Mᵉʻaṭ — H4592

Definition

substantive

a little or few (often adverbial or compar.)

1. littleness, few, a little, fewness
1. little, small, littleness, fewness, too little, yet a little
2. like a little, within a little, almost, just, hardly, shortly, little worth

Usually translated as

little, few, almost, small, soon, fewer, fewest, lightly, some, very

Origin

or mᵉʻâṭ; from H4591

• Derived from Mâʻaṭ (H4591)

Greek equivalents

• brachýs (G1024)
• hikanós (G2425)
• mikrós (G3398)
• olígos (G3641)

Occurrences

Mᵉʻaṭ occurs 101 times in 92 verses of the King James.

Distribution of the word across the Bible: Genesis (10), Exodus (2), Leviticus (1), Numbers (7), Deuteronomy (5), Joshua (2), Judges (1), Ruth (1), 1 Samuel (4), 2 Samuel (3), 1 Kings (2), 2 Kings (1), 1 Chronicles (1), 2 Chronicles (2), Ezra (1), Nehemiah (2), Job (4), Psalms (10), Proverbs (6), Ecclesiastes (4), Song of Songs (1), Isaiah (7), Jeremiah (2), Ezekiel (5), Daniel (2), Hosea (2), Haggai (3), Zechariah (1)

• Genesis 18:4 — Let a little (מְעַט) water, I pray you, be fetched, and wash your feet, and rest yourselves under the tree:
• Genesis 24:17 — And the servant ran to meet her, and said, Let me, I pray thee, drink a little (מְעַט) water of thy pitcher.
• Genesis 24:43 — Behold, I stand by the well of water; and it shall come to pass, that when the virgin cometh forth to draw water, and I say to her, Give me, I pray thee, a little (מְעַט) water of thy pitcher to drink;
• Genesis 26:10 — And Abimelech said, What is this thou hast done unto us? one of the people might lightly (כִּ֠מְעַט) have lien with thy wife, and thou shouldest have brought guiltiness upon us.
• Genesis 30:15 — And she said unto her, Is it a small matter (הַמְעַט֙) that thou hast taken my husband? and wouldest thou take away my son’s mandrakes also? And Rachel said, Therefore he shall lie with thee to night for thy son’s mandrakes.
• Genesis 30:30 — For it was little (מְעַט֩) which thou hadst before I came, and it is now increased unto a multitude; and the LORD hath blessed thee since my coming: and now when shall I provide for mine own house also?
• Genesis 43:2 — And it came to pass, when they had eaten up the corn which they had brought out of Egypt, their father said unto them, Go again, buy us a little (מְעַט) food.
• Genesis 43:11 — And their father Israel said unto them, If it must be so now, do this; take of the best fruits in the land in your vessels, and carry down the man a present, a little (מְעַ֤ט) balm, and a little honey, spices, and myrrh, nuts, and almonds:
• Genesis 43:11 — And their father Israel said unto them, If it must be so now, do this; take of the best fruits in the land in your vessels, and carry down the man a present, a little balm, and a little (וּמְעַ֣ט) honey, spices, and myrrh, nuts, and almonds:
• Genesis 44:25 — And our father said, Go again, and buy us a little (מְעַט) food.
• Genesis 47:9 — And Jacob said unto Pharaoh, The days of the years of my pilgrimage are an hundred and thirty years: few (מְעַ֣ט) and evil have the days of the years of my life been, and have not attained unto the days of the years of the life of my fathers in the days of their pilgrimage.
• Exodus 17:4 — And Moses cried unto the LORD, saying, What shall I do unto this people? they be almost (מְעַ֖ט) ready to stone me.
• Exodus 23:30 — By little (מְעַ֥ט) and little I will drive them out from before thee, until thou be increased, and inherit the land.
• Exodus 23:30 — By little and little (מְעַ֛ט) I will drive them out from before thee, until thou be increased, and inherit the land.
• Leviticus 25:52 — And if there remain but few (מְעַ֞ט) years unto the year of jubile, then he shall count with him, and according unto his years shall he give him again the price of his redemption.
• Numbers 13:18 — And see the land, what it is; and the people that dwelleth therein, whether they be strong or weak, few (הַמְעַ֥ט) or many;
• Numbers 16:9 — Seemeth it but a small thing (הַמְעַ֣ט) unto you, that the God of Israel hath separated you from the congregation of Israel, to bring you near to himself to do the service of the tabernacle of the LORD, and to stand before the congregation to minister unto them?
• Numbers 16:13 — Is it a small thing (הַמְעַ֗ט) that thou hast brought us up out of a land that floweth with milk and honey, to kill us in the wilderness, except thou make thyself altogether a prince over us?
• Numbers 26:54 — To many thou shalt give the more inheritance, and to few (וְלַמְעַ֕ט) thou shalt give the less inheritance: to every one shall his inheritance be given according to those that were numbered of him.
• Numbers 26:56 — According to the lot shall the possession thereof be divided between many and few (לִמְעָֽט).
• Numbers 33:54 — And ye shall divide the land by lot for an inheritance among your families: and to the more ye shall give the more inheritance, and to the fewer (וְלַמְעַט֙) ye shall give the less inheritance: every man’s inheritance shall be in the place where his lot falleth; according to the tribes of your fathers ye shall inherit.
• Numbers 35:8 — And the cities which ye shall give shall be of the possession of the children of Israel: from them that have many ye shall give many; but from them that have few (הַמְעַ֖ט) ye shall give few: every one shall give of his cities unto the Levites according to his inheritance which he inheriteth.
• Deuteronomy 7:7 — The LORD did not set his love upon you, nor choose you, because ye were more in number than any people; for ye were the fewest (הַמְעַ֖ט) of all people:
• Deuteronomy 7:22 — And the LORD thy God will put out those nations before thee by little (מְעַ֣ט) and little: thou mayest not consume them at once, lest the beasts of the field increase upon thee.
