'Matter' in the Bible

Then Yahweh afflicted Pharaoh and his household with severe plagues on account of the matter of Sarai the wife of Abram.

And Abraham said, "Because I thought, surely there is no fear of God in this place; they will kill me on account of the matter of my wife.

For Yahweh had completely closed up all the wombs of the house of Abimelech because of the matter of Sarah, the wife of Abraham.

And the matter {displeased Abraham very much} on account of his son.

And God heard the cry of the boy and the angel of God called to Hagar from the heavens and said to her, "{What is the matter} Hagar? Do not be afraid, for God has heard the cry of the boy {from where he is}.

Then the servant put his hand under the thigh of Abraham his master, and he swore to him concerning this matter.

Then Laban and Bethuel answered, and they said, "The matter has gone out from Yahweh; we are not able to speak bad or good to you.

And his brothers were jealous of him, but his father kept the matter [in mind].

Now concerning the repetition of the dream twice to Pharaoh, [it is] because the matter [is] established by God, and God will do [it] quickly.

And he said, "Who {appointed you as a commander} and a judge over us? [Are] you intending to kill me like you killed the Egyptian?" And Moses was afraid, and he said, "Surely the matter has become known."

And Pharaoh heard this matter, and he sought to kill Moses, and Moses fled from Pharaoh, and he lived in the land of Midian, and he lived at {a certain well}.

And Moses and Aaron went out from Pharaoh, and Moses cried out to Yahweh over the matter of the frogs that he had brought on Pharaoh.

Now I know that Yahweh is greater than all the gods, {even in the matter where they the Egyptians dealt arrogantly against the Israelites}."

Concerning every account of transgression--concerning an ox, concerning a donkey, concerning small livestock, concerning clothing, concerning all lost property--where [someone] says, "This belongs to me," the matter of the two of them will come to God; whomever God declares guilty will make double restitution to his neighbor.

" 'If Israel's whole assembly did wrong unintentionally and the matter was concealed from the assembly's eyes, and they acted [against] {any of} Yahweh's commands that should not be {violated}, so that they incur guilt,

Then they put him in custody {so that} [the matter] might be made clear to them in accordance with the mouth of Yahweh.

The {Israelites} said to him, "We will go up on the main road, and if we and our livestock drink your water, we will pay [for it]. It is only a small matter; let us pass through on our feet."

because they [were] attacking you with their deception, [with] which they have deceived you on the matter of Peor and on the matter of Cozbi the daughter of the leader of Midian, their sister who was struck on the day of the plague because of the matter of Peor."

Behold, these women {caused} the {Israelites}, by the word of Balaam, to be in apostasy against Yahweh in the matter of Peor, so that the plague was among the community of Yahweh.

The fact of the matter is, Yahweh your God has blessed you in {all the work you have done}; he knows {your travels} [with respect to] this great wilderness; forty years Yahweh your God [has been] with you; you have not lacked a thing." '

But Yahweh was very angry with me because of you, and he would not listen to me, and Yahweh said, '{Enough of that from you}! You shall not speak to me [any] longer about this matter!

The fact of the matter is, {your own eyes have seen} all [of] the great deeds of Yahweh that he did.

"{If a matter is too difficult for you}, [for example disputes] between blood and blood, between legal claim and legal claim and between assault and assault [and between] matters of discernment in your {towns}, then you shall get up and you shall go to the place that Yahweh your God will choose;

For the fact of the matter is, their rock [is] not like our Rock, and our enemies recognize [this].

for it [is] not a trifling matter among you, but it [is] your life, and through this word {you will live long in the land} that you [are about] to cross the Jordan [to get] there to take possession of it."

And they called to the descendants of Dan, who turned around to face them, and they said to Micah, "What is the matter with you that you assembled together?"

He said, "You took away my gods that I had made, and the priest, and then you go [away]. What [is] now left for me? How can you say to me, 'What is the matter?'"

And she said, "Wait, my daughter, until you know how the matter turns out, for the man will not rest but will settle the matter today."

(Now this {was the custom in former times} in Israel concerning the kinsman-redemption and transfer of property: to confirm the matter, a man removed his sandal and gave [it] to his fellow countryman. This [was] the manner of attesting in Israel.)

But the matter {was displeasing to Samuel} when they said, "Give us a king to judge us," so Samuel prayed to Yahweh.

Then Saul said to his uncle, "He told us for certain that the female donkeys had been found." But he did not tell him about the matter of the kingship [of] which Samuel had spoken.

{Just then}, Saul was coming from the field behind the cattle. Saul said, "What [is the matter] with the people, that they [are] weeping?" So they recounted to him the words of the men of Jabesh.

Now Saul's daughter Michal loved David, so they told Saul, and the matter {pleased him}.

