What does מִלָּה mean in the Bible?
This Hebrew noun can refer to a word or to speech more broadly. It names what is said without automatically certifying that the speaker is wise, truthful or divinely authorized.
Hebrew · H4405
מִלָּה
A word ; collectively, a discourse ; figuratively, a topic
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מִלָּהH4405
What does מִלָּה mean in the Bible?
This Hebrew noun can refer to a word or to speech more broadly. It names what is said without automatically certifying that the speaker is wise, truthful or divinely authorized.
Reader summary
Full entry for מִלָּה (H4405) · Open the biblical lexicon
Questions this entry answers
How does the BSB render H4405?
The BSB source-word alignment has 38 aligned rows for this entry. Common renderings include words (6), my words (5), from speaking (2), my speech (2), to my words (2).
Where does מִלָּה appear in Scripture?
The source-word alignment first shows this entry at 2 Samuel 23:2. Its strongest book concentrations include Job (34), Psalms (2), 2 Samuel (1), Proverbs (1).
What This Word Actually Means
This Hebrew noun can refer to a word or to speech more broadly. It names what is said without automatically certifying that the speaker is wise, truthful or divinely authorized. Many of its biblical settings are conversations in Job, where speakers make claims, answer one another and need to be heard within the developing argument. Job 6:26 asks whether the words of a despairing person are being treated as wind. Job 12:11 compares the ear's testing of words with the tongue's tasting of food.
Elihu says in Job 32:18 that he is full of words, describing his felt pressure to speak. That description is not itself a verdict approving everything he will say. Psalm 19:4 uses words in the poem's portrayal of the heavens' far-reaching testimony, while Proverbs 23:9 warns about speech addressed to someone who despises wisdom. Listen for the speaker, kind of speech and response being described. Having words to say is different from having weighed them carefully or understood the hearer's need.
source_lexiconPassage contextPastoral application
How the Bible Uses It
Despairing speech, tested words, Elihu's urgency, the heavens' poetic testimony and wisdom resisted by a hearer distinguish speech itself from its truth, setting and reception.
- Job.6.26
Do you intend to correct my words, and treat as wind my cry of despair?
Job asks whether his friends intend to correct his words while treating his despairing cry as wind. His question calls attention to the sufferer's condition and to the way a hearer handles anguished speech.
- Job.12.11
Does not the ear test words as the tongue tastes its food?
Job compares testing words by the ear with tasting food by the tongue. The image encourages discrimination within the dialogue; it does not make every statement in the surrounding debate equally authoritative.
- Job.32.18
For I am full of words, and my spirit within me compels me.
Elihu describes himself as full of words and inwardly compelled to speak. This is the speaker's account of his urgency, which should be distinguished from a blanket divine endorsement of his coming argument.
- Ps.19.4
Their voice has gone out into all the earth, their words to the ends of the world. In the heavens He has pitched a tent for the sun.
The heavens' words reach the world's ends in a poem that has just spoken of testimony without audible speech. Read the poetic portrayal of creation's witness without flattening it into ordinary human conversation.
- Prov.23.9
Do not speak to a fool, for he will despise the wisdom of your words.
The proverb describes a hearer who despises the wisdom of the speaker's words. It warns about that response without giving teachers permission to label every questioner a fool or avoid correction.
Source Word Evidence
BSB source-word alignment connects this entry to exact verse rows, English rendering, source form, transliteration, and parsing.
How English Renders Itwords6×Job 12:11, Job 16:4, Job 32:15, Job 32:18
my words5×Job 6:26, Job 24:25, Job 34:2, Job 34:16
from speaking2×Job 4:2, Job 29:9
my speech2×Job 29:22, Job 33:1
to my words2×Job 13:17, Job 21:2
. . .1×Job 8:10
[his] words1×Job 32:14
a byword1×Job 30:9
and pour such words1×Job 15:13
before a word1×Psalms 139:4
by words1×Job 38:2
for words1×Job 32:11
His word1×2 Samuel 23:2
how1×Job 23:5
of your words1×Proverbs 23:9
or speeches1×Job 15:3
something to say1×Job 33:32
that my words1×Job 19:23
their words1×Psalms 19:4
these speeches1×Job 18:2
these very words1×Job 33:8
these words1×Job 26:4
to be said1×Job 36:2
to you1×Job 35:4
with [your] words1×Job 19:2
Your words1×Job 4:4
Show sample aligned rows
2 Samuel 23:2וּמִלָּת֖וֹtoHis wordConjunctive waw | Noun - feminine singular construct | third person masculine singularJob 4:2בְּ֝מִלִּ֗יןtofrom speakingPreposition-b | Noun - feminine pluralJob 4:4מִלֶּ֑יךָtoYour wordsNoun - feminine plural construct | second person masculine singularJob 6:26מִלִּ֣יםtomy wordsNoun - feminine pluralJob 8:10מִלִּֽים׃to. . .Noun - feminine pluralJob 12:11מִלִּ֣יןtowordsNoun - feminine pluralJob 13:17מִלָּתִ֑יtoto my wordsNoun - feminine singular construct | first person common singularJob 15:3וּ֝מִלִּ֗יםtoor speechesConjunctive waw | Noun - feminine pluralJob 15:13מִלִּֽין׃toand pour such wordsNoun - feminine pluralJob 16:4בְּמִלִּ֑יםtowordsPreposition-b | Noun - feminine plural
Usage map
A compact distribution from source-word alignment before the full evidence tables.
