Job 15:16:5Job.15.16.W5TAB
כַמַּ֣יִם
khamayim
“like water”
- Transliteration
- kha-ma-YIM
- Extended
- khah-mah-YIM
- IPA
- /xam.maˈjim/
Meaning by language
- English
- like water
Hebrew · tap a syllable to hear it
Alphabet Analysis
| Kaf | k with dagesh; kh without | |
| Patach | short 'ah' as in father | |
| Mem | m as in mother | |
| Patach | short 'ah' as in father | |
| Yod | y as in yes; marks long ī | |
| Hireq | 'ee' as in machine | |
| Mem Sofit | final form of Mem — at word end |
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The word
Word in context
- word
kha-ma-YIM
- phraseyour reading level
kha-ma-YIM a-VE-la
- clause
ISH-sho-TE kha-ma-YIM a-VE-la
- sentence
AF KI-nit-e-AV ve-ne-e-LAKH ISH-sho-TE kha-ma-YIM a-VE-la
Exegesis
The simile ka-mayim {כַמַּ֣יִם | kam-māyim} ‘like water’ gives the comparison rhetorical force: wrongdoing is consumed as readily and repeatedly as a necessity. English renders the participles with adjectival predicates (“detestable and corrupt”) and keeps the “drinks … like water” image to preserve the verse’s moral satire.
Root and etymology
consonantschet–kaf–mem
“be wise, be skilled”
In context — Job 15:16
Indeed, how much more detestable and corrupt is a man who drinks iniquity like water.
About this coordinate
Job 15:16:5 is a BCV:P reference — Book · Chapter · Verse · Word Position. It addresses word 5 of Job 15:16, so the Hebrew word כַמַּ֣יִם (khamayim) can be cited, linked and studied at exactly this position rather than somewhere in the verse. In the Biblical Knowledge Coordinate System the same position is written Job.15.16.W5, which extends further down to each syllable (Job.15.16.W5.S1) and character.