H4823 — מִרְמָס (mirmâs)¶

Core Data¶

Strong's: H4823
Original: מִרְמָס
Transliteration: mirmâs (mirmâç)
Pronunciation: meer-mawce'
Part of Speech: Masculine noun (n-m)
Root: רָמַס (râmas, H7429) — "to tread upon, trample"; mirmâs is the miqtal pattern nominal derivative denoting either the act of trampling or the thing/place trampled (result-noun / place-noun)
Occurrences: 7 verses / 8 tokens in OT
Books: 4 (Isaiah, Ezekiel, Daniel, Micah)
First Occurrence: Isa 5:5 — "break down the wall thereof, and it shall be trodden down (mirmâs)"
Hapax Legomenon: No (but concentrated: Isaiah carries 4 of 7 uses)

Lexicon Definition¶

From H7429 (râmas). "Abasement (the act or the thing)" — tread (down), treading, (to be) trodden (down) under foot (Strong's). The noun denotes either the activity of trampling or, more frequently, the state/result of being trampled: the object, land, or people given over to trampling. The BHSA/DSS gloss is "trampled land," capturing the typical usage as a designation of what has become subjugated ground.

The miqtal pattern (prefixed m- + three-radical root) on an action verb like râmas characteristically yields (a) an abstract action-noun, (b) a place-noun (where the action happens), or (c) a passive result-noun (what has been acted upon). Mirmâs covers all three senses depending on context, with the passive-result sense dominant in prophetic usage.

Translation Distribution (KJV)¶

Translation	Verses	%
trodden down	3	43%
to be trodden under foot	1	14%
that which ye have trodden	1	14%
and for the treading	1	14%
tread	1	14%
down (part of "tread them down")	1	14%

Every KJV rendering uses the English stem tread / trodden — there is no semantic spread into other English fields. The 8 tokens map to 6 distinct phrasings, reflecting that translators chose to render the noun periphrastically ("to be trodden," "that which ye have trodden") rather than as a single English noun.

Distribution by Book¶

Book	Count	Per 100 Verses
Micah	1	1.0
Isaiah	4	0.3
Daniel	1	0.3
Ezekiel	1	0.1

Exclusively prophetic — absent from Torah, historical books, and Writings. Isaiah dominates (4/7 ≈ 57%). All four books are oracle/vision literature; the word belongs to the technical vocabulary of prophetic judgment and restoration oracles. Appears in apocalyptic (Dan 8:13), classical judgment prophecy (Isa 5, 10, 28), pastoral rebuke (Eze 34:19), and restoration expectation (Mic 7:10).

Morphological Forms (BHSA)¶

Reference	Form	Parsing	Gloss
Isa 5:5	מִרְמָֽס	Noun.ms.Abs	trampled land
Isa 7:25	מִרְמַ֖ס	Noun.ms.Cst (construct)	trampled (place)
Isa 10:6	מִרְמָ֖ס	Noun.ms.Abs	trampled land
Isa 28:18	מִרְמָֽס	Noun.ms.Abs	trampled land
Eze 34:19	מִרְמַ֤ס	Noun.ms.Cst (construct)	trampled (residue)
Mic 7:10	מִרְמָ֖ס	Noun.ms.Abs	trampled land
Dan 8:13	מִרְמָֽס	Noun.ms.Abs	trampled land

All 7 occurrences are singular masculine. 5 absolute, 2 construct (Isa 7:25 mirmas sěh "trampling-place of sheep"; Eze 34:19 mirmas ragleykem "the trampling of your feet"). No plural form occurs in OT.

Semantic Categories¶

1. Judgment on Covenant Land / Vineyard Given Over to Trampling¶

Isa 5:5 — "I will take away the hedge thereof, and it shall be eaten up; [and] break down the wall thereof, and it shall be trodden down (mirmâs)" (the Song of the Vineyard — covenant Israel as vineyard abandoned to trampling)
Isa 7:25 — "it shall be for the sending forth of oxen, and for the treading (mirmas) of lesser cattle" (hills of Judah reduced to pasture during Assyrian crisis)

The first two Isaiah uses set the fundamental frame: covenant land, once under God's cultivated protection, is handed over as trampled ground.

