To diminish
מָעַטStrong’s H4591maat (ma-at)
Appears in 21 verses of the Old Testament
In short
Maat is the Hebrew word usually translated “make small”, “made little” and “it will be small”. It appears in 21 verses of the Old Testament.
“And if the household be too little for the lamb, let him and his neighbour next unto his house take it according to the number of the souls; every man according to his eating shall make your count for the lamb.”
Meaning
- To be or become small, be few, be diminished(Qal) · (Piel) to become few · (Hiphil)
How it's translated
- you will make small 3
- and the made little 2
- it will be small 1
- he will make little 1
- being small of 1
- and it will diminish 1
- the did little 1
- you will decrease 1
Word-by-word English from the STEPBible tagged text.
Where it's used most
- Exodus 4
- Numbers 4
- Jeremiah 3
- Leviticus 2
- Psalms 2
- 2 Kings 1
11 books in all.
Related words
Explore in Scripture
- Exodus 16:17And the children of Israel did so, and gathered, some more, some less.
- Exodus 16:18And when they did mete it with an omer, he that gathered much had nothing over, and he that gathered little had no lack; they gathered every man according to his eating.
- Exodus 30:15The rich shall not give more, and the poor shall not give less than half a shekel, when they give an offering unto the LORD, to make an atonement for your souls.
- Leviticus 25:16According to the multitude of years thou shalt increase the price thereof, and according to the fewness of years thou shalt diminish the price of it: for according to the number of the years of the fruits doth he sell unto thee.
- Leviticus 26:22I will also send wild beasts among you, which shall rob you of your children, and destroy your cattle, and make you few in number; and your high ways shall be desolate.
- Numbers 11:32And the people stood up all that day, and all that night, and all the next day, and they gathered the quails: he that gathered least gathered ten homers: and they spread them all abroad for themselves round about the camp.
Hebrew dictionary
מָעַט maat · to diminish
1) to be or become small, be few, be diminished 1a) (Qal) 1a1) to diminish 1a2) to be too small 1b) (Piel) to become few 1c) (Hiphil) 1c1) to make small, make few, diminish 1c2) to give less
From STEPBible’s Hebrew lexicon (based on Brown-Driver-Briggs).
Webster's 1828 Dictionary
How the English word “diminish” was understood when the King James Version was still the common Bible of English readers.
DIMINISH, verb transitive
[Latin, to lessen; less.]
- To lessen; to make less or smaller, by any means; opposed to increase and augment; as, to diminish the size of a thing by contraction, or by cutting off a part; to diminish a number by subtraction; to diminish the revenue by limiting commerce, or reducing the customs; to diminish strength or safety; to diminish the heat of a room.
- To lessen; to impair; to degrade.“I will diminish them, that they shall no more rule over the nations” Ezekiel 29:15
- In music, to take from a note by a sharp, flat or natural.“Neither shall you diminish aught from it” Deuteronomy 4:2
All definitions and other forms of “diminish”
DIMINISH, verb intransitive
To lessen; to become or appear less or smaller. The size of an object diminishes, as we recede from it.
Noah Webster, An American Dictionary of the English Language (1828). Verse references are checked against the KJV. Read the full entry.
Verses are from the King James Version. Word meanings come from the original Hebrew, not from any one translation.