1830. dama
Lexical Summary
dama: To be like, resemble, liken, compare

Original Word: דָּמַע
Part of Speech: Verb
Transliteration: dama`
Pronunciation: dah-maw'
Phonetic Spelling: (daw-mah')
KJV: X sore, weep
NASB: bitterly weep
Word Origin: [a primitive root]

1. to weep

Strong's Exhaustive Concordance
sore, weep

A primitive root; to weep -- X sore, weep.

NAS Exhaustive Concordance
Word Origin
a prim. root
Definition
to weep
NASB Translation
bitterly weep (1).

Brown-Driver-Briggs
[דָּמַע] verb weep (Late Hebrew id., Arabic & ; Aramaic דְּמַע, : Assyrian in derivatives, see below),

Qal Imperfect3feminine singular, and Infinitive absolute, וְדָמֹעַ תִּדְמַע וְתֵרֵד עֵינִי דִּמְעָה Jeremiah 13:17.

Topical Lexicon
Essential Idea

דָּמַע conveys the action of eyes filling, overflowing, and spilling with tears. Scripture employs the term to depict profound grief that is inseparably joined to moral or covenantal failure, and therefore to divine judgment. The verb appears only in Jeremiah, giving it a distinctively prophetic and pastoral coloring.

Occurrences

Jeremiah 13:17

Jeremiah 14:17

Prophetic Setting

Both texts fall within Jeremiah’s early public ministry, when Judah still enjoyed a measure of external stability yet had hardened itself against the warnings that exile was near. The prophet has just dramatized the ruined loincloth (chapter 13) and has announced the coming drought (chapter 14). In each passage דָּמַע rises from Jeremiah’s inner life as he stands between God and a rebellious people.

Jeremiah 13:17: “But if you will not listen, my soul will weep in secret because of your pride; my eyes will weep bitterly, flowing with tears, because the LORD’s flock has been taken captive.”
Jeremiah 14:17: “You are to speak this word to them: ‘Let my eyes overflow with tears day and night, without ceasing, for the Virgin Daughter of my people has been crushed with a mighty blow, with a grievous wound.’ ”

Theology of Tears

1. Moral Vision

Dāmaʽ is not sentimental sorrow but anguish born of holiness violated. The prophet weeps because Judah’s “pride” (Jeremiah 13:17) blinds her to corrective mercy. The tears interpret judgment as moral necessity, not arbitrary fate.

2. Identification with God

The language moves seamlessly between Jeremiah’s eyes and the heart of the LORD. By weeping, the prophet images God’s own grief over covenant breach (compare Hosea 11:8–9). Dāmaʽ therefore unveils divine compassion alongside divine justice.

3. Intercessory Lament

In both verses tears become prayer. They flow “day and night” (Jeremiah 14:17), echoing Psalm 88:1 and Lamentations 2:18. When words fail, tears plead for God’s mercy and implicitly invite repentance (Joel 2:12–13).

Canonical Connections

Lamentations 1:16; 2:11; 3:48–49 present the outworking of Jeremiah’s prophecy; the same tear-soaked vocabulary links the books literarily and theologically.
Luke 19:41 shows Jesus weeping over Jerusalem in language and posture reminiscent of Jeremiah, portraying the greater Prophet whose tears seal the warning of imminent judgment and the offer of salvation.

Practical and Ministry Significance

1. Shepherding Hearts

The prophet’s hidden weeping (“in secret,” Jeremiah 13:17) models pastoral burden: sin must be addressed openly, but grief over sin is borne privately before God. Modern ministry likewise requires both public clarity and private compassion.

2. Tears as Testimony

Dāmaʽ exposes pride and invites humility. Congregational leaders who weep for spiritual decline give visible evidence of God’s own sorrow, making the call to repentance harder to dismiss.

3. Sustaining Hope

Although the verb appears in contexts of looming disaster, the very act of weeping implies that the account is not finished; God still engages His people. Revelation 7:17 assures that “God will wipe away every tear,” completing what Jeremiah’s tears only began.

Summary

Dāmaʽ is the vocabulary of eyes that cannot ignore covenant unfaithfulness. Sparse in occurrence yet rich in resonance, the word crystallizes Jeremiah’s prophetic heart, joining divine holiness, human rebellion, and redeeming compassion within a single tear.

Forms and Transliterations
וְדָמֹ֨עַ ודמע תִּדְמַ֜ע תדמע tiḏ·ma‘ tidMa tiḏma‘ vedaMoa wə·ḏā·mō·a‘ wəḏāmōa‘
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Interlinear GreekInterlinear HebrewStrong's NumbersEnglishman's Greek ConcordanceEnglishman's Hebrew ConcordanceParallel Texts
Englishman's Concordance
Jeremiah 13:17
HEB: מִפְּנֵ֣י גֵוָ֑ה וְדָמֹ֨עַ תִּדְמַ֜ע וְתֵרַ֤ד
NAS: And my eyes will bitterly weep
KJV: and mine eye shall weep sore,
INT: for for pride will bitterly weep and flow

Jeremiah 13:17
HEB: גֵוָ֑ה וְדָמֹ֨עַ תִּדְמַ֜ע וְתֵרַ֤ד עֵינִי֙
NAS: will bitterly weep And flow down
KJV: shall weep sore, and run down
INT: for pride will bitterly weep and flow and my eyes

2 Occurrences

Strong's Hebrew 1830
2 Occurrences


tiḏ·ma‘ — 1 Occ.
wə·ḏā·mō·a‘ — 1 Occ.

1829
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