'Thing' in the Bible

The Lord God said to the serpent,“Because you have done this,You are cursed more than all the cattle,And more than any animal of the field;On your belly you shall go,And dust you shall eatAll the days of your life.

And of every living thing [found on land], you shall bring two of every kind into the ark, to keep them alive with you; they shall be male and female.

Of fowls and birds according to their kind, of animals according to their kind, of every crawling thing of the ground according to its kind—two of every kind shall come to you to keep them alive.

For in seven days I am going to cause it to rain on the earth for forty days and forty nights; and I will destroy (blot out, wipe away) every living thing that I have made from the surface of the earth.”

they and every animal according to its kind, all the livestock according to their kinds, every moving thing that crawls on the earth according to its kind, and every bird according to its kind, every winged thing of every sort.

God destroyed (blotted out, wiped away) every living thing that was on the surface of the earth; man and animals and the crawling things and the birds of the heavens were destroyed from the land. Only Noah and those who were with him in the ark remained alive.

And God remembered and thought kindly of Noah and every living thing and all the animals that were with him in the ark; and God made a wind blow over the land, and the waters receded.

Bring out with you every living thing from all flesh—birds and animals and every crawling thing that crawls on the earth—that they may breed abundantly on the earth, and be fruitful and multiply on the earth.”

Every animal, every crawling thing, every bird—and whatever moves on the land—went out by families (types, groupings) from the ark.

The Lord smelled the pleasing aroma [a soothing, satisfying scent] and the Lord said to Himself, “I will never again curse the ground because of man, for the intent (strong inclination, desire) of man’s heart is wicked from his youth; and I will never again destroy every living thing, as I have done.

Every moving thing that lives shall be food for you; I give you everything, as I gave you the green plants and vegetables.

When Noah awoke from his wine [induced stupor], he knew what his younger son [Ham] had done to him.

Far be it from You to do such a thing—to strike the righteous with the wicked, so that the righteous and the wicked are treated alike. Far be it from You! Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right [by executing just and righteous judgment]?”

And the angel said to him, “Behold, I grant you this request also; I will not destroy this town of which you have spoken.

And Abimelech said to Abraham, “What have you encountered or seen [in us or our customs], that you have done this [unjust] thing?”

The situation distressed Abraham greatly because of his son [Ishmael].

Abimelech said, “I do not know who did this thing. Indeed, you did not tell me, and I did not hear of it until today.”

Then Laban and Bethuel answered, “The matter has come from the Lord; so we dare not speak bad or good [to you about it—we cannot interfere].

Laban asked, “What shall I give you?” Jacob replied, “You shall not give me anything. But if you will do this one thing for me [which I now propose], I will again pasture and keep your flock:

Now when Jacob’s sons heard of it they came in from the field; they were deeply grieved, and they were very angry, for Shechem had done a disgraceful thing to Israel by lying with Jacob’s daughter, for such a thing is not to be done.

They said to them, “We cannot do this thing and give our sister [in marriage] to one who is not circumcised, because that would be a disgrace to us.

and the young man did not hesitate to do the [required] thing, for he was delighted with Jacob’s daughter. Now he was more respected and honored than all [others] in the household of his father.

But what he did was displeasing in the sight of the Lord; therefore He killed him also [in judgment].

That the dream was repeated twice to Pharaoh [and in two different ways] indicates that this matter is fully determined and established by God, and God will bring it to pass very quickly.

They said to him, “Why does my lord speak these things? Far be it from your servants to do such a thing!

Joseph spoke harshly to them, “What is this thing that you have done? Do you not realize that such a man as I can indeed practice divination and foretell [everything you do without outside knowledge of it]?”

So the king of Egypt called for the midwives and said to them, “Why have you done this thing, and allowed the boy babies to live?”

But the man said, “Who made you a prince and a judge over us? Do you intend to kill me as you killed the Egyptian?” Then Moses was afraid and said, “Certainly this incident is known.”

But the magicians (soothsayer-priests) did the same thing with their secret arts and enchantments, and brought up [more] frogs on the land of Egypt.

The Lord set a [definite] time, saying, “Tomorrow the Lord will do this thing in the land.”

For they covered the [visible] surface of the land, so that the ground was darkened; and they ate every plant of the land and all the fruit of the trees which the hail had left. There remained not a green thing on the trees or the plants of the field throughout all the land of Egypt.

When the layer of dew evaporated, on the surface of the wilderness there was a fine, flake-like thing, as fine as frost on the ground.

Now I know that the Lord is greater than all gods; indeed, it was proven when they acted insolently toward Israel [and the Lord showed Himself infinitely superior to all their gods].”

Moses’ father-in-law said to him, “The thing that you are doing is not good.

You will certainly wear out both yourself and these people who are with you, because the task is too heavy for you [to bear]; you cannot do it alone.

For every offense involving property, whether it concerns ox, donkey, sheep, clothing, or any piece of lost property, which another identifies as his, the case of both parties shall come before the judges [who act in God’s name]. Whomever the judges pronounce guilty shall pay double to his neighbor.

