H4487 — מָנָה (manah)¶

Core Data¶

Strong's: H4487
Original: מָנָה
Transliteration: manah
Pronunciation: maw-naw'
Part of Speech: Verb (primitive root)
Root: Primitive root — to weigh out, allot, enumerate
Occurrences: 27 unique verses (34 tokens) across 14 books
First Occurrence: Gen 13:16 — "so that if a man can number the dust of the earth, [then] shall thy seed also be numbered"
Hapax Legomenon: No

Lexicon Definition¶

A primitive root; properly, to weigh out; by implication, to allot or constitute officially; also to enumerate or enroll: — appoint, count, number, prepare, set, tell.

Verb Stem Distribution¶

Stem	Count	Typical Meaning
Qal	12	count, number, enumerate (active)
Niphal	6	be numbered, be counted (passive)
Piel	9	appoint, prepare, ordain (intensive/causative)
Pual	1	be appointed (passive of Piel)

The stem distribution reveals a semantic split: Qal/Niphal forms cluster around enumeration ("count/be counted"), while Piel forms express divine appointment or preparation. All four Jonah occurrences and all three Daniel (Hebrew) occurrences use the Piel.

Translation Distribution (KJV)¶

Translation	Verses	%
number / to number	6	22%
prepared / had prepared	4	15%
appointed / are appointed / hath appointed	4	15%
be numbered / cannot be numbered / to be numbered	4	15%
numbered / was numbered	3	11%
count / can count	2	7%
telleth / told	2	7%
set (had set)	1	4%
Other (prepare)	1	4%

Distribution by Book¶

Book	Count	Per 100 Verses
Jonah	4	8.3
1 Chronicles	4	0.4
Daniel	3	0.8
1 Kings	3	0.4
Psalms	3	0.1
Isaiah	2	0.2
Genesis	1	0.1
Numbers	1	0.1
2 Samuel	1	0.1
2 Kings	1	0.1
2 Chronicles	1	0.1
Job	1	0.1
Ecclesiastes	1	0.5
Jeremiah	1	0.1

Jonah is the clear outlier — 4 uses in 48 verses (8.3 per 100), all Piel "prepared," all with God as subject. Daniel and 1 Kings show modest concentration. The word spans Torah, History, Wisdom, and Prophets but is relatively rare overall.

Semantic Categories¶

1. Counting / Enumerating What Is Vast¶

Gen 13:16 — "if a man can number the dust of the earth, [then] shall thy seed also be numbered"
Num 23:10 — "Who can count the dust of Jacob, and the number of the fourth [part] of Israel?"
Psa 147:4 — "He telleth the number of the stars; he calleth them all by [their] names"
1Ch 27:24 — "Joab the son of Zeruiah began to number, but he finished not"

The enumeration sense often carries the nuance of what is beyond human ability to count — dust, stars, covenant descendants. Only God successfully completes such counting (Psa 147:4).

2. Census-Taking / Military Numbering¶

2Sa 24:1 — "he moved David against them to say, Go, number Israel and Judah"
1Ch 21:1 — "Satan stood up against Israel, and provoked David to number Israel"
1Ch 21:17 — "Is it not I that commanded the people to be numbered?"
1Ki 20:25 — "number thee an army, like the army that thou hast lost"

Census-taking in this sense is laden with moral weight — David's numbering of Israel provoked divine wrath. Contrasts with purely administrative enumeration.

3. Being Beyond Numbering (Niphal Passive)¶

1Ki 3:8 — "a great people, that cannot be numbered nor counted for multitude"
1Ki 8:5 — "sheep and oxen, that could not be told nor numbered for multitude"
2Ch 5:6 — "sheep and oxen, which could not be told nor numbered for multitude"
Ecc 1:15 — "that which is wanting cannot be numbered"

The Niphal passive expresses what exceeds human capacity to reckon — people, sacrificial animals, or deficiencies.

4. Divine Appointment / Preparation (Piel)¶

Jon 1:17 — "the LORD had prepared a great fish to swallow up Jonah"
Jon 4:6 — "the LORD God prepared a gourd"
Jon 4:7 — "God prepared a worm when the morning rose the next day"
Jon 4:8 — "God prepared a vehement east wind"

All four Jonah uses share the same structure: God as subject, Piel stem, inanimate natural agent as object. The "preparing" conveys sovereign ordination — God assigns a role or function to a creature.