So his servants told David these words, and the matter {pleased David} to become the son-in-law of the king [as] {the specified time had not expired}.

And [as for] the matter about which you and I spoke, look, Yahweh [is] between you and me forever."

But the boy did not know anything [about this]; only Jonathan and David knew the matter.

So David said to Ahimelech the priest, "The king charged me [with] a matter and said to me, 'No one must know anything about this matter [on] which I am sending you, [with] which I have charged you and the servants.'" So {I have arranged to meet with my servants at a certain place}.

David asked Ahimelech, "Is there not {at your disposal} a spear or a sword? For I took neither my sword nor my weapons with me because the king's matter was urgent."

[Only] today I began to inquire of God for him. Far be it from me that {the king should impute anything against his servant} or against my father's household, for your servant has not known any of this matter, little or much."

And who would listen to you regarding this matter? For as the share of the one who went down into the battle, so the share of the one who remained with the baggage will be. They will share alike."

Now may Yahweh show loyal love and faithfulness with you. I will also show the good with you that you have done in this matter.

Then David said to the messenger, "Thus you shall say to Joab, '{Do not feel badly about this matter}; {now one and then another} the sword will devour. Intensify your attack on the city and overthrow it.'" And he encouraged him.

But because you have {utterly scorned} Yahweh in this matter, the son born for you {will certainly die}."

Absalom her brother said to her, "[Was] Amnon your brother with you? But now, my sister, be quiet; he [is] your brother. {Do not take this matter to heart}." So Tamar remained a desolate woman in the house of Absalom her brother.

Absalom did not speak with Amnon {either bad or good}, for Absalom hated Amnon {over the matter when} he raped Tamar his sister.

So then, let not my lord the king set his heart on this matter, thinking, 'All the sons of the king [are] dead,' for only Amnon alone [is] dead."

The king ordered Joab, Abishai, and Ittai, "With respect to the young man Absalom, [deal] gently for me." And all the troops heard when the king ordered all of the commanders concerning the matter of Absalom.

If I had dealt treacherously against his life, and [there is] not any matter hidden from the king, {you would have presented yourself aloof}."

Then the king said to him, "Why should you speak any more [about] the matter? I have decided: you and Ziba shall divide the land."

Then all the men of Judah answered the men of Israel, "Because the king [is] my close relative! Why [are] you this angry over this matter? {Have we by any means eaten [anything] from the king? Did we take by any means anything that was not ours}?"

That is not the matter. But a man from the mountains of Ephraim, whose name [is] Sheba the son Bicri, has lifted up his hand against the king, against David. Give only him to us, and I will depart from the city." The woman said to Joab, "Look, his head [is] being thrown down to you over the wall."

Then the Gibeonites said to him, "{It is not a matter for us of} silver or gold with Saul or with his household. It is not for us to put to death anyone in Israel." He asked, "What [are] you saying [that] I should do for you all?"

And he had commanded him concerning this matter not to go after other gods, but he did not keep that which Yahweh commanded.

This matter became sin in the house of Jeroboam, to make it disappear and to destroy [it] from the surface of the earth.

because David did right in the eyes of Yahweh and he didn't turn aside from all that he commanded him all the days of his life, except in the matter of Uriah the Hittite.

As far as this matter, may Yahweh pardon your servant when my master goes [into] the house of Rimmon to worship there, and he [is] leaning himself on my arm, that I also bow down [in] the house of Rimmon: when I bow down [in] the house of Rimmon, may Yahweh please pardon your servant in this matter."

Then the heart of the king of Aram was stormy because of this matter, so he called his servants and said to them, "Can you not tell me {who among us sides with the king of Israel}?"

The son of Carmi: Achar, the troubler of Israel, who acted unfaithfully in the matter of the devoted thing.

And this was a small [matter] in your eyes, O God. And you have spoken concerning the house of your servant for a long [time] and have shown me {future generations to come}, O Yahweh God.

And his brothers, sons of ability, [were] two thousand seven hundred heads of the {families}, and King David appointed them over the Reubenites, the Gadites, and the half-tribe of Manasseh, for every matter of God and matter of the king.

'Thus says Yahweh: "Do not go up, and do not fight against your brothers. Return, each man to his house, for this matter has come from me." '" So they obeyed the words of Yahweh and turned back from going against Jeroboam.

And he set the gatekeepers at the gates of the house of Yahweh so that no person unclean with respect to any matter could enter

So he gathered the priests and the Levites and said to them, "Go out to the cities of Judah and gather money from all Israel to strengthen the house of your God sufficiently year by year. Now you yourselves must hasten to the matter." But the Levites did not act with haste.

And Hezekiah and all the people rejoiced over what God had established with the people, for the matter happened suddenly.

