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The verb śi h and the nouns śi h, śihā
a
Sigmund Mowinckel
a
University of Oslo , Oslo
Published online: 22 Aug 2008.

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To cite this article: Sigmund Mowinckel (1961) The verb śi h and the nouns śi h, śihā, Studia Theologica - Nordic Journal of
Theology, 15:1, 1-8, DOI: 10.1080/00393386108599811

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 The verb śiah and the nouns śiah, śihā.
By
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SIGMUND MOWINCKEL
Oslo.

1. I have been led to consider these words more closely by my

co-operation in a new Norwegian translation of the Bible, and more
particularly by use of the words in Ps 119. Besides dams, siah is
the main word for the poets theoretical- spiritual relation to God's
Law, the torn. As the poet is no doubt a professional learned scribe,
duras is certainly to be translated "study", as it is in AV vv. 45, 94,
155, but ought also to have been in v. 7, where it reads "learn" (thus
also Moffatt).
Whilst däras may be called the more intellectual absorption in the
tora, siah reaches deeper.
For the vb. s'yh Gesenius-Buhl16 gives the following meanings:
1. nachsinnen; 2. zu Gegenstand der Rede machen; 3. sich beklagen;
4. von etwas reden oder singen.—For the noun siah: 1. Beschäftigung;
2. Sorge, Unruhe, Verzweiflung; Klage; 3. fromme Betrachtung oder
Rede; 4. vielleicht: Gerede, Gespräch.—The noun sihâ he translates:
Andächtige Betrachtung, Andacht; Gegenstand einer solchen.
Köhler, Lexicon, on the other hand, gives a common "Grund-
bedeutung": sich mit etwas befassen, be concerned with a matter in
the senses a) considering, b) complaining, c) speaking; the pil'el he
translates: be concerned with, consider. Correspondingly he translates
the noun s'i"h: Anliegen, das einen beschäftigt, plagt, business, con-
cern; and specifies this as a) (empty) talk 2 Kg 9:11; Sir 13:11;
b) Notdurft (ease nature) 1 Kg 18:27. sihä he translates : Beschäftigung
(des Gedankens, des Gemüts), concern, business (of one's thought,
mind).
Köhler is justified in trying to sum up the (apparently) rather dif-
ferent meanings under a common point of view. He is on the right
Studia Theologica. Vol. XV. — 1
 2 Sigmund Mowinckel

track but does not follow it to the right goal, as we shall try to demon-
strate.
2. Ges-Buhl finds the meaning "nachsinnen", "muse on" in Ps 72:13 ;
119: 15,23,27,48,78,148. Substantially this is quite correct; the mean-
ing can, however, be given a little more precisely.
In Ps 119 this is obvious. AV translates "meditate" in w . 15, 23, 48,
78, 148, in v. 27, however, "talk of". The translation "meditate" is
here exact1). In v. 15 "I will meditate in thy •piqqudim" is parallel
"to hibbit—'consider, behold', especially 'behold with confidence and
hope of 'salvation'—thy "ways"; by meditating on God's precepts
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the poet is enabled to consider and understand his ways, his just and
gracious government, in which he puts his trust. He will not allow
even the taunts and slanders of mighty men to disturb him in his
meditation on God's piqqudim v. 23. In v. 48 we meet the characteristic
connection of prayer and meditation: "I lift my hands up to thee
and meditate in thy huqqim"—a connection well known in the history
of religions and mysticism. "The proud have dealt perversely with me
without a cause", but nevertheless he will continue his meditation
in God's piqqudim v. 78. Even during the night God's 'imrä is the
object of his meditation v. 148.—The same meaning is certainly to
be found in v. 27 as well, where AV translates "talk of" : "let me
understand—habineni—the way of thy piqqudiml I will meditate on
thy wonders!" The poet well knows that without God's helpful gui-
dance and instruction the meditation cannot reach its deepest aim,
a full understanding of "the wonders of his ways".
Not only intellectual study (midräs), but also the inner concentration
on and immersion in the mysteries (wonders) of God's law—the law
both of the cosmic order and of a blessed human life—are necessary
for the true student of the Law. For a full understanding of its wonders
God's help is necessary. God must "teach" (lammedeni, habinemi) him
his tôrâ v. 34, his miswot v. 73, his piqqudim v. 12, his huqqim vv. 26,
68, 71, 127, 135, 171, his \edot vv. 64, 68, 125. When God hides himself
from him, he cannot understand his miswot v. 19 and mispätim v. 102.
God may also instruct him through suffering vv. 67, 71. But above
all he does so by means of siah, meditation.
siah is an activity—if one may use this word—on the inner plane,
in the centre of the soul. And it is a religious "activity", to our poet
the specific religious activity. Moffatt's use of the more general word
1) See the present author's article on Ps. 119 Norsk Teologisk Tidsskrift 1960,
especially pp 150 ff.
 The verb si"h and the nouns si"h, siha 3

