H6757 H6757
Deep darkness, shadow of death — intense, impenetrable gloom used poetically of mortal peril and divine mystery
A striking poetic compound (tsalmaveth) traditionally rendered 'shadow of death,' though modern scholarship often reads it as an abstract noun meaning 'deep darkness.' Whether from tsel + maveth or from a root cognate to Arabic and Ethiopic words for blackness, the word evokes the most profound imaginable gloom. Job uses it seven times to describe the underworld and extremes of despair (Job 3:5; 10:21–22). Its most beloved occurrence is Psalm 23:4, where the faithful walk through the valley of tsalmaveth fearing no evil. Amos 5:8 speaks of God turning tsalmaveth into morning light.
Senses
1. deep darkness, shadow of death — Intensely deep darkness understood as the deepest conceivable shadow, often paralleled with choshekh ('darkness') and layilah ('night'). Traditionally parsed as 'shadow of death' (tsel + maveth), yielding the unforgettable image of Psalm 23:4. In Job it characterizes Sheol and utter despair (Job 10:21–22; 12:22). Amos 5:8 and Jeremiah 13:16 use it for cosmic or threatened darkness that only God can transform into light. 18×
AR["بِ-ظِلِّ-المَوْتِ", "ظِلَّ-المَوْتِ", "ظِلَّ-مَوْتٍ", "ظِلُّ-المَوْتِ", "ظِلُّ-الْمَوْتِ", "ظِلِّ-المَوتِ", "ظِلِّ-المَوْتِ", "ظِلِّ-الْمَوْتِ", "وَ-ظِلَّ-المَوت", "وَ-ظِلِّ-الـ-مَوْتِ", "وَ-ظِلِّ-المَوت", "وَ-ظِلِّ-المَوتِ", "وَظِلُّ-المَوْتِ", "وَظِلِّ-المَوْتِ"]·ben["এবং-মৃত্যু-ছায়া", "এবং-মৃত্যুছায়া", "এবং-মৃত্যুছায়ায়", "এবং-মৃত্যুছায়ার", "এবং-মৃত্যুর-ছায়ার", "দ্বারা-মৃত্যুছায়া", "মৃত্যু-ছায়া", "মৃত্যুছায়া", "মৃত্যুছায়াকে", "মৃত্যুছায়ার", "মৃত্যুছায়ার-জন্য", "মৃত্যুর-ছায়া", "মৃত্যুর-ছায়ার"]·DE["Todesschatten", "[וצלמות]", "[לצלמות]", "[צלמות]", "der-Todesschatten", "mit-Todesschatten", "und-Todesschatten"]·EN["and-deep-darkness", "and-deep-shadow", "and-shadow-of-death", "deep-darkness", "deep-shadow", "is-the-shadow-of-death", "the-shadow-of-death", "to-shadow-of-death", "with-deep-darkness"]·FR["[וצלמות]", "[לצלמות]", "[צלמות]", "dans-ombre-de-mort", "et-ombre-de-mort", "ombre-de-la-mort", "ombre-de-mort"]·heb["ב-צלמוות", "ו-צלמוות", "ל-צלמות", "צלמוות", "צלמות"]·HI["और-मृत्यु-छाया", "और-मृत्यु-छाया-का", "और-मृत्यु-छाया-की", "और-मृत्यु-छाया-में", "और-मृत्यु-छाया-से", "घोर-अंधकार", "मृत्यु-की-छाया-की", "मृत्यु-की-छाया-के", "मृत्यु-छाया", "मृत्यु-छाया-के", "मृत्यु-छाया-को", "में-छाया-मृत्यु-की"]·ID["bayang-bayang kematian", "bayang-bayang maut", "bayang-bayang-maut", "bayang-kematian", "bayangan-maut", "dan-bayang-bayang-kematian", "dan-bayang-kematian", "dan-bayangan-maut", "kegelapan", "menjadi-bayangan-maut"]·IT["[וצלמות]", "[לצלמות]", "[צלמות]", "e-ombra-di-morte", "ombra-di-morte"]·jav["ayang-ayangan-pejah", "ayang-ayanganing-pejah", "kalayan-eyangéning-pejah", "kanggé-pepeteng-pejah", "lan-ayang-ayanganing-pejah", "lan-wayanganipun-pejah", "wewayangan-pejah"]·KO["-좽음-의-그림자-로", "그리고-사망-그림자-의", "그리고-사망의-그늘", "그리고-죽음의-그림자", "그리고-죽음의-그림자가", "그리고-죽음의-그림자의", "사망의-그늘을", "사망의-그늘의", "죽음-그림자의", "죽음-의-그림자", "죽음의-그늘-로", "죽음의-그림이", "죽음의-그림자", "죽음의-그림자-를", "죽음의-그림자가", "죽음의-그림자니", "죽음의-그림자의"]·PT["com-sombra-de-morte", "da-sombra-da-morte", "da-sombra-de-morte.", "e-da-sombra-da-morte", "e-na-sombra-da-morte", "e-sombra-de-morte", "e-sombra-de-morte.", "por-sombra-de-morte,", "sombra-de-morte", "é-sombra-de-morte;"]·RU["в-тень-смертную", "и-смертной-тени", "и-тени-смертной", "и-тень-смертная", "смертной-тени", "тени-смертной", "тень-смертная", "тень-смертную", "тенью-смертной"]·ES["con-sombra-de-muerte", "es-sombra-de-muerte;", "la-sombra-de-muerte.", "para-sombra-de-muerte", "sombra-de-muerte", "y-de-sombra-de-muerte", "y-sombra-de-muerte", "y-sombra-de-muerte,"]·SW["kivuli-cha-mauti", "kwa-kivuli-cha-mauti", "na-kivuli-cha-mauti", "ya-kivuli-cha-mauti"]·TR["olum-golgesinin", "ve-ölüm-gölgesi", "ve-ölüm-gölgesinde", "ve-ölüm-gölgesinden", "ölüm-gölgesi", "ölüm-gölgesini", "ölüm-gölgesinin", "ölüm-gölgesiyle"]·urd["اور-موت-کے-سائے", "اور-موت-کے-سایے-سے", "اور-موت-کے-سایے-میں", "اور-موت-کے-سایے-کا", "اور-موت-کے-سایے-کی", "اور-موت-کے-ساے", "موت کا سایہ", "موت کے سائے کے", "موت-کا-سایہ", "موت-کا-سایہ ہے", "موت-کے-سائے-سے", "موت-کے-سائے-کی", "موت-کے-سایے-میں", "موت-کے-سایے-کو", "موت-کے-سایے-کی"]
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
† צַלְמָ֫וֶת n.[m.] death-shadow, deep shadow, poet. (prob. = צֵל + מָוֶת, 𝔊 (usually) σκιὰ θανάτου, cf. 𝔖 𝔙, so Thes SchwallyLeben n. d. Tode, 194, v. especially NöZAW xvii (1897), 183 ff.; Ew Br and most mod. (after older comm.) read צַלְמוּת darkness, deep darkness, cp. Arabic ظَلَمَ iv, Assyrian [ṣalâmu], Ethiopic ጸልመ be black, dark);—death-shadow, cf. ظُلْمَةٌ 6, often ‖ חֹשֶׁךְ, לַיְלָה,…