H3966 — מְאֹד (meod)¶

Core Data¶

Strong's: H3966
Original: מְאֹד
Transliteration: meod
Pronunciation: meh-ode
Part of Speech: Masculine adjective / adverb / substantive
Root: From an unused root conveying vehemence (no explicit parent Strong's given)
Occurrences: 277 unique verses (287 tokens) across 28 books
First Occurrence: Gen 1:31 — "God saw every thing that he had made, and, behold, it was very good"
Hapax Legomenon: No

Lexicon Definition¶

From the same root as (unused); properly, vehemence, i.e. (with or without preposition) vehemently; by implication wholly, speedily, etc. — often with other words as an intensive or superlative; especially when repeated: diligently, especially, exceeding(-ly), far, fast, good, great(-ly), louder and louder, might(-ily, -y), (so) much, quickly, (so) sore, utterly, very (much, sore), well.

Translation Distribution (KJV)¶

Translation	Verses	%
very	127	45.8%
greatly	47	17.0%
sore	20	7.2%
exceeding	19	6.9%
exceedingly	11	4.0%
great	11	4.0%
much	5	1.8%
diligently	4	1.4%
a very	3	1.1%
good	3	1.1%
Other (utterly, far, mightily, quickly, etc.)	27	9.7%

Distribution by Book¶

Book	Count	Per 100 Verses
Obadiah	1	4.8
1 Samuel	30	3.7
2 Samuel	18	2.6
Zechariah	5	2.4
Joshua	15	2.3
Genesis	33	2.2
Nahum	1	2.1
2 Chronicles	16	1.9
Zephaniah	1	1.9
1 Kings	14	1.7
Judges	10	1.6
Nehemiah	6	1.5
Psalms	35	1.4
Joel	1	1.4
Deuteronomy	12	1.3
Esther	2	1.2
Exodus	13	1.1
Jeremiah	14	1.0
Numbers	10	0.8
Ezekiel	10	0.8
2 Kings	5	0.7
1 Chronicles	7	0.7
Isaiah	8	0.6
Lamentations	1	0.6
Daniel	2	0.6
Ezra	1	0.4
Job	4	0.4
Ruth	2	—

Concentrated in narrative literature (1–2 Samuel, Joshua, Genesis). Psalms has the highest raw count (35) but mid-range density. Notably absent from wisdom books except Job (4x) and not found in Song of Songs or Ecclesiastes.

Semantic Categories¶

1. Divine Evaluation / Quality Intensifier¶

Meod modifies divine assessment or describes exceptional goodness/beauty/value. - Gen 1:31 — "God saw every thing that he had made, and, behold, it was very good" - Gen 24:16 — "And the damsel was very fair to look upon" - 1 Sam 25:15 — "the men were very good unto us, and we were not hurt" - Jer 24:2–3 — "the good figs, very good; and the evil, very evil"

2. Emotional Intensity (Fear, Anger, Distress)¶

The most common narrative function: amplifying emotional states of biblical characters. - Gen 4:5 — "Cain was very wroth, and his countenance fell" - 1 Sam 17:11 — "Saul and all Israel... were dismayed, and greatly afraid" - 2 Sam 13:15 — "Amnon hated her exceedingly; so that the hatred... was greater than the love" - Neh 5:6 — "I was very angry when I heard their cry"

3. Physical Abundance / Material Greatness¶

Intensifies descriptions of wealth, size, multitude, or military strength. - Gen 13:2 — "Abram was very rich in cattle, in silver, and in gold" - 1 Ki 10:2 — "she came to Jerusalem with a very great train... and very much gold" - 2 Chr 32:27 — "Hezekiah had exceeding much riches and honour" - Ezek 37:2 — "behold, there were very many in the open valley"

4. Covenant Command: "With All Thy Might"¶

Used as a substantive (noun) in the Shema context — the only place meod functions as a capacity or faculty rather than a pure intensifier. - Deut 6:5 — "thou shalt love the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might (meod)" - 2 Ki 23:25 — "like unto him was there no king... that turned to the LORD with all his heart... and all his might"

5. Doubled for Superlative (meod meod)¶

When meod appears twice in sequence it marks an extreme superlative — "exceedingly greatly." - Gen 17:2 — "I will multiply thee exceedingly" (meod meod) - Gen 17:6 — "I will make thee exceeding fruitful... and kings shall come out of thee" - Gen 27:33 — "Isaac trembled very exceedingly" (meod meod) - Num 14:7 — "The land... is an exceeding good land" (meod meod)

6. Eschatological / Prophetic Intensification¶

Prophets use meod to mark cosmic or eschatological magnitude. - Zech 9:9 — "Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion" (messianic entry) - Joel 2:11 — "his camp is very great: for he is strong that executeth his word" - Ezek 40:2 — "set me upon a very high mountain" (temple vision) - Zeph 1:14 — "The great day of the LORD is near... and hasteth greatly"

Common Collocations¶

Word	Strong's	Co-occurrences	Typical Pattern
יְהֹוָה (Yahweh)	H3068	69x (25%)	"the LORD [was/is] greatly/very..."
כֹּל (kol)	H3605	70x (25%)	"with all thy might" / "very much"
גָּדוֹל (gadol)	H1419	38x (14%)	"very great" — stacked intensifiers
בֵּן (ben)	H1121	31x (11%)	"very great multitude" / family context
פָּנִים (panim)	H6440	31x (11%)	emotional state before someone's face
אֱלֹהִים (elohim)	H430	31x (11%)	divine context
רָבָה (rabah)	H7235	30x (11%)	"multiply exceedingly" — divine promise
עַם (am)	H5971	30x (11%)	"very great people/army"
דָּוִד (David)	H1732	28x (10%)	Davidic narratives (fear, anger, victory)
מֶלֶךְ (melek)	H4428	28x (10%)	royal narrative contexts

Word Family / Cognates¶

No living cognates in biblical Hebrew; meod derives from an unused root. The adverb form is invariable — it does not inflect for gender, number, or person.

Synonyms¶

No synonyms returned by search_relationships.py for H3966.

Antonyms¶

No antonyms returned by search_relationships.py for H3966.

Easily Confused Words¶

Word	Strong's	Shared KJV Translations	Key Difference
גָּדוֹל (gadol)	H1419	"great", "very" (3x), "exceedingly" (5x)	gadol is an adjective of size/status; meod is a pure degree intensifier
רַב (rab)	H7227	"greatly" (3x), "much" (28x)	rab denotes numerical abundance; meod denotes degree of quality/emotion
רָבָה (rabah)	H7235	"greatly" (2x), "exceedingly" (2x)	rabah is a verb meaning to multiply; meod is invariable adverb
σφόδρα (sphódra)	G4970	"greatly", "very", "exceeding"	Greek NT adverb that directly translates meod (LXX bridge — see TR file)

UBS Semantic Domains¶

No UBS semantic-domain entries were returned by search_relationships.py for H3966.

LXX Mapping¶

Greek Equivalent	Co-occ	PMI Score	Notes
σφόδρα (sphódra) G4970	235	33.84	Primary — dominant and consistent
πολύς (polys) G4183	47	11.54	When meod intensifies quantity/multitude
μέγας (megas) G3173	40	9.78	When meod pairs with gadol ("very great")
λίαν (lian) G3029	6	11.08	Less common; "exceeding" contexts
σφοδρῶς (sphodrōs) G4971	3	7.89	Adverbial form of sphódra

The LXX consistently renders meod as σφόδρα — the same word that appears in Zech 9:9 LXX ("Rejoice greatly") and in NT passages (Matt 2:10; Mark 16:4; Rev 16:21).