"muse on" is in fact no improvement, when dealing with Ps 119.

So in Ps 119 the word means "meditate", which in the mind of our
poet is a specific religious term signifying the more or less mystical
concentration on God and his wonderful deeds. At the back of this
specific meaning lies of course a more commonplace one : be (intensely)
concerned in one's mind and thoughts with a matter. In Ps 77:13
the word may have a little more of this non-specific meaning, but
even here with God's work and deeds as an object, parall. Aä<7ä"think
o f ' v . 13; zäkar "remember" (not, however, only theoretically, but
also in action) v. 12.—Here AV translates hägä by "meditate" and
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siah by "talk of". It seems evident, however, that even here siah has
the same meaning as in Ps 119 "be concerned in one's mind with a
matter"; it is quite unnecessary to suggest a new meaning "talk of"
here.
The same must be said of Ps 105:2=1 Chr 16:9. Here too Ges-
Buhl translates "nachsinnen", adding however, "wo aber auch die
Übersetzung: singen, passen würde". AV has here "talk of"; likewise
Köhler. But none of these new meanings is necessary here. The word
in itself never means "sing", as our inquiry will show. Moffatt here
translates "go over all the wonders he has done". This seems like
evading the difficulty: go over—in his thoughts, or by song, or by
talk? There is no reason why the poet should not here have meant:
go over in your thoughts, think over, muse on, let your thoughts
linger on.
Pil'el s'oheah is used in Ps 143:5, parall. zakar, evidently in the same
sense as qal: I am intensely concerned (in my mind) with the works
of thy hands.—In fact it has the same meaning in Is 53:8: 'et doro
mi ifsohea-h "who did think of his (the suffering Servant's) fate?" The
question must be answered in the negative : no one any longer spared
a thought for his fate, nobody was interested in it. Pil'el, the intensive
form, is here used deliberately in the negative sense: no one at all
spared the slightest thought for his fate.
In all these cases siah means an action on the inner plane: to be
mentally more or less intensely concerned with a matter, to think
over it, muse on it, and especially in the specific religious sense: to
meditate on.
3. As loci probantes for the meaning "to talk of", "zu Gegenstand
der Rede machen", Ges-Buhl gives Ps 77:7 ; 69:13, and with ( ? ) Prov
6:22; Köhler also gives the last two, and adds Ps 105:2=1 Chr 16:9
(on the latter see above § 2).
 4 Sigmund Movnnckél

