רֵיקָם
re.qam
emptily
Lexicon Entry
Lexicon data from STEPBible TIPNR, Tyndale House, Cambridge. Licensed under CC BY 4.0.
What Original Readers Understood
ExploredThe Hebrew word "רֵיקָם" (re.qam) is a term that conveys a sense of emptiness or hollowness. With 16 occurrences in the Bible, it is evident that this concept is significant in various contexts. Based on its definition as "emptily," it suggests a lack of substance, weight, or fullness. This word is used to describe people, places, and objects that are devoid of meaningful content or spiritual life. Its range of usage spans a variety of genres, including poetic, prophetic, and historical texts. Examples include expressions that convey the futility of idols, the hollowness of false prophets, and the absence of true wisdom. In essence, "רֵיקָם" emphasizes the distinction between the genuine and the superficial.
Source data & methodology
Occurrences in Scripture
16 total occurrences across the text
You have sent widows away empty, and the arms of the fatherless have been broken.
Psalms 7:4if I have rewarded evil to him who was at peace with me (yes, I have delivered him who without cause was my adversary),
Psalms 25:3Yes, no one who waits for you will be shamed. They will be shamed who deal treacherously without cause.
Isaiah 55:11so is my word that goes out of my mouth: it will not return to me void, but it will accomplish that which I please, and it will prosper in the thing I sent it to do.
Jeremiah 14:3Their nobles send their little ones to the waters. They come to the cisterns, and find no water. They return with their vessels empty. They are disappointed and confounded, and cover their heads.
Jeremiah 50:9For, behold, I will stir up and cause to come up against Babylon a company of great nations from the north country; and they will set themselves in array against her. She will be taken from there. Their arrows will be as of an expert mighty man. None of them will return in vain.
Genesis 31:42Unless the God of my father, the God of Abraham, and the fear of Isaac, had been with me, surely now you would have sent me away empty. God has seen my affliction and the labor of my hands, and rebuked you last night.”
Exodus 3:21I will give this people favor in the sight of the Egyptians, and it will happen that when you go, you shall not go empty-handed.
Exodus 23:15You shall observe the feast of unleavened bread. Seven days you shall eat unleavened bread, as I commanded you, at the time appointed in the month Abib (for in it you came out of Egypt), and no one shall appear before me empty.
Exodus 34:20You shall redeem the firstborn of a donkey with a lamb. If you will not redeem it, then you shall break its neck. You shall redeem all the firstborn of your sons. No one shall appear before me empty.
Deuteronomy 15:13When you let him go free from you, you shall not let him go empty.
Deuteronomy 16:16Three times in a year all of your males shall appear before Yahweh your God in the place which he chooses: in the feast of unleavened bread, in the feast of weeks, and in the feast of booths. They shall not appear before Yahweh empty.
Ruth 1:21I went out full, and Yahweh has brought me home again empty. Why do you call me Naomi, since Yahweh has testified against me, and the Almighty has afflicted me?”
Ruth 3:17She said, “He gave me these six measures of barley; for he said, ‘Don’t go empty to your mother-in-law.’ ”
1 Samuel 6:3They said, “If you send away the ark of the God of Israel, don’t send it empty; but by all means return a trespass offering to him. Then you will be healed, and it will be known to you why his hand is not removed from you.”
2 Samuel 1:22From the blood of the slain, from the fat of the mighty, Jonathan’s bow didn’t turn back. Saul’s sword didn’t return empty.