H4669 H4669
opening or utterance; what opens the lips in speech
This noun appears in two distinct senses, both involving opening. In 1 Chronicles 9:27, it refers to 'the key' (understanding it as synonymous with H4668), the tool for opening the temple doors entrusted to Levitical gatekeepers. In Proverbs 8:6, personified Wisdom declares, 'Hear, for I will speak noble things, and the opening of my lips will be right things'—here denoting not a tool but the act or product of opening one's lips, i.e., utterance or speech. The common semantic core is opening, whether of doors or mouths.
Senses
1. sense 1 — An opening or what opens; either a key (mechanical opening) or utterance (verbal opening). The Chronicles reference describes temple gatekeepers having charge of opening the doors each morning, with 'opening' likely meaning the key itself by metonymy. Proverbs uses the term more abstractly for what the lips open with—speech or utterance. Wisdom's 'opening' produces right and noble words, just as a key produces access. Both uses reflect the Hebrew tendency to name things by function: the opener, whether tool or word. 2×
AR["المِفْتَاح", "وَ-بِفَتْحِ"]·ben["এবং-খোলা", "চাবির"]·DE["[המפתח]", "[ומפתח]"]·EN["and-the-opening-of", "the-key"]·FR["[המפתח]", "et-ומפתח"]·heb["ה-מפתח", "ו-מפתח"]·HI["-की-कुंजी", "और-खोलना"]·ID["dan-pembukaan", "kunci"]·IT["[המפתח]", "e-e-il-opening-di"]·jav["kunci", "lan-mbikak"]·KO["그-열쇠", "그리고-여는-것-은"]·PT["a-chave", "e-a-abertura-de"]·RU["и-открытие", "ключом"]·ES["la-llave", "y-apertura-de"]·SW["na-kufunguliwa-kwa", "ufunguo"]·TR["anahtarın", "ve-açılışında"]·urd["اور-کھلنے-پر", "کنجی"]
Related Senses
H2719 1. sword, weapon of war (410×)H4196 1. altar (place of sacrifice) (403×)H7393 1. chariot, chariotry (117×)H7198 1. bow (weapon) (72×)H7979 1. table (71×)H7782 1. ram's horn trumpet (69×)H4294 2. staff, rod, scepter (63×)H4043 1. shield, defensive weapon (60×)H0646 1. ephod (priestly garment) (49×)H8504 1. blue (violet-blue yarn/fabric) (49×)H2595 1. spear, lance (48×)H2671 1. arrow, projectile weapon (46×)H4818 1. chariot, war-chariot (44×)H3658 1. lyre, harp (stringed instrument) (42×)H1537 1. Gilgal (place name) (41×)H0713 1. purple (fabric/dye) (38×)H0905 3. poles, staves (37×)H7392 1. Qal participle: rider, charioteer (37×)H4501 1. cultic lampstand (menorah) (36×)H0212 1. wheel (35×)
BDB / Lexicon Reference
† [מִפְתָּח] n.[m.] opening, utterance;—cstr. מִפְתַּח שְׂפָתַי Pr 8:6 i.e. that with which my lips open.