As in Ps 77:13 siah means "muse on" (s. above § 2), it seems very
improbable that in v 7 the poet should have used the word in another
sense than the usual one within such a short poem as Ps 77. The context
in v 7 is not concerned with audible speaking to other people ; the poet
is speaking about his own talking with (\im) his own ruah, parall.
häsab "think of" v 6, zäkar "remember" v 7, hägä "whisper" v 7 G.
He is musing on things in his own mind. A meaning like "talk of"
is quite unnecessary.
The same is the case in Prov 6:22: "Let it—i.e. the visdom—lead
you when you walk, take care of you when you sleep, and tesiheka
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when you wake up". AV, Moffatt, Norw. Bible etc. here translate
"talk with (to) you". If this were meant, we should expect a preposi-
tion \im or 6e, not accus. obj. The author is obviously thinking of the
inaudible inner "speaking" in the person's own mind. The verb with
ace. obj. must here obviously have a causative sense, and ought per-
haps to have been vocalized as a Hiph. täsihekä~ ; at all events we must
translate "make you think", arouse your thoughts.
For Ps 69:13 see below § 5.
4. The meaning "klagen", "complain" Ges-Buhl finds in Ps 77:4;
55:18; Job 7:11; in the two latter cases Köhler also.
For Ps 77:4 see above § 3 on v. 7 and v. 13. It would be very strange
if the poet had used the same word in 3 different senses. In v. 4 s'iah
is used parall zäkar "remember" and hämä "moan" (Moffatt; AV:
"was troubled", Köhler: "became restless"). "Moan" is certainly an
audible activity, and even zakar may often include the audible "re-
membering". Here, however, siah and zäkar are the closest parallels,
as are 'œhœmya and tit\attef\ however, even if zäkar should here include
the audible "remembering", the mentioning of a matter, the paral-
lelism does not necessarily make the meanings of zäkar and siah
identical. There is nothing against the translation: "Remembering
God I moan, musing upon him my spirit is overwhelmed". So Moffatt's
translation is correct. Remembering God's deeds of salvation in former
days v 6, the worshipper muses upon them and must despair, because
he sees no salvation in his actual distress.
In Ps 55:18 siah likewise has as its parallel hämä "moan". This is
not, however, sufficient reason why it should be translated "complain"
(AV "cry aloud"; Moffatt "wail"). The bicolon 18a is parallel to v. 17,
"but as for me I call upon God, and the Lord shall save me", these
two bicola building a "basic stanza". The worshipper's calling and
praying is connected with musing or meditating on the Lord as the
 The verb siah and the nouns siah, siha 5

saving God; he mentions this as a reason for granting his prayer, a

"Gebetserhörungsmotiv". So the context does not demand any other
meaning than the usual one.
The same must be said of Job 7:11: "I will speak in the anguish
of my spirit, 'äsihä in the bitterness of my soul". The parallelism
does not compel us to give siah the same or a similar meaning as
dibber; the last colon (hemistich) explains why he must now speak:
he cannot keep silent any longer in the heavy musing, the pondering
of his bitter soul. The word here has the shade "heavy, bitter, despair-
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ing" musings or ponderings; however, that is a shade given to it by

the context ; it is not included in the word itself. Neither the transla-
tion "complain" (AV) nor "speak out" (Moffatt) is necessary.
5. In Ps 145:5; Judges 5:10 Ges-Buhl vacillates between the
meanings "talk" and "sing", whereas Köhler here translates "beden-
ken", "consider". Köhler is right in so far as here no other meaning
than the usual one can be found.—The context in Ps 145:5 speaks
of God's Majesty, his hädär and kabod and hod, which the generations
to come shall praise; the parallel v. 5b speaks of his niflä'ot, his won-
derful deeds. The subject of the verbs in plural vv. 4b, 6 is still the
generations to come v. 4a. When in v. 5b we have a 1. pers. sgl.'asiha,
this can scarcely, in spite of the cohortative form, be taken otherwise
than as a relative clause to niflo'tœkâ: "thy wondrous works on which
I muse".—It is to be noted, however, that the text is here uncertain;
for 'asiha G and S presuppose a yalihu 3. pers. plur. "they shall pro-
claim in wide circles thy wondrous deeds", and this is perhaps the
original text.
Neither "sing" nor "talk" is either necessary or obvious in Judges
5:10b. In the parallel hemistich v. 10a the text is no doubt damaged;
but a very likely conjecture for ysby \l mdyn is yäsibu \al libbäm "they
shall take (it) to heart". If so there is no reason to give sihu v. 10b
a meaning different from the usual one: to muse on.
The meaning "talk about" is found by both Ges-Buhl and Köhler
in Ps 69:13 also. The worshipper here complains that his penitential
exercises, sackcloth and fastings have (so far) brought him only derision
and sneers vv. 11-12; he has become a rriäsäl to people; "they that
sit in the gate yäsihu bi, at the same time as (I have become the object
of) the songs of the beer-drinkers" ; for the last, rather twisted nominal
clause it seems preferable to follow the conjecture BHKa vfnigcfnu bi
"the beer-drinkers sing mocking songs about me"—the meaning re-
mains the same. The parallel membrum "they sing songs" does not,
 6 Sigmund Moivinckel

