קָיָה
to vomit
Definition
The Hebrew verb קָיָה (qâyâh) means 'to vomit' or 'to spew out.' It is used in the Old Testament to describe the physical act of vomiting, but in its sole biblical occurrence, it carries a strong metaphorical sense of forceful expulsion or rejection. In Jeremiah 25:27, God commands the nations to drink the 'cup of his wrath' until they 'vomit' and fall, never to rise again, portraying divine judgment as an intoxicating force that leads to catastrophic downfall. This imagery emphasizes the completeness and violence of God's punitive action against rebellion.
Biblical Usage
This word appears only once in the Old Testament, in Jeremiah 25:27. It is used in a prophetic oracle of judgment against the nations. The context is metaphorical, where drinking the cup of God's wrath causes a violent, incapacitating reaction—vomiting—symbolizing total defeat and humiliation. There is no pattern of literal usage in the biblical text; its sole function is this vivid figurative depiction of divine retribution.
Etymology
קָיָה is a primitive root in Biblical Hebrew, meaning its etymology is not clearly derived from another Hebrew word. It is a basic term for vomiting. Cognates exist in other Semitic languages, such as Aramaic and Arabic, with similar meanings related to spewing or disgorging, confirming its core sense of forceful expulsion.
Semantic Range
This word is theologically significant as it vividly illustrates the concept of God's judgment. The metaphor in Jeremiah 25:27 portrays divine wrath not as mere anger but as an overpowering, intoxicating force that leads to utter ruin and inability to recover. Understanding this Hebrew term enriches reading by highlighting the physicality and finality of the prophetic warning—judgment is depicted as something violently rejected by the very being of the sinner, leaving them prostrate.
In the ancient Near Eastern context, vomiting was a potent symbol of rejection, impurity, and severe distress. A cup of wine or poison causing vomiting was a known metaphor for suffering a disastrous fate. This cultural understanding makes Jeremiah's imagery immediately recognizable to his original audience: drinking a divinely administered cup to the point of vomiting signifies being forced to consume judgment until it destroys you from within.
קִיא (qî', H6958) — a more common noun for 'vomit,' referring to the substance itself, while קָיָה is the verb for the act. הָקִיא (hāqî', H6958) — the causative verb form meaning 'to cause to vomit' or 'to spew out,' used in Leviticus 18:25, 28 for the land disgorging its inhabitants.
Word Details
How this works
Hebrew definitions are from Brown-Driver-Briggs (1906) and Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (1890), both public domain. BDB was groundbreaking for its era but reflects 19th-century assumptions about Semitic etymology. Modern scholarship (HALOT, DCH) has revised many entries. Use these definitions as a starting point for exploration, not as the final word on a term's meaning in context.
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