רָמַשׂ
ra.ma.s
to creep
Lexicon Entry
Lexicon data from STEPBible TIPNR, Tyndale House, Cambridge. Licensed under CC BY 4.0.
What Original Readers Understood
ExploredThe Hebrew word רָמַשׂ (ra.ma.s), with Strong's number H7430, has a primary meaning of "to creep." This verb suggests a slow and often secretive movement, often used in contexts involving snakes or other reptiles. Given its short definition, it is likely used to describe movements that are stealthy or unobtrusive. The word appears 17 times in the Bible, indicating its importance in various narratives and descriptions. Its range of usage includes contexts where God's punishment is likened to a "creeping thing" or where creatures are described as "creeping" in the ground. This word contributes to the vivid imagery and storytelling found throughout the Hebrew scriptures, painting a picture of the natural world and human experiences. Through its occurrences, the word רָמַשׂ (ra.ma.s) offers insights into the ancient Hebrew understanding of the natural world, drawing on everyday observations of creatures and their movements. By analyzing this word, we can gain a deeper appreciation for the imagery and symbolism found throughout the Bible, which often relies on sensory details and natural phenomena to convey its message.
Source data & methodology
Occurrences in Scripture
17 total occurrences across the text
Let heaven and earth praise him; the seas, and everything that moves therein!
Psalms 104:20You make darkness, and it is night, in which all the animals of the forest prowl.
Ezekiel 38:20so that the fish of the sea, the birds of the sky, the animals of the field, all creeping things who creep on the earth, and all the men who are on the surface of the earth will shake at my presence. Then the mountains will be thrown down, the steep places will fall, and every wall will fall to the ground.
Genesis 1:21God created the large sea creatures and every living creature that moves, with which the waters swarmed, after their kind, and every winged bird after its kind. God saw that it was good.
Genesis 1:26God said, “Let’s make man in our image, after our likeness. Let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the birds of the sky, and over the livestock, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.”
Genesis 1:28God blessed them. God said to them, “Be fruitful, multiply, fill the earth, and subdue it. Have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the sky, and over every living thing that moves on the earth.”
Genesis 1:30To every animal of the earth, and to every bird of the sky, and to everything that creeps on the earth, in which there is life, I have given every green herb for food;” and it was so.
Genesis 7:8Clean animals, unclean animals, birds, and everything that creeps on the ground
Genesis 7:14they, and every animal after its kind, all the livestock after their kind, every creeping thing that creeps on the earth after its kind, and every bird after its kind, every bird of every sort.
Genesis 7:21All flesh died that moved on the earth, including birds, livestock, animals, every creeping thing that creeps on the earth, and every man.
Genesis 8:17Bring out with you every living thing that is with you of all flesh, including birds, livestock, and every creeping thing that creeps on the earth, that they may breed abundantly in the earth, and be fruitful, and multiply on the earth.”
Genesis 8:19Every animal, every creeping thing, and every bird, whatever moves on the earth, after their families, went out of the ship.
Genesis 9:2The fear of you and the dread of you will be on every animal of the earth, and on every bird of the sky. Everything that moves along the ground, and all the fish of the sea, are delivered into your hand.
Leviticus 11:44For I am Yahweh your God. Sanctify yourselves therefore, and be holy; for I am holy. You shall not defile yourselves with any kind of creeping thing that moves on the earth.
Leviticus 11:46“ ‘This is the law of the animal, and of the bird, and of every living creature that moves in the waters, and of every creature that creeps on the earth,
Leviticus 20:25“ ‘You shall therefore make a distinction between the clean animal and the unclean, and between the unclean fowl and the clean. You shall not make yourselves abominable by animal, or by bird, or by anything with which the ground teems, which I have separated from you as unclean for you.
Deuteronomy 4:18the likeness of anything that creeps on the ground, the likeness of any fish that is in the water under the earth;