סָמַךְçâmak

lean, lay, rest, support

Pronunciation: saw-mak' · Hebrew/Aramaic (Old Testament) · H5564

Meanings

Qal: active, passive (Deuteronomy 34:9; Ezekiel 24:2; Amos 5:19)

1.

a. lean or lay hand upon (עַלֿ) (Amos 5:19; Exodus 29:10; Exodus 29:15)

b. hath rested (Psalms 88:8; Ezekiel 24:2)

2. support, uphold, sustain, only figurative (Genesis 27:37; Psalms 51:14; Ezekiel 30:6)

Niph`al: support, or brace oneself (Psalms 71:6; Isaiah 48:2; 2 Kings 18:21)

Pi`el: sustain, (refresh, revive) (Song of Solomon 2:5)

Same root

Where it appears

Appears 48 times in the Bible.

  • Genesis 27:37 Isaac said to Esau, “I have made Jacob your master and have declared that all his brothers will be his servants. I have guaranteed him an abundance of grain and wine—what is left for me to give you, my son?”
  • Exodus 29:10 “Bring the young bull to the entrance of the Tabernacle, where Aaron and his sons will lay their hands on its head.
  • Exodus 29:15 “Next Aaron and his sons must lay their hands on the head of one of the rams.
  • Exodus 29:19 “Now take the other ram, and have Aaron and his sons lay their hands on its head.
  • Leviticus 1:4 Lay your hand on the animal’s head, and the Lord will accept its death in your place to purify you, making you right with him.
  • Leviticus 3:2 Lay your hand on the animal’s head, and slaughter it at the entrance of the Tabernacle. Then Aaron’s sons, the priests, will splatter its blood against all sides of the altar.
See every passage

Source: Brown, Driver and Briggs, Hebrew and English Lexicon of the Old Testament (1906), public domain; markup by unfoldingWord, CC BY (github.com/unfoldingWord/Brown-Driver-Briggs-Enhanced).