Word Study for H5856 (עִי) | Strong's Concordance

ʻîy /ee/ Ask about this word

Meaninga ruin (as if overturned)

KJV usageheap.

Word Study

In depth

A plain-language study of ʻîy — the range of meaning it carries, how Scripture actually uses it, and where it points. Written for readers who don’t know the original language.

Core Meaning & Semantic Range

The Hebrew word ʻîy, represented by H5856, denotes a ruin or heap, as if something has been overturned. It appears 4 times across 4 unique verses, consistently illustrating a state of complete desolation.

Biblical Occurrences & Contextual Analysis

Biblically, H5856 is used exclusively in the context of divine judgment against major cities. The psalmist laments that enemies have laid Jerusalem on heaps Psalms 79:1. This state of ruin is prophesied by both Micah and Jeremiah, who foretell that Jerusalem will become heaps and Zion will be plowed like a field (Micah 3:12, Jeremiah 26:18). Similarly, the prophet Micah declares that God will make Samaria as an heap of the field, pouring its stones into the valley Micah 1:6.

Related Words & Concepts

Several words are used in conjunction with H5856 to paint a vivid picture of this destruction:

H7704 sâdeh (a field): Cities are prophesied to become a "heap of the field" (Micah 1:6, Micah 3:12), signifying a complete reversal from a built-up area to a desolate, uncultivated space.
H3389 Yᵉrûwshâlaim (Jerusalem): This is the city most often described as being reduced to heaps. The fate of Jerusalem is central to the use of this term, symbolizing the fall of the kingdom's center (Psalms 79:1, Micah 3:12).
H2022 har (a mountain): The "mountain of the house" is prophesied to become like the high places of a forest, linking the destruction of the city to the desolation of its most prominent geographical and religious feature (Micah 3:12, Jeremiah 26:18).

Theological Significance

The theological weight of H5856 is found in its portrayal of judgment and its consequences.

Divine Judgment: The transformation of a city into a heap is consistently presented as a direct result of God's judgment against sin and disobedience. The prophecies in Micah link this destruction directly to the actions of the people Micah 3:12.
Utter Desolation: The word signifies not just damage but complete and total ruin. In Micah's prophecy against Samaria, the city's stones are poured down and its very foundations are discovered, indicating a deconstruction to the most basic level Micah 1:6.
Prophetic Warning: The image of a city becoming heaps serves as a stark warning. The elders in Jeremiah's time recall Micah's prophecy to argue against harming a prophet, showing that the warning carried significant historical and theological weight Jeremiah 26:18.

Summary

In summary, H5856 is a potent term for complete ruin. It is not used casually but is reserved for describing the catastrophic fall of major Israelite cities as an act of divine judgment. The imagery of a once-great city being reduced to a heap of rubble serves as a powerful biblical symbol of the consequences of turning away from God, illustrating a total reversal from order to desolation.

How the KJV Renders It

Translation

Strong’s lists the renderings but not their weight. These are counted from the King James text of the tagged verses — the bar under each is how often the translators actually reached for it. Select one to filter the occurrences below.

Grammatical Forms

Morphology

In the Hebrew Old Testament, this word appears as a noun and an adjective across 6 occurrences, inflected in 4 grammatical forms — each row is one form, and the bar is how often it is that form. Select any form to read what each part of its name means, and to filter the occurrence list to it.

עִיִּים
עִי
עֶלְיוֹן
עִי

Theographic Context

Context

The people, places, and span of history the verses containing this word touch on — drawn from the theographic tagging of Scripture. Select any name to isolate its verses in the occurrence list.

Biblical Distribution

Distribution

Appears in 4 verses across 3 of the 39 books. Most frequent in Micah (2 verses); never once in the other 36.

Psalms

Jeremiah

Micah

Every Occurrence

Concordance

Every verse where the word is tagged in the King James text. Filter by book, by the English word the translators chose, by grammatical form, or search within the verses.

Sources. Definition and numbering: James Strong, Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible (1890). Morphology: STEPBible / Tyndale House (CC BY). Verse tagging: the King James text keyed to Strong’s numbers. Every count on this page is computed from the tagged corpus, not estimated.