H5499 H5499
rags, worn-out clothes; tattered fabric strips
This feminine plural noun means rags or worn-out cloth strips—fabric so deteriorated it's suitable only for the poorest uses. Jeremiah 38:11-12 uses it twice in the account of Jeremiah's rescue from the cistern. Ebed-melech takes 'rags and worn-out clothes' from the palace storeroom, lowering them to Jeremiah with ropes and instructing him to 'put the rags and worn-out clothes under your armpits under the ropes' to prevent the ropes from cutting into his flesh as he's pulled up. The compassionate detail—using soft rags to cushion the rescue—highlights both Jeremiah's desperate state and his rescuer's thoughtful care.
Senses
1. sense 1 — Both occurrences (Jeremiah 38:11, twice in v.11, once in v.12) serve the single narrative purpose of Jeremiah's cistern rescue. The rags come from the palace treasury of worn-out items—even royal castoffs prove useful for mercy. The pairing 'rags and worn-out clothes' (Hebrew pairs this noun with 'melachim') emphasizes thoroughly deteriorated fabric—soft enough not to injure, worthless enough to spare. Cross-linguistic renderings agree on 'rags/harapos/trapos,' consistently depicting tattered cloth. The image of a prophet rescued with palace rags captures the humiliation of prophetic suffering and the surprising instruments God uses for deliverance. 3×
AR["الْبَالِيَةِ", "بَالِيَةً"]·ben["কাপড়", "কাপড়গুলি"]·DE["[(סחבות)]", "[[הסחבות]]", "[הסחבות]"]·EN["[rags]", "rags", "the-rags"]·FR["[(סחבות)]", "[[הסחבות]]", "[הסחבות]"]·heb["ה-סחבות", "סחבות"]·HI["चीथड़ों"]·ID["(compang-camping)", "[robek-robek]", "compang-camping"]·IT["[(סחבות)]", "[[הסחבות]]", "[הסחבות]"]·jav["ketiv", "qere-suwak-susut", "susut-suwak"]·KO["(더러운-옷들)", "[더러운-옷들]", "더러운-옷들과"]·PT["(roupas-velhas)", "[roupas-velhas]", "as-roupas-velhas"]·RU["тряпки"]·ES["(harapos)", "y-los-trapos-viejos", "y-trapos-de"]·SW["[matambara]", "matambara"]·TR["[paçavralar]", "paçavraları"]·urd["(چیتھڑے)", "[چیتھڑے]", "چیتھڑے"]
Related Senses
G0846 1. third-person pronoun reference (5552×)H???? 1. (4670×)H6213a 1. do, perform, act (2383×)G4160 1. do, act, perform (473×)H5221 1. Hifil: to strike in battle, smite enemies (362×)H0899b 1. garment, article of clothing (216×)H6213a 2. make, construct, fabricate (148×)H3772 1. cut a covenant / make a pact (97×)H5060 1. touch physically (Qal) (96×)H3615 1. complete a task (Piel) (85×)H3772 2. cut off / destroy (Hifil causative) (81×)H3920 1. capture, seize (Qal) (76×)H???? 12. (76×)H3772 3. be cut off / be eliminated (Niphal) (74×)H6213a 3. be done, be made (Niphal) (73×)G4160 2. make, construct, create (62×)H3847 1. Qal: put on, wear (60×)H8210 1. pour out (liquid/libation) (59×)G2440 1. garment or clothing (general) (54×)H4191 4. kill / put to death (Hifil causative) (50×)
BDB / Lexicon Reference
† סְחָבָה n.f. rag, clout (stuff pulled or dragged about; > LagBN 143 √ شَحُبَ, شَحَبَ become altered for the worse);—only pl. סְחָבוֹת Je 38:11, 12 (both ‖ מְלָחִים).