however suffice to prove that siah must have the same meaning here.
The commentators have forgotten that we have to distinguish between
the earnest men in the gate and the beer-drinkers in the pub. To the
former the dire fate of the pious worshipper is a problem, upon which
they are speculating and musing; to the latter it has become an object
of malicious mockery.
In short, there is no case where another meaning than "muse on,
meditate on" is demanded by the context.
6. Such also the nouns sihn and siah.
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a) sika is used in Ps 119:99 and here of course has the same meaning
as that of the verb in this psalm: "(object of) meditation" (musing):
"Thy tara is (the object of) my meditation all day".—The word is
used in the same sense: object of speculation and meditation, by
Sirach 6:33 (parall. musai, the more or less cryptic word of wisdom,
perhaps parable) and 8:8 (parall. hidä 'riddle).—In Job 15:4 Eliphas
accuses Job of "casting" off (Moffatt: "undermining") the fear (of
God) (Moffatt rightly "religion") and restraining s'ihä lifene 'el". The
thought rhyme here demands something like "the awe or the devotion
before God". Even here the underlying meaning is "musing, medita-
tion"; to be before God demands both awe and silence (see Hab 2:20;
Seph 1:7; Zach 2:17, cpr Job 40:4f), but of course not the obtuse
silence, on the contrary: the thinking, musing, meditating silence,
that makes one feel God's presence. The traditional translation "devo-
tion", Germ. "Andacht" (Buhl and many others) is here to the point.
b) The meaning "musing, pondering" also fits the noun siah, where-
ever it is used. Ges-Buhl in most cases translates "Sorge, Unruhe,
Verzweiflung", not illegitimately in as far as the context in most cases
speaks about troubled, heavy "ponderings". However, this is a shade
of significance conditioned by the context, not a new meaning of the
word itself. This is obviously the case in Ps 55:3, where the noun
has the same conceptual content as the verb in v. 18, see above § 4.
AV " I mourn in my complaint" or Moffatt: "(answer) my bitter
lament" are not justified. Perhaps the worshipper also laments, this
is, however, the audible expression of his "troubled pondering", and
of this he speaks in v. 3.—The same is the case in Ps 64:2 "hear my
voice in my s'iah". Neither "prayer" (AV) nor "plaint" (Moffatt: Ges-
Buhl) is here correct. If the poet had meant the audible complaint
(or prayer), the natural expression would have been qol s'iki, not qoli
b'sihi. The worshipper raises his voice in—or from out—his siah, and
this must therefore mean the mental situation, to which he gives
 The verb siah and the nouns siak, siha 7

expression through his qol, thus his (troubled, despairing) ponderings.