And thus [in the matter of] the envoys of the commanders of Babylon who had been sent to him to seek the sign that had happened in the land, God forsook him, to test him [and] to know all [that was] in his heart.

And be careful not to be negligent on this matter. Why should damage grow to hurt kings?"

And now, if it seems good for the king, let it be investigated in the house of the treasury of the king in Babylonia [to see] if a decree was issued forth from King Cyrus to build this house of God in Jerusalem. And let the king send to us his desire on this matter."

Then all the men of Judah and Benjamin assembled in Jerusalem within the three days. It was the ninth month on the twentieth day of the month. All the people sat in the public square of the house of God trembling because of this matter and from the rains.

But the people are many, and it is the time of rain; we are unable to stand outside. The task is not for one day or two, for we greatly rebelled in this matter.

Please let our leaders stand for the whole assembly, and let all that are in our cities who have married foreign women come at set times, and with them the elders of and judges of each city, until the fierce wrath of our God because of this matter is averted from us."

The {returned exiles} did so. Ezra the priest selected men, the heads of the {families} according to the house of their fathers, all of them by name. They sat down to examine the matter on the first day of the tenth month.

And the matter became known to Mordecai and he told [it] to Queen Esther, and Esther told [it] to the king in the name of Mordecai.

And the matter was investigated and found [to be so]; and the two of them were hanged on [the] gallows, and it was written in the scroll of the events of the days before the presence of the king.

and she said, "If it is good to the king, and if I have found favor before him, and if the king is pleased with this matter, and {I have his approval}, let [an edict] be written to revoke the letters of the plans of Haman son of Hammedatha the Agagite, which he wrote to destroy the Jews that [are] in all the provinces of the king.

If {it is a matter of} strength, look, [he is] mighty. But if {it is a matter of} justice, who can summon me?

And you will decide on a matter, and it will be established for you, and light will shine on your ways.

They encourage themselves [in the] evil matter. They talk of secretly laying snares. They say, "Who will see them?"

A gossip walks [about] telling a secret, but the trustworthy in spirit keeps [the] matter.

He who is attentive to a matter will find goodness, and he who trusts in Yahweh, his own happiness.

He who forgives an affront fosters love, but he who waits on a matter will alienate a friend.

Apples of gold in a setting of silver is a matter spoken at its proper time.

For everything there [is] an appointed time, a time for every matter under heaven:

The end of a matter [is] better than its beginning; {better to be slow to anger than hot-headed}.

Do not be terrified of his presence! Go at once and do not delay when a matter [is] unpleasant, for he can do anything that he desires.

For there is a [proper] time and right [procedure] for every matter, even though the trouble of man [weighs] heavy upon him.

For I did not speak with your ancestors, nor did I command them in the day of bringing them out from the land of Egypt, concerning the matter of burnt offering and sacrifice.

[That] which came [as] the word of Yahweh to Jeremiah concerning the matter of the severe drought.

And in every matter of wisdom [and] understanding [about] which the king inquired from them, he found them ten times better [than] all [of] the magicians [and] conjurers that {were in his entire kingdom}.

The king answered and said, "{Certainly} I know that {you are trying to gain time} {because} you have seen {that this matter is firmly decreed by me},

{He asked} and said to Arioch, the royal official of the king, "{Why} is the decree from the king [so] severe?" Then Arioch explained the matter to Daniel.

Then Daniel went to his home, and he made the matter known to Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah, his companions,

To you, O God of my ancestors, I give thanks and I give praises, for the wisdom and the power you gave to me, and now you have made known to me what we have asked from you, for you have made known to us the matter of the king."

Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego answered and said to the king, Nebuchadnezzar, "We have no need on this matter {to present a defense to you}.

And now the wise men [and] the conjurers were brought in before me [so] that they could read this writing [in order to] make its explanation known to me, but they were not able to disclose the explanation of the matter.

"This [is] the explanation of the matter: 'Mene'--God has numbered your kingdom and brought an end [to] it.

Then they approached {and spoke with the king} concerning the edict of the king, "{Did you not sign an edict} that any person who would seek [anything] from any God or human within thirty days except from you, O king, would be thrown into {the lion pit}?" The king answered and said, "The matter [as you have just stated] is certain according to [the] law of [the] Medes and Persians which cannot be revoked."

[So] I approached one of the attendants and I asked him [about] the truth concerning all this; and he told me [that] he would make known to me the explanation of the matter.

{This is the end of the account}. {As for me, Daniel}--my thoughts terrified me greatly and my face changed over me, but I kept the matter in my heart."

But I say to you that everyone who divorces his wife, except for a matter of sexual immorality, causes her to commit adultery, and whoever marries a divorced woman commits adultery.

But if he does not listen, take with you in addition one or two [others], so that by {the testimony} of two or three witnesses every matter may be established.