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although in such cases the material is clearly specified (cf. Deut. 8:13: “… and thy silver
and thy gold is multiplied”).
This verb can be used of being quantitatively large. In Gen. 7:17 the waters are said to
have “increased, and bare up the ark, and it was lifted up above the earth.” So here the
verb means “to increase in quantity.” A similar use occurs in Gen. 15:1, where God tells
Abram: “I am … thy exceeding great reward.” The first instance speaks of the process of
increasing and the latter of the end product (something that is larger).
In a special nuance this verb signifies the process of growing up: “Their young ones
are in good liking, they grow up [in the open field]” (Job 39:4).
can also be used
of the end product: “I have caused thee to multiply as the bud of the field, and thou hast
increased and waxen great, and thou art come to excellent ornaments: thy breasts are
fashioned, and thine hair is grown …” (Ezek. 16:7). A somewhat different nuance occurs
in Ezek. 19:2, where the verb speaks of a parent’s care for an offspring: “… She
nourished her whelps.”
is sometimes used with another verb to signify its increase
in occurrence or frequency. In some passages it signifies that a process is continuing:
“The people bring much more than enough for the service of the work …” (Exod. 36:5),
literally, “the people continue to bring.” It can also signify a great number of times with
the sense of “repeatedly.” The sinner is urged to return to God, “for he will abundantly
pardon” (Isa. 55:7). This sense appears clearly in Amos 4:4: “Come to Beth-eland
transgress; at Gilgal multiply transgression.…”
B. Nouns.
(
, 697), “locust.” This noun, which occurs 24 times, refers to a kind of
swarming “locust”: “Stretch out thine hand over the land of Egypt for the locusts, that
they may come up upon the land of Egypt, and eat every herb of the land …” (Exod.
10:12).
Several other nouns related to this verb appear infrequently.
"
, which appears
once means “abundance” (Isa. 33:23).
"
, which is found 5 times, refers to a “greater
number” (1 Sam. 2:33) or the “greater half” (2 Chron. 9:6).
$
has a single
appearance to mean “increase” (Num. 32:14).
, which occurs 6 times, can mean
“interest, increment, usury” (Lev. 25:36).
MULTITUDE
A. Noun.
(
, 1995), “multitude; lively commotion; agitation; tumult; uproar;
commotion; turmoil; noise; crowd; abundance.” This noun appears 85 times in biblical
Hebrew and in all periods.
The word represents a “lively commotion or agitation”: “Look down from heaven,
and behold from the habitation of thy holiness and of thy glory: where is thy zeal and thy
strength, the sounding of thy bowels and of thy mercies toward me?” (Isa. 63:15).
B
represents the stirring or agitation of a crowd of people: “When Joab sent the
king’s servant, and me thy servant, I saw a great tumult, but I knew not what it was” (2
Sam. 18:29). In Isa. 17:12 the word is synonymously parallel to
, “rumbling”: