4593. miuttah
Lexical Summary
miuttah: Fewness, smallness, diminution

Original Word: מָעֹט
Part of Speech: Noun
Transliteration: ma`ot
Pronunciation: mee-oo-tah
Phonetic Spelling: (maw-ote')
KJV: wrapped up
Word Origin: [passive adjective of H4591 (מָעַט - decrease)]

1. thinned (as to the edge), i.e. sharp

Strong's Exhaustive Concordance
wrapped up

Passive adjective of ma'at; thinned (as to the edge), i.e. Sharp -- wrapped up.

see HEBREW ma'at

NAS Exhaustive Concordance
Word Origin
scribal error, from marat, q.v.

Topical Lexicon
Meaning and Nuance

מָעֹט conveys the idea of lessening, diminishing, or reducing something in size, strength, or number. It pictures a deliberate decrease rather than a simple lack, a shrinking brought about by decisive action. In prophetic speech it often stands behind images of a cutting down, thinning out, or making small that which once seemed substantial.

Canonical Occurrence

Ezekiel 21:15 is the only place the specific form מָעֹט appears. Within a prophecy of the coming Babylonian sword, the verb speaks of Yahweh’s intent “to diminish” (BSB footnote) the people at their very gates:

“So that their hearts may melt with fear and the many will fall slain, I have appointed the sword for slaughter at all their gates. Ah, it is polished to flash like lightning!” (Ezekiel 21:15).

Here the diminishing is not merely numerical; it is moral and psychological. Hearts melt, courage evaporates, and the population itself is cut down. The word underscores the exhaustive nature of the judgment.

Historical Setting

Ezekiel ministered from exile in Babylon during the final years preceding Jerusalem’s fall (circa 593–571 BC). Chapter 21 announces the Babylonian siege and ultimate destruction of the city (586 BC). Against a backdrop of false hopes that the crisis would soon pass, מָעֹט declares the opposite: Judah will be reduced. The polished sword is ready, sure, and divinely appointed.

Theological Significance

1. Divine Sovereignty in Judgment: The verb highlights that Judah’s reduction is not accidental but ordained. The LORD “appoints” the sword; human armies are His instrument.
2. Covenant Accountability: Diminishment fulfills covenant warnings that persistent rebellion would result in being “left few in number” (compare Deuteronomy 4:27, using the cognate root). Ezekiel’s usage roots contemporary events in long-foretold covenant consequences.
3. Purifying Purpose: Scripture consistently portrays reduction as a means to preserve a purified remnant (Isaiah 10:22; Zephaniah 3:12). מָעֹט therefore serves a redemptive aim—cutting away the obstinate so that restoration can begin.

Intertextual Connections

While the specific form in Ezekiel 21:15 is unique, cognate forms of the root appear widely:
Exodus 12:4 – provision for households “too small” for a lamb.
Judges 6:15 – Gideon’s clan “the least.”
Isaiah 21:17; Jeremiah 30:19 – promises that the remnant, though once diminished, will increase again.

These passages frame diminishment as a prelude to either dependence on God or later enlargement, thereby rounding out the biblical theology of משׁעעט rooted words.

Practical and Ministry Insights

• Call to Repentance: Ezekiel’s audience is confronted with the reality that unrepentant sin invites a God-ordained shrinking of security, resources, and self-confidence. Modern proclamation can draw on this to expose the folly of presuming upon grace while persisting in rebellion.
• Encouragement to Humility: The prospect of being made small urges believers and churches to embrace voluntary humility before enforced diminishment comes (James 4:10).
• Hope for the Remnant: Even when God must diminish, His covenant love preserves a remnant and promises eventual enlargement (Jeremiah 30:19). Pastors may assure repentant believers that God’s reductions are never His last word.
• Eschatological Perspective: The theme anticipates final judgment when all human pride will be brought low (Revelation 18). Ezekiel’s vision foreshadows that consummate day and strengthens the church to watch and pray.

Thus מָעֹט, though a single occurrence, supplies a vivid lens through which to perceive the purposeful severity of divine judgment and the gracious trajectory toward purification and renewal.

Forms and Transliterations
מְעֻטָּ֥ה מעטה mə‘uṭṭāh mə·‘uṭ·ṭāh meutTah
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Englishman's Concordance
Ezekiel 21:15
HEB: עֲשׂוּיָ֥ה לְבָרָ֖ק מְעֻטָּ֥ה לְטָֽבַח׃
KJV: bright, [it is] wrapped up for the slaughter.
INT: is made lightning up Tebah

1 Occurrence

Strong's Hebrew 4593
1 Occurrence


mə·‘uṭ·ṭāh — 1 Occ.

4592
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