• Deuteronomy 7:22 — And the LORD thy God will put out those nations before thee by little and little (מְעָ֑ט): thou mayest not consume them at once, lest the beasts of the field increase upon thee.
• Deuteronomy 26:5 — And thou shalt speak and say before the LORD thy God, A Syrian ready to perish was my father, and he went down into Egypt, and sojourned there with a few (מְעָ֑ט), and became there a nation, great, mighty, and populous:
• Deuteronomy 28:38 — Thou shalt carry much seed out into the field, and shalt gather but little in (וּמְעַ֣ט); for the locust shall consume it.
• Deuteronomy 28:62 — And ye shall be left few (מְעָ֔ט) in number, whereas ye were as the stars of heaven for multitude; because thou wouldest not obey the voice of the LORD thy God.
• Joshua 7:3 — And they returned to Joshua, and said unto him, Let not all the people go up; but let about two or three thousand men go up and smite Ai; and make not all the people to labour thither; for they are but few (מְעַ֖ט).
• Joshua 22:17 — Is the iniquity of Peor too little (הַמְעַט) for us, from which we are not cleansed until this day, although there was a plague in the congregation of the LORD,
• Judges 4:19 — And he said unto her, Give me, I pray thee, a little (מְעַט) water to drink; for I am thirsty. And she opened a bottle of milk, and gave him drink, and covered him.
• Ruth 2:7 — And she said, I pray you, let me glean and gather after the reapers among the sheaves: so she came, and hath continued even from the morning until now, that she tarried a little (מְעָֽט) in the house.
• 1 Samuel 14:6 — And Jonathan said to the young man that bare his armour, Come, and let us go over unto the garrison of these uncircumcised: it may be that the LORD will work for us: for there is no restraint to the LORD to save by many or by few (בִמְעָֽט).
• 1 Samuel 14:29 — Then said Jonathan, My father hath troubled the land: see, I pray you, how mine eyes have been enlightened, because I tasted a little (מְעַ֖ט) of this honey.
• 1 Samuel 14:43 — Then Saul said to Jonathan, Tell me what thou hast done. And Jonathan told him, and said, I did but taste a little (מְעַ֥ט) honey with the end of the rod that was in mine hand, and, lo, I must die.
• 1 Samuel 17:28 — And Eliab his eldest brother heard when he spake unto the men; and Eliab’s anger was kindled against David, and he said, Why camest thou down hither? and with whom hast thou left those few (מְעַ֨ט) sheep in the wilderness? I know thy pride, and the naughtiness of thine heart; for thou art come down that thou mightest see the battle.
• 2 Samuel 12:8 — And I gave thee thy master’s house, and thy master’s wives into thy bosom, and gave thee the house of Israel and of Judah; and if that had been too little (מְעָ֔ט), I would moreover have given unto thee such and such things.
• 2 Samuel 16:1 — And when David was a little (מְעַט֙) past the top of the hill, behold, Ziba the servant of Mephibosheth met him, with a couple of asses saddled, and upon them two hundred loaves of bread, and an hundred bunches of raisins, and an hundred of summer fruits, and a bottle of wine.
• 2 Samuel 19:36 — Thy servant will go a little way over (כִּמְעַ֞ט) Jordan with the king: and why should the king recompense it me with such a reward?
• 1 Kings 17:10 — So he arose and went to Zarephath. And when he came to the gate of the city, behold, the widow woman was there gathering of sticks: and he called to her, and said, Fetch me, I pray thee, a little (מְעַט) water in a vessel, that I may drink.
• 1 Kings 17:12 — And she said, As the LORD thy God liveth, I have not a cake, but an handful of meal in a barrel, and a little (וּמְעַט) oil in a cruse: and, behold, I am gathering two sticks, that I may go in and dress it for me and my son, that we may eat it, and die.
• 2 Kings 10:18 — And Jehu gathered all the people together, and said unto them, Ahab served Baal a little (מְעָ֑ט); but Jehu shall serve him much.
• 1 Chronicles 16:19 — When ye were but few, even a few (כִּמְעַ֖ט), and strangers in it.
• 2 Chronicles 12:7 — And when the LORD saw that they humbled themselves, the word of the LORD came to Shemaiah, saying, They have humbled themselves; therefore I will not destroy them, but I will grant them some (כִּמְעַט֙) deliverance; and my wrath shall not be poured out upon Jerusalem by the hand of Shishak.
• 2 Chronicles 29:34 — But the priests were too few (לִמְעָ֔ט), so that they could not flay all the burnt offerings: wherefore their brethren the Levites did help them, till the work was ended, and until the other priests had sanctified themselves: for the Levites were more upright in heart to sanctify themselves than the priests.
• Ezra 9:8 — And now for a little (כִּמְעַט) space grace hath been shewed from the LORD our God, to leave us a remnant to escape, and to give us a nail in his holy place, that our God may lighten our eyes, and give us a little reviving in our bondage.
• Ezra 9:8 — And now for a little space grace hath been shewed from the LORD our God, to leave us a remnant to escape, and to give us a nail in his holy place, that our God may lighten our eyes, and give us a little (מְעַ֖ט) reviving in our bondage.
• Nehemiah 2:12 — And I arose in the night, I and some few (מְעַט֮) men with me; neither told I any man what my God had put in my heart to do at Jerusalem: neither was there any beast with me, save the beast that I rode upon.
• Nehemiah 7:4 — Now the city was large and great: but the people were few (מְעַ֖ט) therein, and the houses were not builded.
• Job 10:20 — Are not my days few (מְעַ֣ט)? cease then, and let me alone, that I may take comfort a little,