מַי580 H4325
Water in all its forms: drinking, rivers, seas, rain, floods, and ritual purification; the elemental liquid of life and judgment.
One of the most frequent nouns in the Hebrew Bible, mayim appears nearly 600 times and always in the plural form, reflecting the ancient perception of water as an encompassing, dynamic reality rather than a single substance. It spans the entire range of water references: the primordial waters of creation (Gen 1:6), the catastrophic waters of the flood (Gen 6:17), life-giving wells and springs (Gen 21:19), ritual cleansing (Lev 14:8), and the metaphorical waters of distress and salvation (Ps 69:1). Every major translation tradition renders it with its basic water term -- English 'water,' Spanish 'agua,' French 'eau,' German 'Wasser' -- confirming the universal transparency of this sense.
1. water, waters — Water as a physical substance in all its natural and ritual manifestations: drinking water, well and spring water, river and sea water, rain, floodwaters, and water used in purification rites. With 582 occurrences this is effectively the only operative sense. All 43 target languages render it with their primary water noun (eng 'water,' spa 'agua,' fra 'eau,' deu 'Wasser,' hin 'jal/pani,' arb 'ma''), showing complete cross-linguistic unanimity. Key passages: Gen 1:6 (cosmic separation), Exod 14:21 (Red Sea), Ps 23:2 (still waters). 582×
AR["الْ-مِيَاهُ","ماءً","ماءٌ","ماءٍ","مَاءً","مَاءٍ","مِيَاهًا","مِيَاهٍ"]·ben["জল","জলের","শিবা"]·DE["Wasser","von-Wasser"]·EN["water","waters"]·FR["eau","eaux"]·heb["מים"]·HI["जल","पनि","पानी","पानी-का"]·ID["air"]·IT["acqua","acque"]·jav["toya"]·KO["물","물-이","물들","물들이","물을","물의","물이"]·PT["de-águas","água","água.","águas","águas;"]·RU["вода","водами","воду","воды"]·ES["agua","aguas"]·SW["cha-maji","kwao","maji","na-akampa"]·TR["su","sular","suyu","suyun"]·urd["پانی","پانی-کا","پانی-کی","پانیوں"]
Gen 1:6, Gen 6:17, Gen 7:6, Gen 8:9, Gen 18:4, Gen 21:14, Gen 21:19, Gen 24:13, Gen 24:17, Gen 24:43, Gen 26:19, Gen 26:32 (+38 more)
▼ 1 more sense below
Senses
2. sense 2 — A single anomalous occurrence at Isa 44:24 marked by a Ketiv/Qere discrepancy, where the consonantal text differs from the expected reading. Several translations still render it as 'water,' though Spanish shows '[quien]' (who), pointing to a possible textual corruption or alternative reading 'mi' (who) rather than 'mayim' (water). This is a text-critical artifact rather than a distinct semantic sense. 1×
AR["[من]"]·ben["[কে]"]·DE["Wasser"]·EN["ketiv"]·FR["eau"]·heb["מי"]·HI["कौन-मेरे-साथ"]·IT["acqua"]·jav["[sinten]"]·KO["[누가]"]·PT["[quem]"]·RU["[кто]"]·ES["[quién]"]·SW["nani"]·TR["[kim]"]·urd["[کون]"]
Related Senses
H6965b 1. Qal: to rise, arise, get up (432×)H3701 1. silver (the metal) (391×)H2091 1. gold (the metal) (389×)H0068 1. stone, rock (material/object) (267×)H5178a 1. bronze/copper as metal (131×)H0216 1. light (general / metaphorical) (116×)H6083 1. dust, dry earth, soil (108×)H8313 1. burn, set fire to (94×)H2734 1. anger was kindled (82×)G5204 1. water (80×)H2822 1. darkness, absence of light (80×)H1270 1. iron (metal, tools, weapons; fig. strength/hardness) (76×)G5457 1. light (illumination) (71×)G0450 1. rise, stand up (physical) (69×)G3037 1. stone / rock (59×)H6965b 2. Qal: to stand firm, endure, be valid (50×)H6697 1. rock, cliff, crag (49×)H3001 1. be dry, wither (intransitive) (45×)H6999a 2. burn sacrifice on altar (Hifil) (45×)H5553 1. rock, cliff (physical feature) (43×)
BDB / Lexicon Reference
[מַי580] n.m. 2 S 14:14 only pl. מַ֫יִם waters, water (NH id.; MI 23 [ין]מ; SI 5 המים; Aramaic מַיָּא, מַיִּין, ܡܰܝܴ̈ܐ; Assyrian mû, pl. mê, also mâmu DlHWB 394; Arabic مَآءٌ; Ethiopic ማይ, pl. ማያት; Sab. [מו], מום, pl. מון, Min. [מה], pl. מהן DHM6th Or. Congr. (Leiden) ii. 1, 451 f. (v. on these forms BaZMG xiii, 1888, 341 ff.));—מַ֫יִם (מָ֑יִם) Gn 1:2 +; הַמַּ֫יְמָה Ex 7:15; 8:16; cstr. מֵי Gn…