But if the owner is with it [when the damage is done], the borrower shall not make restitution. If it was hired, the damage is included in [the price of] its fee.

The Lord said to Moses, “I will also do this thing that you have asked; for you have found favor (lovingkindness, mercy) in My sight and I have known you [personally] by name.”

Then God said, “Behold, I am going to make a covenant. Before all your people I will do wondrous works (miracles) such as have not been created or produced in all the earth nor among any of the nations; and all the people among whom you live shall see the working of the Lord, for it is a fearful and awesome thing that I am going to do with you.

Or if someone touches any [ceremonially] unclean thing—whether the carcass of an unclean wild animal or the carcass of an unclean domestic animal or the carcass of unclean creeping things—even if he is unaware of it, he has become unclean, and he will be guilty.

He shall make restitution for the sin which he has committed against the holy thing, and shall add a fifth [of the ram’s value] to it, and give it to the priest. The priest shall then make atonement for him with the ram of the guilt offering, and he shall be forgiven.

then if he has sinned and is guilty, he shall restore what he took by robbery, or what he got by extortion, or the deposit which was entrusted to him, or the lost thing which he found,

If any of the meat of the sacrifice of his peace offerings is ever eaten on the third day, then it will not be accepted, and the one who brought it will not be credited with it. It shall be an abhorred (offensive) thing; the one who eats it shall bear his own guilt.

When anyone touches any unclean thing—human uncleanness, or an unclean animal, or any unclean detestable thing—and then eats the meat of the sacrifice of the Lord’s peace offerings, that person shall be cut off from his people [excluding him from the atonement made for them].’”

Moses said, “This is the thing which the Lord has commanded you to do, so that the glory of the Lord may appear to you.”

Do not make yourselves loathsome (impure, repulsive) by [eating] any swarming thing; you shall not make yourselves unclean by them so as to defile yourselves.

For I am the Lord your God; so consecrate yourselves and be holy, for I am holy. You shall not make yourselves unclean with any of the swarming things that swarm or crawls on the ground.

Then she shall remain [intimately separated] thirty-three days to be purified from the blood; she shall not touch any consecrated thing nor enter the [courtyard of the] sanctuary until the days of her purification are over.

then the priest shall order that they wash the thing in which the mark occurs, and he shall quarantine it for seven more days.

Everyone who eats it will bear [the responsibility for] his wickedness, for he has profaned a holy thing of the Lord; and that person shall be cut off from his people [excluding him from the atonement made for them].

‘If a man takes his sister, his father’s daughter or his mother’s daughter, so that he sees her nakedness and she sees his nakedness, it is a disgrace; and they shall be cut off in the sight of the sons of their people. He has uncovered his sister’s nakedness; he bears [responsibility for] his guilt.

No man of the descendants of Aaron who is a leper or has a discharge may eat the holy things [the offerings and the showbread] until he is clean. And whoever touches any person or thing made unclean by contact with a corpse or a man who has had a seminal emission,

or whoever touches any crawling thing by which he is made unclean, or any person by whom he is made unclean, whatever it may be,

the person who touches any such thing shall be unclean until evening and shall not eat the holy things unless he has bathed his body in water.

‘No layman [that is, someone outside of Aaron’s family] is to eat the holy gift [which has been offered to God]; a foreigner residing with the priest or a hired man shall not eat the holy thing.

But if a priest buys a slave as his property with his money, the slave may eat the holy thing, and those who are born in the priest’s house; they may eat his food.

But if a person unknowingly eats a holy gift [which has been offered to God], then he shall add one-fifth of its value to it and give the holy gift to the priest.

then the priest shall calculate for him the amount of your valuation up to the Year of Jubilee; and the man shall give that [amount] on that day as a holy thing to the Lord.

‘But nothing that a man sets apart [that is, devotes as an offering] to the Lord out of all that he has, of man or of animal or of the fields of his own property, shall be sold or redeemed. Anything devoted to destruction (banned, cursed) is most holy to the Lord.

does it seem but a small thing to you that the God of Israel has separated you from the congregation of Israel, to bring you near to Himself, to do the service of the tabernacle of the Lord, and to stand before the congregation to minister to them;

Is it a small thing that you have brought us up out of a land [of plenty] flowing with milk and honey to kill us in the wilderness, but you would also lord it over us?

But if the Lord creates an entirely new thing, and the ground opens its mouth and swallows them up, along with all that belongs to them, and they descend alive into Sheol (the nether world, the place of the dead), then you will understand that these men have spurned and rejected the Lord!”

You shall eat it as the most holy thing; every male [of your family] shall eat it. It shall be holy to you.

Every devoted thing in Israel [everything that has been promised to the Lord with an oath] shall be yours.

The Lord heard the voice of Israel and handed over the Canaanites; then they utterly destroyed them and their cities. So the name of the place was called Hormah (dedicate to destruction).

Then Moses spoke to the leaders of the tribes of the Israelites, saying, “This is the thing which the Lord has commanded:

And you answered me, ‘The thing which you have said to do is good.’

The plan pleased me and I took twelve of your men, one man from each tribe.

