Bible Dictionary
FAMISH
To famish means to suffer or cause severe hunger, or to become lean and deprived. Scripture uses the word literally of people and figuratively of the weakening or deprivation of powers.
Definition
To famish means to suffer or cause severe hunger, or to become lean and deprived. It may be used transitively of causing hunger or weakness and intransitively of experiencing hunger.
Biblical Usage
The land of Egypt was famished during famine; honorable men are described as famished; and Proverbs declares that the Lord will not allow the soul of the righteous to famish.
Historical Background
The underlying Hebrew words mean to hunger or to make lean. The entry distinguishes the use of famish for hunger from its use for becoming thin or deprived.
Historical Bible Dictionaries
International Standard Bible Encyclopedia (ISBE)
<p>fam'-ish ra`ebh, razah): "To famish" as a transitive verb is the translation of ra`ebh, "to hunger" (Ge 41:55): "All the land of Egypt was famished"; of ra`abh, "hunger" (Isa 5:13), "Their honorable men are famished," margin "Hebrew their glory are men of famine"; of razah, "to make lean," "famish" (Ze 2:11), "For he will famish all the gods of the earth"; it is intransitive as the translation of ra`ebh (Pr 10:3), "Yahweh will not suffer the soul of the righteous to famish."</p>