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H4578 · Hebrew · Old Testament
מֵעֶה
Meeh
Noun, masculine (often plural: meim)
Belly / Womb / Inward Parts

Definition

The Hebrew meeh (plural meim) refers to the belly, bowels, intestines, womb, or inward parts of a person. It functions as both anatomical description and metaphor for the deepest seat of emotion and compassion. 'From the womb' (min-hameah) is an idiom for before birth or from one's core being.

Usage & Theological Significance

Hebrew anthropology locates the deepest emotions in the meeh. When Joseph sees his brother Benjamin, his 'bowels yearned upon his brother' (Genesis 43:30 KJV) — intense compassion from the inward parts. Lamentations 1:20 cries, 'My bowels are troubled' at Jerusalem's desolation. Song of Solomon 5:4 describes the beloved's meeh being moved. In Isaiah 49:15, God's compassion is compared to a mother whose womb yearns for her child. The New Testament equivalent is splagchnon (G4698) — Jesus was 'moved with compassion' from His very gut. True mercy and compassion are visceral, not merely intellectual.

Key Bible Verses

Genesis 43:30 Deeply moved at the sight of his brother, Joseph hurried out and looked for a place to weep; he went into his private room and wept there.
Isaiah 49:15 Can a mother forget the baby at her breast and have no compassion on the child she has borne (meeh)? Though she may forget, I will not forget you!
Song of Solomon 5:4 My beloved thrust his hand through the latch-opening; my heart began to pound for him (my inward parts were stirred for him).
Lamentations 1:20 See, LORD, how distressed I am! I am in torment within, and in my heart I am disturbed.
Jonah 2:1 From inside the fish Jonah prayed to the LORD his God.

Related Words

External Resources

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