—The same applies to Job 7:13, where the meaning is determined by
v. 11, see above § 4, and Job 9:27; 10:1. We are concerned with a
contextual shade of significance, not with a new meaning. In all these
cases of course, the troubled ponderings find expression in complaints
(AV), but that is not what the word in itself says; it is not an exact
translation, but a free paraphrase.
The same must be said of ,1 Sam 1:16, sihi parall. ka'tasi: "my
many (heavy) ponderings and my grief"; Job 21:4: "is my (heavy)
pondering concerned with men ? " Job 23:2 : "even today my pondering
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is bitter"; Prov 23:29: "who has woe and who has sorrow, who has
quarrel and who has (troubled) pondering?" In the last case AV has
"babbling", Moffatt "grumble" ; a reflection on the fundamental sense
of the word should have prevented these linguistic escapades.
Ps 102:1 also speaks of the unquiet, troubled ponderings: "when
he pours out, i.e. expresses in words his (heavy) pondering". Here,
too, a new meaning "complaint" is unnecessary. The same applies to
Ps 142:3. That the ponderings are assumed to have found expression
in complaints does not give the word itself another meaning.
In 1 Kg 18:27 Ges-Buhl translates "Beschäftigung", business,
whereas Köhler thinks of "Notdurft" in the sense of easing nature
(s. § 1). AV translates "he is talking", which the word never means;
Moffatt is here quite right with his "he is musing" ; likewise the Norw.
Bible "falle i tanker", fall to thinking. Nothing speaks in favour of
the meaning that Köhler finds in siah ; this is more naturally found
in the following sig, as does the Norw. Bible.
siah has the usual meaning even in 2 Kg 9:11. The officers ask
Jehu what the '.'mad nabi" has said to him. "Oh, you know that
(sort of) fellow and his siah", Jehu evasively replies. The most charac-
teristic feature of such a "mad man" was—especially in older times—
his odd behaviour, his curious "symbolic" actions. In the opinion of
"normal" people these also spring from his confused mental state and
queer "ponderings". The most adequate translation is here "fancy,
whim, device". Here also s'iah means the inner, mental activity, not
"(empty) talk" (Köhler).
Finally Ps 104:34, by AV quite misleadingly taken as an indicative
clause, "My meditation to him shall be sweet", whereas Moffatt cor-
rectly takes the predicate as a jussive: "May these my thoughts please
him". Köhler's "Anliegen (das einen beschäftigt, plagt)" is quite out
of place, whereas Ges-Buhl's "fromme Betrachtung oder Rede" is
 8 Sigmund Mowinckel

more on the right track. In so far AV is right with its "meditation".

Here also the word has its usual elementary meaning. Here, however,
it means the result of the poet's meditations. In so far Moffatt is right :
"my meditation" here has the factual meaning "this my meditation",
which means, not just "my thoughts", but "this my poem", this
psalm. May it please God! siah does not lexically also mean "song";
but the result of the poet's meditation on God's wonderful words is
this very song. In so far the expression is analogous to the one in
Ps 19:15 hcegyon libbi, translated by AV "meditation of my heart",
by Moffatt better, "the thoughts of my heart" what my heart has
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thought out, parall. 'imrê pi, "the words of my mouth"; here also
the meaning is: this my psalm, thought out by my heart and pro-
nounced by my mouth.
7. This result is in accordance with what can be said with some
probability of the etymology. Köhler, of course, is right in trying to
reduce the apparently different meanings to one single fundamental
one. His "be concerned with", however, is too general and abstract.
As we have seen, s'i"h is always related to the inner, mental activity,
to the emotional thinking and musing. siah has its place in the "soul".
To the old Israelite a mental activity that did not result in some sort
of action was certainly an abnormal state. But the siah does produce
actions. In the "mad nabi" it results in queer ideas and actions. In
wise men it may result in wise and right words, in sacral poetry. In
the poet of Ps 119 the result of his meditation in God's tora is that by
God's grace he "understands" its wonders better, and loves its com-
mandments and keeps them still more strictly and wholeheartedly.
This is not, however, the main point of the word, which lies on the
inner plane. Only once is siah used of the result of the meditation, "the
present poem" Ps 104:34.—The corresponding Arabic saha "to be
anxiously concerned with" also primarily expresses the mental relation
to the matter in question.
The fundamental meaning given to the word by Köhler must there-
fore be supplemented: be inwardly, mentally concerned with a matter,
muse and ponder upon it; concentrate one's thoughts and emotions
on a matter. The Hebrew word has always remained on this inner
plane. It was never connected with any object designating a material
and tangible thing.