אַדִּיר (addiyr) describes what is wide or large, and by extension what is powerful. In the passages where it appears, it marks gods, waters, a “Mighty One,” and also leading people and notable nations with language of scale and strength.
Occurrences
“Woe to us! Who shall deliver us out of the hand of these mighty gods? These are the gods that struck the Egyptians with all kinds of plagues in the wilderness.” (1 Samuel 4:8)
Here addiyr characterizes “gods” as “mighty,” framing them as beings of imposing power. The speaker’s fear (“Woe to us!”) and the question about deliverance sharpen the adjective’s force: the gods are pictured as capable of overpowering human opponents, reinforced by the remembered scale of “all kinds of plagues.”
“He took the captains of hundreds, the nobles, the governors of the people, and all the people of the land, and brought the king down from Yahweh’s house. They came through the upper gate to the king’s house, and set the king on the throne of the kingdom.” (2 Chronicles 23:20)
In this procession scene, addiyr appears in the description of elite figures (rendered here as “the nobles”). The word contributes a sense of prominence and weight within the public order: these are not ordinary attendants but socially “large” persons—leaders whose standing helps legitimate the movement of the king from Yahweh’s house to “the throne of the kingdom.”
“You blew with your wind. The sea covered them. They sank like lead in the mighty waters.” (Exodus 15:10)
Applied to “waters,” addiyr gives the sea a quality of overwhelming magnitude and force. The simile “like lead” presses the image of irresistible depth: the waters are not merely present but powerfully able to cover and swallow, matching the preceding action where the wind drives the sea’s response.
“I will plant it in the mountain of the height of Israel; and it will produce boughs, and bear fruit, and be a good cedar. Birds of every kind will dwell in the shade of its branches.” (Ezekiel 17:23)
Although addiyr is not visible in the English wording of this verse, it is counted here as an occurrence, so it belongs to the conceptual field of size and strength within this cedar image. The verse itself is filled with growth language—“produce boughs,” “bear fruit,” “shade,” and room enough for “Birds of every kind”—a setting where an adjective of largeness or power naturally reinforces the cedar’s imposing, sheltering presence.
““Son of man, wail for the multitude of Egypt, and cast them down, even her and the daughters of the famous nations, to the lower parts of the earth, with those who go down into the pit.” (Ezekiel 32:18)
In this lament, addiyr qualifies “nations” (rendered “famous nations”), marking them as notable in scale or power. The command to “cast them down” to “the lower parts of the earth” creates a steep contrast: peoples described with grandeur are brought to the same end as others “who go down into the pit,” so the adjective heightens the shock of their descent.
“He will cut down the thickets of the forest with iron, and Lebanon will fall by the Mighty One.” (Isaiah 10:34)
Here addiyr is presented as a title-like description: “the Mighty One.” The verse is dominated by images of forceful cutting—“cut down,” “with iron,” “Lebanon will fall”—and the adjective concentrates the cause of that devastation into a single, powerful agent. The scale of “Lebanon” and its forest makes the designation “Mighty” feel proportionate to the act.
“But there Yahweh will be with us in majesty, a place of wide rivers and streams, in which no galley with oars will go, neither will any gallant ship pass by there.” (Isaiah 33:21)
Addiyr here is rendered in two coordinated ideas: “in majesty” (attached to Yahweh’s presence) and “wide rivers and streams” (describing the place). The verse pairs breadth with security: the waterways are “wide,” yet paradoxically inaccessible to hostile “galley” or “gallant ship.” The adjective thus supports an image of expansive space that is not vulnerable but protected.
“Their nobles send their little ones to the waters. They come to the cisterns, and find no water. They return with their vessels empty. They are disappointed and confounded, and cover their heads.” (Jeremiah 14:3)
In this scene of drought and shame, addiyr describes “nobles,” those of elevated station. The adjective’s contribution is ironic: the “large” or “powerful” segment of society cannot secure the basic necessity of water. Their authority is implied in their ability to “send,” yet the outcome—“find no water,” “vessels empty”—shows the limits of human standing in the face of the crisis.
“Wail, you shepherds, and cry. Wallow in dust, you leader of the flock; for the days of your slaughter and of your dispersions have fully come, and you will fall like fine pottery.” (Jeremiah 25:34)
Addiyr appears in the designation “leader of the flock,” describing the chief ones among the shepherds. The word’s sense of prominence intensifies the humiliation commanded—“Wallow in dust”—and the coming ruin—“you will fall like fine pottery.” The greater the leader’s stature, the more striking the image of collapse into shards.
“The shepherds will have no way to flee. The leader of the flock will have no escape.” (Jeremiah 25:35)
Again applied to the “leader of the flock,” addiyr underlines that even the powerful cannot evade what is coming. The parallel lines remove all exits: “no way to flee” and “no escape.” The adjective helps portray leadership as no shelter when judgment closes in.
“A voice of the cry of the shepherds, and the wailing of the leader of the flock, for Yahweh destroys their pasture.” (Jeremiah 25:36)
This repetition completes the earlier trio of lines: the leaders, marked with addiyr, are heard in “wailing.” The reason given—“for Yahweh destroys their pasture”—turns the adjective into a marker of responsibility and loss: the prominent ones grieve because the place that sustains the flock is ruined.
“Their prince will be one of them, and their ruler will proceed from among them. I will cause him to draw near, and he will approach me; for who is he who has had boldness to approach me?” says Yahweh.” (Jeremiah 30:21)
In this promise about leadership, addiyr is associated with rulership (rendered here with “prince” / “ruler”). The verse stresses internal origin—“one of them,” “from among them”—and unusual access—“draw near,” “approach me.” The adjective’s field of power fits a ruler, yet the verse also defines true stature in terms of sanctioned nearness to Yahweh: the central question is bold approach, not mere rank.
Sense and Usage
Across these passages, addiyr regularly marks what stands out by sheer scale (as with “mighty waters” and “wide rivers and streams”) and what stands out by social or personal power (as with “nobles,” “leader of the flock,” and a “prince” or “ruler”). It can function as an attribute of feared divine power (“mighty gods”) and as a concentrated designation of decisive agency (“the Mighty One”), both of which fit contexts where outcomes are overwhelming—plagues remembered, forests cut down, and nations cast into the pit.
The word’s range also supports sharp contrasts. In Jeremiah 14:3, the “nobles” cannot produce water; their largeness does not translate into control of drought. In Jeremiah 25:34–36, the leaders’ prominence does not provide escape; instead, it amplifies the disgrace of “wallow in dust” and the sound of “wailing.” In Isaiah 33:21, by contrast, breadth (“wide rivers and streams”) becomes an image of safety because hostile ships cannot enter; largeness there is not vulnerability but protected space. In Jeremiah 30:21, the leader’s stature is expressed through nearness and approach, suggesting that the most meaningful kind of power in the verse is authorized access.
Imagery
Addiyr tends to gather “bigness” into concrete pictures: waters that swallow, rivers that spread wide, forests that fall, and leaders whose height is measured by how far they can fall. Even where the setting is not physical (social ranks, famous nations), the word still carries spatial weight—people and peoples portrayed as “large” presences within the world of the text, whether for fear, for honor, or for judgment.
Sources:
Lexical data from Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance and the Open Scriptures Hebrew Lexicon. Occurrence data from the Westminster Leningrad Codex with STEPBible reference data (CC BY). Scripture quotations from the World English Bible (public domain).
