מָאוֹס (ma.os)
ma.os
refuse
H:N-MQuick Reference
- Language
- Biblical Hebrew
- Testament
- Old Testament
- Occurrences
- 1 verses
- Root
- —
- Part of speech
- H:N-M
Word Overview
The Hebrew noun ma’os refers to refuse or trash, describing waste material that has been discarded and deemed worthless. It appears only once in the Hebrew Bible, in Lamentations 3:45, where it carries a heavy emotional weight by equating human dignity with garbage.
In this single occurrence, the poet describes how nations have treated God’s people as ma’os, or refuse. This stark imagery conveys total rejection and humiliation, suggesting that the community has been cast aside like unusable debris. The word underscores the depth of their suffering by reducing their social status to that of something to be thrown away.
Translators typically render this term as "refuse" or "trash," preserving the rawness of the original insult. By using such a concrete and degrading noun, the text highlights the severity of the exile, where the people felt stripped of all honor and value in the eyes of the world.
Based on public-domain lexicons (Strong's, Thayer, Gesenius, Brown-Driver-Briggs and others).
What This Word Means for Your Faith
The word ma’os describes waste that has been thrown away, something so worthless it is no longer fit for use. In Lamentations 3:45, the poet uses this harsh image to show how deeply rejected God’s people felt. They were treated like trash by the nations around them, stripped of dignity and honor.
Yet this raw description reminds us that human worth does not come from how others treat us. Even when we feel cast aside or invisible, our value remains secure in God’s eyes. He sees what the world ignores. His love does not depend on our social status or how useful we appear to those around us.
When shame or rejection weighs heavily on your heart, remember that God is close to the brokenhearted. He does not discard what He has made. You are known and held by Him, regardless of how the world may respond.
How it's translated
How this word is rendered word-by-word in the 1 verses where it appears, by frequency.
- and/ refuse1×
Forms in the text
The inflected forms of this word as they appear in Scripture, by frequency.
- וּ/מָא֛וֹס1×
Key Verses
-
Lamentations 3:45
You have made us an off-scouring and refuse in the middle of the peoples.
This verse uses ma’os to depict the total humiliation of God’s people, who were treated as worthless waste by surrounding nations.