H5309 H5309
miscarriage, stillborn; an aborted or prematurely expelled fetus
This noun refers to a miscarried or stillborn child—one who never drew breath or saw light. Job wishes he had been 'like a miscarriage that is hidden, like infants who never saw light' (Job 3:16), preferring non-existence to his suffering. The Psalmist asks God to make the wicked 'like a miscarriage of a woman' that dissolves before birth (Psalm 58:8). Ecclesiastes uses it to argue that even a stillborn, despite lacking name or knowledge, has more rest than the man who lives long without satisfaction. The word captures life's most tragic loss—potential unfulfilled, a beginning that ends before it starts.
Senses
1. sense 1 — All three uses are metaphorical or comparative, employing the stillborn as a symbol of non-existence or wasted life. Job's longing, the Psalmist's curse, and Qoheleth's philosophical comparison all invoke the pathos of the miscarried child—one who enters existence only to exit immediately. Cross-linguistic glosses ('aborto,' 'miscarriage,' 'tomber') focus on the premature falling/failing, the incompletion. The construct 'miscarriage of a woman' (Psalm 58) makes explicit what is always implied: this is the saddest of wombs' outcomes. 3×
AR["السَّقْطُ", "سِقطُ", "كَسِقْطٍ"]·ben["অকাল-জন্ম", "মৃত-ভ্রূণের-মতো", "মৃত-শিশু"]·DE["[כנפל]", "der-fiel", "ein-miscarriage-von"]·EN["a-miscarriage-of", "like-a-miscarriage", "the-stillborn"]·FR["comme-כנפל", "le-הנפל", "tomber"]·heb["ה-נפל", "כ-נפל", "נפל"]·HI["गर्भपात", "गिरा-हुआ", "गिरे-बच्चे-की-तरह"]·ID["keguguran", "seperti-keguguran"]·IT["[נפל]", "come-like-un-miscarriage", "il-il-stillborn"]·jav["jabang-bayi-mati", "kados-jabang-bayi-ingkang-gugur", "kanggé-piyambakipun"]·KO["같이-유산", "낝태-그", "유산-처럼"]·PT["aborto-de", "como-aborto", "o-aborto"]·RU["выкидыш", "выкидыш.", "как-выкидыш"]·ES["aborto-de", "como-aborto", "el-abortivo"]·SW["kama-mimba-iliyoharibika", "kiumbe-kilichoharibika", "mimba-iliyoharibika"]·TR["dusuk", "düşük-", "düşük-gibi"]·urd["جیسے-گرے-ہوئے-بچے", "سِقط", "مردہ-بچہ"]
Related Senses
H7200 1. Qal: to see, perceive (1257×)G4771 2. you (singular address) (1077×)H8085 1. Qal: hear, perceive aurally (921×)H0859a 1. you (2nd person masculine singular pronoun) (743×)H0398 1. eat (consume food) (697×)H4191 1. die (Qal: natural/general death) (645×)G3708 1. see, perceive visually (419×)G0191 1. hear, perceive sound (360×)H???? 3. (352×)G3708 2. behold, look (exclamatory) (256×)H7272 1. foot (body part) (236×)H8354 1. drink, consume liquid (209×)H3205 1. Qal active: bear/give birth (female subject) (204×)H3205 2. Qal active: beget/father (male subject) (198×)H2421 1. Qal: live, be alive (177×)H8085 2. Qal: listen, heed, pay attention (172×)H2416a 1. alive, living (state/attribute) (146×)H2416e 1. life, lifespan, lifetime (145×)G2198 1. be alive, have life (133×)H8193 1. lip, lips (body part) (123×)
BDB / Lexicon Reference
† נֵ֫פֶל [נֶפֶל] n.m. Jb 3:16 miscarriage, abortion;—נֵ֫פֶל abs. Jb 3:16 (Baer, Ginsb., > van d. H. נֶפֶל), נָ֑פל Ec 6:3; cstr. נֵפֶל אֵשֶׁת ψ 58:9.