2. Imperial Conquest / Spoil-and-Trampling¶

Isa 10:6 — "I will send him [Assyria] against an hypocritical nation… to take the spoil, and to take the prey, and to tread them down (lě-mirmas) like the mire of the streets" (Assyria as YHWH's rod; the nation reduced to mirmas as "mire in the streets")
Mic 7:10 — "now shall she be trodden down (lě-mirmas) as the mire of the streets" (the tables turned — Israel's enemy in turn becomes mirmas)

Mirmâs + "mire of the streets" (ṭîṭ ḥûṣôt) is a fixed prophetic simile for total humiliation. It recurs in Isa 10:6 and Mic 7:10 with near-identical wording.

3. Covenant-Curse / Overflowing Scourge¶

Isa 28:18 — "your covenant with death shall be disannulled… when the overflowing scourge shall pass through, then ye shall be trodden down (lě-mirmâs) by it" (the false covenant unable to shield; the agents of trampling are the very powers the leaders thought they had bought off)

4. Abuse by Corrupt Shepherds (Inner-Covenant Oppression)¶

Eze 34:19 — "[as for] my flock, they eat that which ye have trodden with your feet (mirmas raglêkem); and they drink that which ye have fouled" (the bad shepherds' trampled residue — internal oppression, not external invasion; shepherds abuse what belongs to the flock)

5. Apocalyptic Sanctuary Trampling (Dan 8)¶

Dan 8:13 — "How long [shall be] the vision [concerning] the daily [sacrifice], and the transgression of desolation, to give both the sanctuary and the host to be trodden under foot (mirmâs)?" (the little-horn vision; sanctuary and people given over as mirmâs — the climax of prophetic mirmâs language, transferring the field from vineyard/nation to sanctuary/host)

In Dan 8:13 the noun stands predicatively with a verb of giving: "to give (la-tēt) the holy place and the host for/as mirmâs." This is the same construction as Isa 10:6 (lě-mirmas ḥûṣôt) and Mic 7:10 — "to be/become a trampled thing."

Common Collocations¶

Word	Strong's	Co-occurrences	Typical Pattern
אָמַר (ʼâmar) "say"	H559	2× (29%)	prophetic speech-framing formula ("thus saith")
אֲשֶׁר (ʼăsher)	H834	2× (29%)	relative clause introducing the trampling description
חוּץ (ḥûts) "street/outside"	H2351	2× (29%)	"mire of the streets" simile (Isa 10:6; Mic 7:10)
לֹא (lôʼ) "not"	H3808	2× (29%)	negation accompanying judgment/reversal oracles
עַתָּה (ʻattâh) "now"	H6258	2× (29%)	"now I will…" — oracle-opening adverb (Isa 5:5; Mic 7:10)
בְּרִית (berîyth) "covenant"	H1285	1× (14%)	Isa 28:18 — covenant with death broken → mirmâs
חָזוֹן (châzôwn) "vision"	H2377	1× (14%)	Dan 8:13 — the vision concerning mirmâs
צָבָא (tsâbâʼ) "host"	H6635	1× (14%)	Dan 8:13 — sanctuary and host given to mirmâs
גָּדֵר (gâdêr) "wall/hedge"	H1447	1× (14%)	Isa 5:5 — hedge removed so trampling can occur

Collocation profile clusters in two directions: (a) "mire of streets" humiliation similes (Isa 10:6 / Mic 7:10), and (b) prophetic oracle markers ("now," "say," vision, host, covenant). This is not narrative vocabulary — it is the technical lexicon of prophetic judgment and reversal oracles.

Word Family / Cognates¶

רָמַס (râmas, H7429) — root verb, 19v: "to tread upon, trample, stamp upon." The verb/noun pair functions as a technical prophetic word-pair: the act (râmas) and the resulting condition (mirmâs) of subjugation. See H7429-ramas.md.

Synonyms¶

No synonyms returned by search_relationships.py for H4823.

