Bible Encyclopedias
Marrow

International Standard Bible Encyclopedia

mar´ō ( מח , mōaḥ , חלב , ḥēlebh , שׁקּוּי , shiḳḳūy , מחה , māḥāh , "to make fat," "to grease"; μυελός , muelós ): Marrow is the nourisher and strengthener of the bones; it is said to moisten the bones: "The marrow ( mōaḥ ) of his bones is moistened" ( Job 21:24 ). The fear of Yahweh "will be health to thy navel, and marrow (shiḳḳūy , margin "refreshing, Hebrew moistening") to thy bones" (Proverbs 3:8 ). Thus, the expression is used figuratively of the things which alone can satisfy the soul: "My soul shall be satisfied as with marrow (ḥēlebh , "fat") and fatness" (Psalm 63:5 ); "In this mountain will Yahweh of hosts make unto all peoples a feast of fat things, a feast of wines on the lees, of fat things full of marrow (ממחים , memuḥāyim , particle, plural, Pual of māḥāh ), of wines on the lees well refined" (Isaiah 25:6 ). In the Epistle to the Hebrews the writer speaks of the word of God, which is "living, and active, and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing even to the dividing of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow" (Hebrews 4:12 ).