H6154a H6154a
Mixed multitude — a heterogeneous group of non-Israelites attached to Israel or another nation.
Denotes a mixed company of foreigners who attach themselves to a larger people, most memorably the diverse crowd that departed Egypt alongside Israel (Exod 12:38). In Nehemiah's reforms, the 'mixed multitude' is separated from Israel to restore ethnic and covenantal purity (Neh 13:3). Jeremiah applies the term to foreign populations mingled among Egypt's allies (Jer 25:20, 24) and among the Chaldeans (Jer 50:37), where their disloyalty under siege becomes a military vulnerability. The word carries a consistently pejorative or at least marginal connotation — these are people whose allegiance and identity remain ambiguous. French 'mélange' and Spanish 'mezcla' capture the root idea of mixture, while German 'gemischte Menge' makes the heterogeneity explicit.
Senses
1. mixed multitude, foreign rabble — A heterogeneous body of foreigners or people of mixed ethnic origin attached to a larger nation. The paradigmatic instance is the diverse crowd that left Egypt with Israel (Exod 12:38), whose presence later created tensions in the wilderness. Nehemiah excluded the 'erev from the assembly during post-exilic purification (Neh 13:3). Jeremiah uses it of foreign contingents mingled among Egypt's allies (Jer 25:20, 24) and among Babylon's population (Jer 50:37), where their divided loyalties prove fatal. The term always implies an unstable, composite group whose membership in the host nation is incomplete or contested. 6×
AR["الْخَلِيطِ", "الْمُخْتَلَطِ", "الْمُخْتَلَطِينَ", "جَمْعٌ", "خَلِيطٍ"]·ben["-মিশ্রিত-লোকদের", "মিশ্র", "মিশ্র-জনতার", "মিশ্রিত-জনতা"]·DE["[הערב]", "[ערב]", "eine-gemischte-Menge"]·EN["a-mixed-multitude", "mixed-multitude", "the-mixed-multitude", "the-mixed-peoples"]·FR["[ערב]", "le-mélange", "mélange", "une-multitude-mélangée"]·heb["ה-ערב", "ערב"]·HI["भीड़", "मिली-जुली-भीड़", "मिश्रित-भीड़", "मिश्रित-भीड़-को", "मिश्रित-लोगों-के", "मिश्रित-लोगों-को"]·ID["campuran", "orang-asing-campuran", "orang-orang-campuran"]·IT["[ערב]", "la-mescolanza", "la-sera", "un-mescolò-multitude"]·jav["bangsa-campuran", "campuran", "tiyang-campuran"]·KO["그-모든-종족과", "그-섭인-백성을", "섞인-무리를", "섭인-백성의", "섮인-무리도", "혼합된-자들을"]·PT["a-mistura", "mistura"]·RU["смесь", "смешанное-множество", "смешанных"]·ES["la-mezcla", "mezcla"]·SW["mchanganyiko", "mchanganyiko-wa-watu", "umati", "wote-wa-watu"]·TR["karışık", "karışık-halk", "karışık-halka", "karışık-halkların", "karışık-halkın", "karışımı"]·urd["اختلاط", "بھیڑ", "غیر-ملکیوں", "غیر-ملکیوں-کے", "ملی-جلی-بھیڑ", "ملی-جلی-قوم"]
Related Senses
H5971a 1. people, nation (1836×)H5973a 1. accompaniment, together with (956×)H0854 1. with (accompaniment) (665×)H1471a 1. nations, peoples (plural/collective) (466×)G3326 1. with (368×)H1285 1. covenant, pact, treaty (284×)G2453 1. Jewish person, Jew (194×)H4150 1. meeting (tent of meeting) (151×)G2992 1. people/nation (an ethnic or political community) (142×)G4862 1. (129×)G1484 1. Gentiles, non-Jewish nations (128×)H1471a 2. nation, people-group (singular) (98×)H3162b 1. together (97×)H1616 1. sojourner, resident alien (92×)H0567 1. Amorite (people group) (87×)H3064 1. Jew, Jewish person (81×)H3669a 1. Canaanite (ethnic designation) (70×)G1122 1. scribe / expert in the Law (63×)H2114a 1. stranger, foreigner (person) (54×)H5608b 1. scribe, royal secretary (48×)
BDB / Lexicon Reference
† I. עֵ֫רֶב n.m. Ex 12, 38 mixture, mixed company;—heterogeneous body attached to a people; to Israel Ex 12:38 (E), Ne 13:3; to Egyptians Je 25:20 (𝔙 joins to v 19, so Gie); to Chaldeans 50:37; in Je 25:24 del. וְאֵת … הָעֶרֶב as doublet (so Gie, cf. 𝔊); in 1 K 10:15 read עֲרָב (as ‖ 2 Ch 9:14, so Benz Kit al.); Ez 30:5 read prob. id. (Co).