H5888 H5888
to be faint, exhausted; used of extreme physical weakness or swooning
This verb describes the condition of being physically overcome, faint, or exhausted. In Jeremiah 4:31, it portrays a woman's soul growing faint—using the vivid metaphor of someone in the pangs of childbirth, gasping for breath. The term is related to other Hebrew words for weariness and appears in contexts of extreme distress. BDB notes textual uncertainties in some attestations, but the core meaning of physical faintness or collapse remains consistent where the word appears.
Senses
1. sense 1 — The state of extreme physical weakness or fainting, specifically used in Jeremiah 4:31 where daughter Zion's soul grows faint in distress. The Spanish 'desfallece' (faints/weakens) captures this well, while some translations show textual uncertainty. The context emphasizes life-threatening exhaustion, comparing the experience to a woman giving birth to her first child—a powerful image of vulnerability and desperate need. 1×
AR["أُغْمِيَ"]·ben["ক্লান্ত"]·DE["[עיפה]"]·EN["is-faint"]·FR["[עיפה]"]·heb["עיפה"]·HI["थक-गई"]·ID["pingsan"]·IT["[עיפה]"]·jav["sayah"]·KO["지쳤다"]·PT["desmaia"]·RU["изнемогла"]·ES["desfallece"]·SW["imechoka"]·TR["baygın"]·urd["تھک-گئی"]
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
† II. [עִיף] vb. be faint (cf. Syriac ܥܳܦ 3, PS2835; ‖ form of יעף q.v.; occurrences dub.);— Qal Pf. 3 fs. עָֽיְפָה נַפְשִׁי לְ Je 4:31 (? read עֲיֵפָה); Impf. 3 ms. וַיָּ֫עַף Ju 4:21 (וְיָעֵף GFM Bu), 1 S 14:28 (del. We Bu Kit Löhr, emend. HPS), v 31 (read וַיִּעַף [√ יעף] Buhl HPS), 2 S 21:15 (corrupt, HPS; for Philist. name We Dr Bu Kit).