800. eshshah

Lexical Summary

eshshah: Fire

Original Word: אֶשָּׁה
Part of Speech: Noun Feminine
Transliteration: eshshah
Pronunciation: eh-shaw'
Phonetic Spelling: (esh-shaw')
KJV: fire
NASB: fire
Word Origin: [feminine of H784 (אֵשׁ - fire)]

1. fire

Strong's Exhaustive Concordance

fire

Feminine of 'esh; fire -- fire.

see HEBREW 'esh

NAS Exhaustive Concordance

Word Origin
fem. of esh
Definition
a fire
NASB Translation
fire (1).

Brown-Driver-Briggs

[אֶשָּׁה] noun feminine id. Jeremiah 6:29 Kt (מ)אשׁתם i.e. from their fire, but Qr מֵאֵשׁ תַּם, see below אֵשׁ.

Topical Lexicon

Root Meaning and Imagery

The single appearance of אֶשָּׁה portrays an active, intense flame within a smelter’s furnace—heat powerful enough to liquefy lead and separate dross from precious metal. The word therefore evokes the controlled, purposeful fire of a refiner rather than a destructive conflagration.

Canonical Context

Jeremiah 6:29 places the image in an oracle against Judah’s stubborn rebellion:

“The bellows blow fiercely; the lead is consumed by the fire, but the refining is in vain, for the wicked are not separated.” (Jeremiah 6:29)

Here the prophet pictures God as the Master Metallurgist. Every possible “temperature” of covenant warning—law, prophets, providential discipline—has been applied. Yet the moral “ore” of the nation refuses to yield purity; the impurities remain fused with the people’s character.

Symbolic and Theological Themes

1. Divine Refinement versus Human Obstinacy
• God’s holiness demands the removal of dross (Isaiah 1:25).
• The verse underscores that external religious machinery cannot substitute for inward repentance (Jeremiah 6:20).
2. Judgement with a Redemptive Aim
• Malachi 3:2-3 and Zechariah 13:9 expand the metallurgical metaphor, promising a remnant purified through fire.
• Jeremiah underlines the tragedy when the refining purpose is thwarted by unyielding sin.
3. Continuity into New Covenant Revelation
• 1 Peter 1:7 speaks of faith “more precious than gold that perishes, refined by fire,” showing that God continues to use trials as a spiritual crucible.
• Revelation 3:18 counsels believers to “buy from Me gold refined by fire,” echoing Jeremiah’s call to authentic purity.

Historical Setting in Jeremiah

Around 605–586 BC, Judah faced mounting Babylonian pressure. Political alliances, temple rituals, and prophetic warnings functioned like successive blasts of bellows, yet societal corruption deepened (Jeremiah 5:1-3). Jeremiah 6:29 therefore serves as a climactic indictment: if the forge cannot achieve its goal, the metal must be discarded—anticipating the coming exile.

Applications for Preaching and Teaching

• Spiritual self-examination: Churches and individuals must ask whether divine “heat” is producing holiness or exposing hardened resistance.
• Suffering and sanctification: Trials are not random but designed to separate faithful character from sinful alloy (Romans 5:3-4).
• Corporate holiness: Congregational discipline, sound doctrine, and sincere worship are contemporary “bellows” to sustain holy fire (1 Corinthians 5:6-8).

Relation to New Testament Revelation

The solitary Old Testament use of אֶשָּׁה pre-figures the Gospel’s refining dynamic. Where Judah failed, the Messiah accomplishes purification through the cross (Hebrews 9:14). Pentecost’s tongues of fire (Acts 2:3) signal a new era in which the Spirit Himself applies cleansing heat within believers rather than merely upon them.

Practical Reflection

Believers today can trust the Refiner’s hand. When His providential bellows grow hot, the goal is never destruction but the emergence of Christlike purity fit for eternal service (2 Timothy 2:20-21).

Forms and Transliterations

תַּ֣ם תם tam

Englishman's Concordance

Jeremiah 6:29
HEB: (מֵאֵ֖שׁ ק) (תַּ֣ם ק) עֹפָ֑רֶת
NAS: is consumed by the fire; In vain
INT: blow the bellows fire the lead vain

1 Occurrence

Strong's Hebrew 800
1 Occurrence

tam — 1 Occ.