Antonyms¶

No antonyms returned by search_relationships.py for H4823.

Easily Confused / Overlapping Words¶

Word	Strong's	Shared Translation	Key Difference
מְבוּסָה (mebûsâh)	H4001	"treading down / trodden under foot"	Feminine noun from H947 bûs; 3v (Isa 18:2, 7; 22:5). Directly parallel miqtal-pattern noun from a synonymous trampling verb; the feminine counterpart to mirmâs from a different root.
בּוּס (bûs)	H947	"tread down, tread under foot"	Verb: "to trample with contempt/loathing"; more forceful subjugation nuance than râmas. Used in covenant-reversal contexts (Ps 44:5, 60:12, 108:13; Isa 14:19, 63:6, 63:18; Zec 10:5).
דּוּשׁ (dûsh)	H1758	"tread / thresh"	Agricultural threshing (grain under cattle/sledge). Different semantic field (harvest vs. humiliation), but metaphorically extended for military crushing (Isa 25:10; Mic 4:13; Hab 3:12).
דָּרַךְ (dârak)	H1869	"tread"	General "tread/walk/bend (a bow)"; used for winepress treading in neutral production sense (Jdg 9:27; Neh 13:15). The ordinary tread-verb, distinct from râmas's hostile/abusive register.
רָפַשׂ (râphas)	H7515	"foul with feet"	Rare; specifically fouling water by trampling (Eze 32:2; 34:18 — same pericope as Eze 34:19 mirmâs).

Synonymous Nouns¶

מְבוּסָה H4001 — "a trampling" (Isa 18:2 "meted out and trodden under foot"; Isa 18:7; Isa 22:5 "day of trouble… of treading down… in the valley of vision")
The pair mirmâs (masc) and mebûsâh (fem) together form the noun-class for "trampled state/place" in prophetic usage. Mebûsâh is exclusively Isaianic; mirmâs ranges across four prophets.

UBS Semantic Domains¶

Code	Domain Label	Notes
002001001024	Impact	Core domain for trampling, crushing force, and the resulting state of being reduced under foot.

LXX Mapping¶

Verse-level alignment data (PMI-weighted) shows no single dominant Greek equivalent — the LXX translators rendered mirmâs variously, often by restructuring the clause rather than using a one-to-one noun. Observed renderings in verse-level alignment (strongs_translations.db):

LXX Strategy	Example	Notes
καταπατέω (G2662) as verb	Isa 10:6 LXX — katapatein tas poleis "to trample the cities"	Converts the noun phrase "to be mirmas" into an infinitive verb; G2662 is the dominant LXX rendering for the verb râmas (H7429, PMI 8.03)
συμπατέω / καταπατέω with eis	Isa 5:5; Isa 28:18 (estai eis katapatēma / periphrases)	Periphrastic — "shall be for trampling"
Clause-level restructuring	Dan 8:13 (Old Greek: hē hamartia erēmōseōs… hē dotheisa kai to hagion kai hē dunamis)	OG smooths away the noun; Theodotion preserves it closer to Hebrew
Mic 7:10 — eis katapatēma / hōs pēlos	"as mire"	OG reproduces the simile; noun-form of katapateo

The Greek root καταπατέω (G2662) and its cognate noun καταπάτημα (katapatēma) carry the mirmâs semantic load into the NT, where G2662 appears in theologically weighted sanctuary/people contexts:

Matt 5:13 — salt "trodden under foot of men" (katapateisthai)
Matt 7:6 — pearls "trampled under feet"
Heb 10:29 — apostate who "hath trodden under foot the Son of God"
Luke 21:24 — "Jerusalem shall be trodden down (patoumenē, from G3961 pateō) of the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled"
Rev 11:2 — "the court… is given unto the Gentiles: and the holy city shall they tread under foot (patēsousin, G3961) forty [and] two months"

Luke 21:24 and Rev 11:2 use G3961 pateō rather than G2662 — a related verb in the same domain; the sanctuary/holy-city-trampling image carries through regardless of which compound is used. Both compounds share the prefix-less root pat- with G2662.