One of the eight, and the more intimate of Psalm 119's two words for word. From the root to say. Not the decree but the thing spoken, the saying in HaShem's own mouth.
The full definition
Psalm 119 has two words that English renders alike as "word." One is davar, the weightier term, a word that is also a matter, a thing, an event. The other is imrah, from amar, simply to say. Imrah is the said thing, the utterance, and it carries a warmth that davar does not always carry.
It is the word underneath the verse most people know: "in my heart I have treasured your imrah, that I might not sin against you" (Psalm 119:11). Not a statute filed away. A saying from Someone, held close.
And again: "how sweet are your imrah to my palate, sweeter than honey to my mouth" (119:103). You do not say that about a legal code. You say it about words from a mouth you love. English flattens both terms to "word," and the distinction goes, and the tenderness goes with it.
Key passages
- Psalm 119:11
- Psalm 119:103
- Psalm 119:140
- Psalm 12:6