---
title: מָתֹק — become sweet · The Tanakh dictionary
description: מָתֹק (4985), a word of Biblical Hebrew, used 6 times: become sweet. BDB 1906: vb. become be sweet, pleasant. With 2 verses in Hebrew, word for word and JPS 1917.
---

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# מָתֹק

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«מָתֹק» in the Tanakh dictionary: **become sweet** — how often it is used, MACULA's glosses, its meanings in the printed dictionaries and why they were chosen, and 2 verses in layers.

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**Used:** 6 times · **Key:** 4985 · **BDB:** מָתֹק

### Glosses

it (1); it.tastes.sweet (1); they.are.sweet (1)

### Meaning (OSHB)

become sweet [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/tanakh/1502/4985/#m1)

### Meaning (BDB 1906)

vb. become be sweet, pleasant [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/tanakh/1502/4985/#m2)

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**The whole BDB entry:** vb. become or be sweet, pleasant (NH מתק, especially Pi.; Assyrian \[matâḳu\] be sweet, in deriv.; Ethiopic ምጡቅ: sweet; Aramaic ܡܬܰܩ suck (with pleasure), מְתַק id., be sweet; Arabic مطق (ط before ق) v. smack the lips (with pleasure), مَطْقَةٌ sweetness);— Pf. 3 ms. sf. מְתָקוֹ Jb 24:20; 3 pl. מָֽתְקוּ 21:33; Impf. 3 mpl. יִמְתָּ֑קוּ Pr 9:17, וַיִּמְתְּקוּ Ex 15:25;— lit. become sweet, of water (opp. מָרִים) 15:25 (J); are (i.e. taste) sweet, מַיִם גְּנוּבִים יִמ׳ Pr 9:17 (fig. of delights of illicit pleasure). = be pleasant, מָֽתְקוּ לוֹ Jb 21:33 sweet (pleasant) to him are the clods of the valley (said of one resting in the grave). suck (Aramaic sense, cf. Syriac supr.) מְתָקוֹ רִמָּה Jb 24:20 the worm doth suck him, feast on him (on vb. masc. cf. Ges§ 145, 7 KöSynt. § 345 a DaSynt. § 113(b)), Di De Buhl (cf. Kau Da; also SS who render ‘angenehm finden’), but this sense in Heb. dub.; text perhaps crpt. (cf. conject. by Bu Du). Impf. 3 fs. אִם תַּמְתִּיק בְּפִיו רָעָה Jb 20:12 if evil gives a sweet taste in his mouth (declarative Hiph.); 1 pl. אֲשֶׁר יַחְדָּו נַמְתִּיק סוֹד ψ 55:15 we who used to make sweet (our) intimacy.

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Why these entries: BDB: headword, part of speech agrees, 6 of its verses cited, 1 words shared with the glosses, lists its Strong's number (4 candidates); OSHB: headword, part of speech agrees, 2 words shared with the BDB entry, 1 with the glosses (5 candidates)

### Trees and pragmatics

[Every English meaning of «מָתֹק» parsed by Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/tanakh/1502/4985/), each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.

### In the verses

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[Proverbs 9:17](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/ketuvim/PRO.9.17/)

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מַֽיִם־גְּנוּבִ֥ים יִמְתָּ֑קוּ וְלֶ֖חֶם סְתָרִ֣ים יִנְעָֽם׃

*Word for word:* waters stolen they.are.sweet and bread of.secret.places it.is.pleasant

*JPS 1917:* 'Stolen waters are sweet, and bread eaten in secret is pleasant.'

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[Psalms 55:15](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/ketuvim/PSA.55.15/)

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אֲשֶׁ֣ר יַ֭חְדָּו נַמְתִּ֣יק ס֑וֹד בְּבֵ֥ית אֱ֝לֹהִ֗ים נְהַלֵּ֥ךְ בְּרָֽגֶשׁ׃

*Word for word:* who together we.made.sweet counsel in the.house of.God we.walked.about in a.crowd

*JPS 1917:* We took sweet counsel together, in the house of God we walked with the throng.

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