-আনন্দের", "তার-মূল্যবান-জিনিসের", "তার-মূল্যবানের"]·DE["[(מחמדיהם)]", "[ומחמדי]", "[מחמדי]", "[מחמדיה]", "[מחמדינו]"]·EN["(their-treasures)", "and-my-treasures", "her-precious-things", "its-precious-things", "our-precious-things", "precious-ones"]·FR["[מחמדיה]", "chose-désirable", "et-objet-désiré", "ses-choses-précieuses"]·heb["וּ-מַחמַדַּי", "מחמדי", "מחמדיה", "מחמדיה-ה", "מחמדיהם", "מחמדינו"]·HI["उन्होंने-अपनी-बहुमूल्य-वस्तुएँ", "उसकी-बहुमूल्य-वस्तुओं", "उसके-बहुमूल्यों-के", "और-बहुमूल्य-वस्तुएँ-मेरी", "प्रिय-", "वस्तुएँ-प्रिय-हमारी"]·ID["(harta-harta-berharga-mereka)", "barang-barang-berharga-kami", "berharganya", "dan-harta-Ku-yang-indah", "harta-hartanya-yang-berharga", "yang-dikasihi"]·IT["[ומחמדי]", "[מחמדיה]", "delizia", "le-sue-delizie"]·jav["barang-éndah-ipun", "ingkang-kita-tresnani", "ingkang-éndah-ing", "lan-raja-brana-Kawula", "pangajinipun"]·KO["그것의-보물들의", "그녀-보물들-을", "그들-보물들-을", "그리고-나의-보물들", "보물들-을", "우리의-귀한-것들이"]·PT["(suas-coisas-preciosas)", "coisas-preciosas-dela", "e-tesouros-meus", "preciosidades-nossas", "precioso-de", "suas-coisas-preciosas"]·RU["(драгоценности-свои)", "драгоценное-наше", "драгоценностей-его", "драгоценности-её", "драгоценных", "и-сокровища-Мои"]·ES["(sus-cosas-preciosas)", "lo-precioso-de", "lo-que-amábamos", "su-tesoro", "sus-cosas-preciosas", "y-tesoros-míos"]·SW["machamadeּyha", "na-vitu-vyangu-vya-thamani", "vyote-vya-thamani", "wa-thamani-wa", "za-thamani-zake", "za-thamani-zao"]·TR["(değerli-şeylerini-onların)", "degerli-seylerimmiz", "değerli", "değerli-şeyler-onun", "değerliler", "ve-değerli-eşyalarımı"]·urd["اور-میری-خوبصورت-چیزیں", "اُس-کی-قیمتی-چیزیں", "اپنی-قیمتی-چیزیں", "قیمتی-کو-اُس-کے", "پیاری-چیزوں", "پیاری-چیزیں"]
Related Senses
H3808 1. simple negation (not) (4839×)G1722 1. locative: in, within (2442×)H1004b 1. house, dwelling, building (2015×)H5414 1. give, bestow (1855×)G3756 1. not (negation particle) (1635×)H4480a 1. source or separation (1198×)H5892b 1. city, town (1093×)G1519 1. direction: into, to, toward (1061×)H3947 1. take, seize, grasp (Qal) (940×)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×)G2192 1. possess / have (680×)G2443 1. so that, in order that (purpose/result) (665×)
BDB / Lexicon Reference
† מַחְמַד n.m. desire, desirable thing—abs. מַחְמַד Ho 9:6; cstr. id. 1 K 20:6 + 3 times Ez; pl. מַחֲמַדַּים Ct 5:16; cstr. מַחֲמַדֵּי La 2:4; Ho 9:16; sf. מַחֲמַדַּי Jo 4:5; מַחֲמַדֵּינוּ Is 64:10; מַחֲמַדֶּיהָ 2 Ch 36:19; La 1:10; מַחֲמַדֵּיהֶם La 1:11 Qr (v. also מַחְמֹד);—desirable, precious things כלי־מ׳ 2 Ch 36:19; sg. coll. Ho 9:6; pl. Jo 4:5; Is 64:10; La 1:10, 11; (Qr), מ׳ בִּטְנָם Ho…