H4838 H4838
maraq — to scour, polish, or cleanse (metals, vessels, or figuratively, the soul)
This verb means to scour, polish, or thoroughly cleanse, used both literally for metalwork and figuratively for moral purification. The root appears in related Semitic languages with similar meanings of scraping or polishing. Biblical usage includes polishing bronze temple utensils, scouring sacrificial vessels for ritual purity, and metaphorically, the cleansing effect of discipline. The term suggests intensive, thorough cleaning that restores shine to metal or purity to a vessel—or by extension, to a person's character through corrective suffering.
Senses
1. sense 1 — To scour, polish, or cleanse thoroughly. Literally, it describes polishing bronze (2 Chr 4:16 — temple vessels made of 'polished' bronze, parallel to 1 Kgs 7:45). Leviticus 6:28 commands that a bronze cooking pot used for a sin offering 'shall be scoured' (yumoraq) and rinsed. Jeremiah 46:4 calls soldiers to 'polish the spears!' in preparation for battle. Proverbs 20:30 uses it figuratively: 'blows that wound cleanse away evil'—suggesting that painful discipline scours away moral impurity like abrasive cleaning restores brightness to tarnished metal. The Ketiv/Qere variant in Proverbs shows textual uncertainty between verbal and nominal forms. 4×
AR["[تنظف]", "اصْقِلُوا", "مَصْقُولٍ", "وَ-يُصْقَلُ"]·ben["এবং-মাজা-হোক", "পরিষ্কৃত", "মসৃণ-কর", "শুদ্ধি"]·DE["[[תמריק]]", "[מרוק]", "[מרקו]", "es-soll-sein-scoured"]·EN["[cleansing]", "it-shall-be-scoured", "polish", "polished"]·FR["[מרוק]", "[מרקו]", "[תמריק]", "cela-devra-être-scoured"]·heb["[תמריק]", "ו-מורק", "מרוק", "מרקו"]·HI["[शुद्ध-करती-हैं]", "और-माँजा-जाए", "चमकाओ", "चमकाया-हुआ"]·ID["[membersihkan]", "dan-digosok", "dipoles", "gosokklah"]·IT["[cleansing]", "[מרוק]", "[מרקו]", "esso-dovra-essere-scoured"]·jav["dipunpoles", "gosokna", "lan-dipunrikat", "ngresiki"]·KO["[닦아냄이니라]", "광내라", "그리고-닦으라", "닦은"]·PT["[limpam]", "e-será-esfregado", "poli", "polido"]·RU["[ктив:очищают]", "и-вычищен", "полированной", "полируйте"]·ES["[frotan]", "bruñido", "pulid", "y-será-fregada"]·SW["husafisha", "iliyong'arishwa", "na-kisugwe", "sugueni"]·TR["[temizler]", "parlatılmış", "parlatın", "ve-ovılacak"]·urd["جلا-ہوا", "مانجا-جائے", "چمکاؤ"]
Related Senses
H3808 1. simple negation (not) (4839×)G1722 1. locative: in, within (2442×)H1004b 1. house, dwelling, building (2015×)G3756 1. not (negation particle) (1635×)H4480a 1. source or separation (1198×)H5892b 1. city, town (1093×)G1519 1. direction: into, to, toward (1061×)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×)G2443 1. so that, in order that (purpose/result) (665×)G0575 1. from (649×)G1223 1. through, by means of (582×)H3541 1. thus, so, in this manner (569×)
BDB / Lexicon Reference
† I. [מָרַק] vb. scour, polish (NH id.; Aramaic ܡܪܰܩ, מְרַק; cf. Arabic مَرَقَ scrape off wool from a skin);— Qal Imv. מִרְקוּ הָֽרְמָחִים Je 46:4 polish the lances! Pt. pass. מָרוּק 2 Ch 4:16 polished, of bronze utensils of temple (=מְמוֹרָט 1 K 7:45). Pu. Pf. וּמֹרַק consec. Lv 6:21 be well scoured, of bronze vessel (‖ וְשֻׁטַּף בַּמָּ֑יִם). Hiph. Impf. 3 fs. תַּמְרִיק only Pr 20:30 Kt, fig.,…