“Indeed, ask now about the days that are past, [those days] which were before you, since the day that God created man on the earth, and ask from one end of the heavens to the other. Has anything been done like this great thing, or has anything been heard like it?

You shall not bring an abomination (idol) into your house, and like it come under the ban (doomed to destruction); you shall utterly detest and you shall utterly hate it, for it is something banned.

and what He did to Dathan and Abiram, the sons of Eliab, the son of Reuben, when the earth opened its mouth and swallowed them, their households, their tents, and every living thing that followed them, in the midst of all Israel.

You shall not behave this way toward the Lord your God, for they have done for their gods every repulsive thing which the Lord hates; for they even burn their sons and their daughters in the fire [as sacrifices] to their gods.

then you shall investigate and search out [witnesses] and ask thorough questions. If it is true and the matter is established that this loathsome thing has been done among you,

Nothing from that which is put under the ban (designated for destruction) shall cling to your hand, so that the Lord may turn away from His burning anger and show mercy to you, and have compassion on you and make you increase, just as He swore to your fathers,

then you shall bring that man or that woman who has done this evil thing to the gates [of your city] and you shall stone the man or the woman to death.

“When you go out as an army [to fight] against your enemies, you shall keep yourselves from every evil [thing].

But as for you, keep yourselves [away] from the things under the ban [which are to be destroyed], so that you do not covet them and take some of the things under the ban [for personal gain], and put the camp of Israel under the ban (doomed to destruction), and bring disaster upon it.

It shall be that the one who is chosen with the things under the ban shall be [killed and his body] burned with fire, he and all that belongs to him, because he has transgressed the covenant of the Lord, and because he has done a disgraceful and disobedient thing in Israel.’”

They replied to Joshua and said, “Because your servants were told in no uncertain terms that the Lord your God commanded His servant Moses to give you all the land, and to destroy all the land’s inhabitants before you, we feared greatly for our lives because of you, and so we did this [deceptive] thing.

Not one of the good promises which the Lord had spoken to the house of Israel failed; all had come to pass.

“Now behold, today I am going the way of all the earth, and you know in all your hearts and in all your souls that not one word of all the good words which the Lord your God has promised concerning you has failed; all have been fulfilled for you, not one of them has failed.

So they said to one another, “Who has done this thing?” When they searched about and inquired, they were told, “Gideon the son of Joash did it.”

And she said to her father, “Let this one thing be done for me; let me alone for two months, so that I may go to the mountains and weep over my virginity, I and my companions.”

She may not eat anything that comes from the vine nor drink wine or [any other] intoxicating drink, nor eat anything [ceremonially] unclean. She shall observe everything that I commanded her.”

His father went down to the woman, and Samson prepared a feast there, for that was the customary thing for young men to do.

Here is my virgin daughter and this man’s concubine. I will bring them out now; abuse and humiliate them and do to them whatever you want, but do not commit this act of sacrilege against this man.”

The Lord said to Samuel, “Behold, I am about to do a thing in Israel at which both ears of everyone who hears it will ring.

The Philistines were afraid, for they said, “God has come into the camp.” And they said, “Woe [disaster is coming] to us! For nothing like this has happened before.

So now, take your stand and see this great thing which the Lord will do before your eyes.

So the men of the garrison responded to Jonathan and his armor bearer, “Come up to us and we will tell you something.” Jonathan said to his armor bearer, “Climb up after me, for the Lord has given them into the hands of Israel.”

So Saul’s servants spoke these words to David. But David said, “Is it a trivial thing in your sight to become a king’s son-in-law, seeing that I am a poor man and insignificant?”

Jonathan said to him, “Far from it! You shall not die. My father does nothing important or insignificant without telling me. So why would he hide this thing from me? It is not so!”

This thing that you have done is not good. As the Lord lives, you surely deserve to die, because you have not guarded your lord, the Lord’s anointed. And now, see where the king’s spear is, and the jug of water that was by his head.”

Because you did not obey the voice of the Lord and did not execute His fierce wrath on Amalek, therefore the Lord has done this thing to you this day.

David said, “Good! I will make a covenant (treaty) with you, but I require one thing of you: you shall not see my face unless you first bring Michal, Saul’s daughter, when you come to see me.”

Yet this was very insignificant in Your eyes, O Lord God, for You have spoken also of Your servant’s house (royal dynasty) in the distant future. And this is the law and custom of man, O Lord God.

And now, O Lord God, You are God, and Your words are truth, and You have promised this good thing to Your servant.

Uriah said to David, “The ark and Israel and Judah are staying in huts (temporary shelters), and my lord Joab and the servants of my lord are camping in the open field. Should I go to my house to eat and drink and lie with my wife? By your life and the life of your soul, I will not do this thing.”

Then David said to the messenger, “Tell Joab this, ‘Do not let this thing disturb you, for the sword devours one [side] as well as another. Strengthen your battle against the city and overthrow it’; and so encourage Joab.”

And when the time of mourning was past, David sent word and had her brought to his house, and she became his wife and bore him a son. But the thing that David had done [with Bathsheba] was evil in the sight of the Lord.