First aligned row2 Samuel 23:2
Aligned rows38
Books represented4
2 Samuel1Job34Psalms2Proverbs1
Source forms
מִלָּ֑י4xmil·lāyJob 19:23, Job 33:1, Job 34:2, Job 36:4
מִלִּֽים׃3xmil·lîmJob 8:10, Job 32:15, Job 36:2
מִלִּ֣ין3xmil·lînJob 12:11, Job 33:8, Job 34:3
מִלִּ֑ין3xmil·lînJob 26:4, Job 32:14, Job 35:4
מִלִּ֣ים2xmil·lîmJob 6:26, Job 23:5
מִלִּ֥ין2xmil·lînJob 33:32, Job 35:16
מִלִּֽין׃2xmil·lînJob 15:13, Job 32:11
מִלָּתִ֑י2xmil·lā·ṯîJob 13:17, Job 21:2
Parsing patterns
Noun - feminine plural16xJob 6:26, Job 8:10, Job 12:11, Job 15:13
Noun - feminine plural construct | first person common singular5xJob 19:23, Job 33:1, Job 34:2, Job 34:16
Preposition-b | Noun - feminine plural5xJob 4:2, Job 16:4, Job 19:2, Job 29:9
Noun - feminine singular construct | first person common singular4xJob 13:17, Job 21:2, Job 24:25, Job 29:22
Noun - feminine plural construct | second person masculine singular2xJob 4:4, Proverbs 23:9
Conjunctive waw | Noun - feminine plural1xJob 15:3
Conjunctive waw | Noun - feminine singular construct | third person masculine singular1x2 Samuel 23:2
Noun - feminine plural construct | third person masculine plural1xPsalms 19:4
Using This Word Well
Be careful not to...
- Hear a person's situation before making the correctness of their wording the whole conversation.
- Submit confident explanations to the passage's actual argument and remain willing to receive correction.
Avoid claiming...
- Do not claim that this noun turns every biblical speaker's opinion into an endorsed doctrinal conclusion.
- Do not claim that urgency or abundance of speech excuses dismissing a distressed person's account.
Evidence Summary
Hebrew word. a word ; collectively, a discourse ; figuratively, a topic
Source Gloss
a word ; collectively, a discourse ; figuratively, a topic
Extended definitionSource: Open Scriptures Hebrew Lexicon + Brown-Driver-Briggs
a word; collectively, a discourse; figuratively, a topic BDB: word Usage: answer, by-word, matter, any thing (what) to say, to speak(-ing), speak, talking, word.
Grammatical Forms
How this word appears across different grammatical cases and numbers.
Word Origins
מִלָּה is built from this root:
מָלַלH4448
Part of These Phrases
Compound and idiomatic phrases that include this word. Follow a link to study the phrase and how its parts work together.
For the Preacher and Teacher
Job 6:26 places a difficult question before the listener: can a person correct words while failing to hear despair? Job does not ask his friends to abandon truth, but he exposes the inadequacy of treating his cry as something weightless. A teacher should hear the exchange as a conversation involving suffering people, not simply as a collection of sentences to detach and classify.
The noun itself cannot decide whose speech is sound. Elihu's fullness of words describes his urgency, and God's question in Job 38:2 confronts words without knowledge. At the book's close, the Lord specifically rebukes Eliphaz and his two friends for inaccurate speech about Him. Keep those speakers and judgments distinct. Careful teaching combines attention to the person with accountability for what is said, resisting both careless dismissal of distress and untested confidence in one's own explanation.
Anchor passage
Job.6.26
Doctrinal connections
- Job 6:24-28 places the request for instruction beside the protest that despairing words are being dismissed.
- Job 12:11-13 pairs the testing of words with the acknowledgment that wisdom and strength belong to God.
- Job 32:18-20 presents Elihu's felt urgency to speak as part of his own account of entering the debate.
- Job 38:1-4 questions words without knowledge, and Job 42:7-9 specifically rebukes Eliphaz and his two friends.
- Psalm 19:2-4 depicts creation's worldwide testimony through poetic speech and silence.
- James 1:19-20 calls for readiness to listen, restraint in speaking and caution concerning human anger.
A word or a stretch of speech can be the noun's referent. Its presence does not mark a statement as inspired instruction from the speaker, nor does an English plural settle how much speech is in view. Speaker, genre and the wider argument remain necessary.
From Old to New Testament
James 1:19-20 offers a thematic comparison with the need to listen before speaking, and Ephesians 4:29 directs speech toward what builds up and meets a hearer's need. These passages do not erase the sharp exchanges in Job, but they help frame responsible application without claiming that the Hebrew noun has become a New Testament technical term.
Passage contextPastoral applicationCanonical parallel