5. Official Appointment / Allotment¶

Dan 1:5 — "the king appointed them a daily provision of the king's meat"
Dan 1:10 — "the prince of the eunuchs... who hath appointed your meat and your drink"
Dan 1:11 — "whom the prince of the eunuchs had set over Daniel"
1Ch 9:29 — "Some of them also were appointed to oversee the vessels"
Job 7:3 — "wearisome nights are appointed to me"

Here the Piel expresses authoritative assignment of provisions, roles, or circumstances. The subject is a king, official, or God.

6. Reckoning / Numbering Among a Group¶

Isa 53:12 — "he was numbered with the transgressors"
Isa 65:12 — "I will number you to the sword"
Psa 90:12 — "So teach us to number our days, that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom"

Isa 53:12 (Niphal) — being reckoned as belonging to a category. Isa 65:12 (Qal) — allotting/assigning a destiny. Psa 90:12 (Qal infinitive) — assessing/weighing the significance of something finite.

7. Counting Flocks (Pastoral)¶

Jer 33:13 — "the flocks pass again under the hands of him that telleth them"
2Ki 12:10 — "they told and put up the money that was found in the house of the LORD" (counting/weighing)

The pastoral and commercial sense connects to the root meaning "to weigh out" — the careful assessment of what one possesses.

Common Collocations¶

Word	Strong's	Co-occurrences	Typical Pattern
אָמַר (ʾamar)	H559	6x	Speech context: "said... number"
יְהֹוָה (YHWH)	H3068	6x	God as subject of appointing/numbering
יִשְׂרָאֵל (Yisrael)	H3478	6x	Object of census numbering
מֶלֶךְ (melek)	H4428	6x	King as appointing authority
אֱלֹהִים (elohim)	H430	5x	God as subject of preparing
סָפַר (saphar)	H5608	4x	Synonym pair: "number and count"
צֹאן (tson)	H6629	4x	Sheep/flocks as objects counted
מִסְפָּר (mispar)	H4557	3x	Cognate noun: "number" alongside verb
יוֹנָה (Yonah)	H3124	3x	Jonah narrative "prepared" cluster
דָּוִד (David)	H1732	4x	David census narratives

Synonyms¶

H4557 מִסְפָּר (mispar) — number, count (noun; cognate from same root)
H5608 סָפַר (saphar) — to count, recount, inscribe (near-synonym; broader range including "tell/declare")

Word Family / Cognates¶

H4488 מָנֶה (maneh) — a mina (unit of weight/currency); from the root idea of weighing out
H4489 מֹנֶה (moneh) — a counting, time (occurrence)
H4490 מָנָה (manah) — portion, part (noun homograph); what is allotted
H4507 מְנֵא (mene) — the Aramaic form in Dan 5:25-26, "MENE, MENE" — God has numbered

Easily Confused Words¶

Word	Strong's	Shared Translation	Key Difference
סָפַר (saphar)	H5608	"number," "count," "tell"	saphar = broader: score/inscribe/recount/declare; manah = weigh out/allot with intent
פָּקַד (paqad)	H6485	"number," "appoint"	paqad = visit/attend to/muster (relational oversight); manah = enumerate or assign
מִסְפָּר (mispar)	H4557	"number"	mispar = the number itself (noun); manah = the act of numbering (verb)
כּוּן (kun)	H3559	"prepared"	kun = establish/set firmly; manah Piel = sovereignly ordain/appoint for a purpose

LXX Mapping¶

Greek Equivalent	Co-occurrences	PMI	Notes
ἀριθμέω (arithmeo) G705	9	7.98	Primary — "to number/count"; direct semantic match
προστάσσω (prostasso) G4367	4	7.01	"to arrange/appoint"; maps to Piel appointment sense
πρόβατον (probaton) G4263	4	3.80	Contextual — sheep in counting passages
ψυχή (psyche) G5590	3	1.99	Contextual — "soul" in adjacent phrases

The LXX split mirrors the Hebrew stem distinction: Qal/Niphal → ἀριθμέω (enumerate), Piel → προστάσσω (appoint/ordain).