Atsum describes subjects as mighty, powerful or numerous, with the passage supplying their identity and moral significance. Pharaoh calls the Israelites too numerous and powerful in a speech that launches oppression; his fear must not become God's assessment of the people.
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Full entry for עָצוּם (H6099) · Open the biblical lexicon
Atsum describes subjects as mighty, powerful or numerous, with the passage supplying their identity and moral significance. Pharaoh calls the Israelites too numerous and powerful in a speech that launches oppression; his fear must not become God's assessment of the people.
The BSB source-word alignment has 31 aligned rows for this entry. Common renderings include and powerful (3), and stronger (3), and strong (2), mighty (2), a mighty (1).
The source-word alignment first shows this entry at Genesis 18:18. Its strongest book concentrations include Deuteronomy (6), Joel (4), Isaiah (3), Numbers (3).
Atsum describes subjects as mighty, powerful or numerous, with the passage supplying their identity and moral significance. Pharaoh calls the Israelites too numerous and powerful in a speech that launches oppression; his fear must not become God's assessment of the people. Deuteronomy's firstfruits confession remembers their growth in Egypt before recounting affliction and the Lord's deliverance.
Amos applies the adjective to numerous sins alongside bribery and denied justice. Micah promises that God will gather the lame and make the outcast a strong nation, joining restored belonging with His reign rather than contempt for weakness. Isaiah speaks of the Servant's portion with the strong after His poured-out life, sin-bearing and intercession. Proverbs describes rock badgers as creatures of little power that make their homes in rocks.
The range therefore permits numbers, strength and limitation without certifying conquest, institutional growth or moral superiority. It invites attention to how power is gained, used, judged or graciously restored.
The mighty or numerous witnesses distinguish Pharaoh's fear, Israel's remembrance, numerous sins, gathered outcasts, the suffering Servant's portion and little-power creatures' shelter.
“Look,” he said to his people, “the Israelites have become too numerous and too powerful for us.
Pharaoh labels Israel numerous and powerful before imposing harsh labor and lethal policies; the statement belongs to his oppressive reasoning.
And you are to declare before the Lord your God, “My father was a wandering Aramean, and he went down to Egypt few in number and lived there and became a great nation, mighty and numerous.
The worshiper remembers a small beginning and growth into a mighty nation before recounting affliction, divine hearing and deliverance.
For I know that your transgressions are many and your sins are numerous. You oppress the righteous by taking bribes; you deprive the poor of justice in the gate.
Numerous sins are specified as oppression, bribes and denial of justice to the poor, so abundance here receives a condemning evaluation.
And I will make the lame into a remnant, the outcast into a strong nation. Then the Lord will rule over them in Mount Zion from that day and forever.
God makes the lame a remnant and the outcast a strong nation, locating renewed belonging and strength under His enduring reign.
Therefore I will allot Him a portion with the great, and He will divide the spoils with the strong, because He has poured out His life unto death, and He was numbered with the transgressors. Yet He bore the sin of many and made intercession for the transgressors.
The Servant's portion with the strong follows His poured-out life, bearing of sin and intercession, not a mandate for present armed acquisition.
The rock badgers are creatures of little power, yet they make their homes in the rocks;
Rock badgers possess little power yet make homes in rocks, illustrating wise provision without celebrating domination.
BSB source-word alignment connects this entry to exact verse rows, English rendering, source form, transliteration, and parsing.
How English Renders ItA compact distribution from source-word alignment before the full evidence tables.
Hebrew word. powerful (specifically, a paw); by implication, numerous
powerful (specifically, a paw); by implication, numerous BDB: mighty Usage: feeble, great, mighty, must, strong.
How this word appears across different grammatical cases and numbers.
Compound and idiomatic phrases that include this word. Follow a link to study the phrase and how its parts work together.
Exodus 1 shows a ruler treating a people's numbers as a reason to fear and exploit them. That speech introduces oppression; it is not permission for later readers to imitate demographic suspicion. Deuteronomy 26 remembers growth very differently, inside gratitude for God's hearing of afflicted people and bringing them out of Egypt. Amos makes the adjective describe numerous sins and immediately identifies bribery and deprivation of justice.
Growth and strength must therefore be evaluated by their moral setting. Micah 4 moves toward gathering the lame and outcast into a strong nation under the Lord's rule; the promise begins with those whom power often excludes. Isaiah 53 places the Servant's portion beside His suffering, sin-bearing and intercession. Its reward language must not erase the poured-out life or become a slogan for taking others' possessions.
Proverbs 30 offers still another angle: creatures of little power make their homes in rocks. Teachers can recognize wise provision, grateful remembrance and restored belonging without ranking human dignity by numbers, capacity or conquest.
Mic.4.7
Atsum is an adjective with singular and plural forms used for peoples, armies, sins and other subjects. Numerical abundance and strength are related contextual applications, not a license to transfer the moral character of one subject to another.
Luke 22:35-38 explicitly applies Isaiah's statement about being numbered with transgressors to Jesus. That reception supports reading the Servant through His suffering rather than turning the Hebrew adjective for the strong into a mandate for Christians to acquire power or spoils by force.