6773. tsimah
Lexical Summary
tsimah: Horror, desolation, waste

Original Word: צִמְאָה
Part of Speech: Noun Feminine
Transliteration: tsim'ah
Pronunciation: tsee-maw'
Phonetic Spelling: (tsim-aw')
KJV: thirst
NASB: thirst
Word Origin: [feminine of H6772 (צָּמָא - thirst)]

1. thirst (figuratively, of libidinousnes)

Strong's Exhaustive Concordance
thirst

Feminine of tsama'; thirst (figuratively, of libidinousnes) -- thirst.

see HEBREW tsama'

NAS Exhaustive Concordance
Word Origin
fem. of tsama
Definition
parched condition
NASB Translation
thirst (1).

Brown-Driver-Briggs
צִמְאָה noun feminine parched condition; — Jeremiah 2:25 spare thythroat ׳מִצ from being parched (in figurative).

Topical Lexicon
Root Imagery and Conceptual Background

“Thirst” in Scripture is never a neutral biological fact. In the arid geography of Israel, the lack of water quickly becomes life-threatening, so the word carries emotional weight—urgency, vulnerability, dependence. Because water is indispensable and God alone ultimately “gives rain on the earth” (Job 5:10), physical thirst easily becomes a metaphor for spiritual need. The prophets, singers, and sages consistently pivot from literal dehydration to the deeper ache of an estranged soul.

Jeremiah 2:25 – Thirst as Self-Inflicted Deprivation

Only once does the particular term צִמְאָה surface, and the placement is strategic:

“Keep your feet from going unshod and your throat from thirst. But you say, ‘It is hopeless! For I love foreign gods, and I must go after them.’” (Jeremiah 2:25)

1. Judicial Setting

Jeremiah 2 is a covenant lawsuit. The Lord marshals evidence that Judah’s idolatry is irrational and self-destructive. “Thirst” functions here as an incriminating exhibit: the nation is parched, not because God has withheld water, but because she has abandoned the fountain (Jeremiah 2:13).
2. Refusal of Grace

The exhortation “keep … your throat from thirst” implies that relief is available; only stubborn pursuit of idols makes dehydration inevitable. Thus צִמְאָה highlights culpability.
3. Reversal of Exodus Mercy

In the wilderness Yahweh quenched Israel’s thirst from the rock (Exodus 17:6). In Jeremiah, the redeemed community reverses that salvation history, returning itself to a lethal dryness.

Thirst Motif across the Prophets

Though H6773 itself appears only in Jeremiah 2:25, related terms intensify the same indictment:
Isaiah 5:13 – captivity “because they have no knowledge; their honored men are famished, and their multitude parched with thirst.”
Amos 8:11 – a coming “famine … not a famine of bread nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of the Lord.”

In every case, thirst is the consequence of forsaking revelation.

Intercanonical Connections

1. Psalms – Longing Redirected toward God

Psalm 63:1: “My soul thirsts for You … in a dry and weary land without water.” Legitimate thirst is satisfied when aimed God-ward, anticipating the fuller revelation of Christ.
2. Gospels – Christ the Quencher

John 4:14: “Whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst.” The Samaritan woman represents nations once parched by idolatry now invited to drink.
3. Passion Narrative – Covenant Fulfilment

John 19:28: “Jesus, knowing that everything had now been accomplished, so that the Scripture would be fulfilled, said, ‘I thirst.’” The One who offers living water enters our thirst to remove it.
4. Consummation – Final Satisfaction

Revelation 21:6: “To the thirsty I will give freely from the spring of the water of life.” Eschatological hope is portrayed as everlasting hydration.

Practical and Pastoral Applications

• Diagnosis of Idolatry

Modern idols—materialism, autonomy, technology—produce the same dehydration of soul. Jeremiah 2:25 urges believers to expose self-inflicted thirst.
• Evangelism

The imagery supplies a bridge for gospel proclamation: humans universally know thirst; the gospel offers living water.
• Discipleship

Encourages practices that keep the “throat” from dryness: Scripture intake (Psalm 1:2-3), prayerful dependence, corporate worship.
• Counseling

Spiritual dryness often accompanies sin or neglect of means of grace; Jeremiah’s warning calls for repentance rather than resignation (“It is hopeless!”).

Homiletical Outline Suggestion

1. The Reality of Thirst (Jeremiah 2:25a)
2. The Reason for Thirst (Jeremiah 2:13, 25b)
3. The Remedy for Thirst (John 4:10-14; Revelation 22:17)
4. The Responsibility of Believers (“Keep your … throat from thirst”)

Summary

צִמְאָה captures the tragedy of a covenant people choosing dehydration over divine refreshment. Its lone occurrence intensifies Jeremiah’s contention that spiritual ruin is voluntary and unnecessary. By tracing the motif through Scripture, the preacher and teacher can unfold a consistent biblical theology: humanity thirsts, idols cannot satisfy, and God graciously invites the parched to drink freely in Christ.

Forms and Transliterations
מִצִּמְאָ֑ה מצמאה miṣ·ṣim·’āh miṣṣim’āh mitztzimAh
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Englishman's Concordance
Jeremiah 2:25
HEB: (וּגְרֹונֵ֖ךְ ק) מִצִּמְאָ֑ה וַתֹּאמְרִ֣י נוֹאָ֔שׁ
NAS: And your throat from thirst; But you said,
KJV: and thy throat from thirst: but thou saidst,
INT: unshod barn thirst said is hopeless

1 Occurrence

Strong's Hebrew 6773
1 Occurrence


miṣ·ṣim·’āh — 1 Occ.

6772
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