I. Philology

1. Etymology. This Hebrew word group has its parallels in other Semitic languages: Akk. riāqu/râqu, “be empty”; rīqu, “empty, unladen, idle”; rīqussu (from the abstract noun rīqūtu, “emptiness”), “empty-handed”; Arab. ryq, “empty”; rāqa, “pour forth”; Aram. and Syr. rêqāʾ, rêqān, “empty, stupid,” aphel “empty out”; Middle Heb. poel, “empty out”; rêqānû, “emptiness, vanity”; etc.

2. OT. The Hebrew material is best associated with the root ryq, although the semantic similarity to rqq, “thin” (cf. Gen. 41:27, which conjoins raqqôṯ and rēqôṯ, both represented by the consonants rqwt), suggests the consonants rq as the original semantic vehicle. The form rēq can be explained as a contraction of *rayiq; the uniformly defective spelling of the singular (in contrast to the plural, where we find both rēqîm and the plene spelling rêqîm) appears to associate the word with the Old Canaanite linguistic stratum. In contrast to mlʾ, “be full,” no neutral verb stem (qal) developed from this qaṭil adjective, although we do find a causative hiphil meaning “empty out” as well as the nominalized inf. rîq, which expresses the notion of “for nothing, in vain.” The form rêqām functions adverbially with the meaning “fruitlessly, with empty hands.” The adverbial function of this form is confirmed by the word riqami, which occurs as a gloss in the Amarna Letters, as well as by the use of enclitic -m in Ugaritic.

Derivatives of the root ryq occur 61 times in the OT, but the possible confusion of r and d makes the text suspect in a few cases. In Gen. 14:14 the Sam. text reads wydq instead of wyrq, probably meaning “and he mustered (his trained men)” (an Aramaism). It has been suggested that the verb reflects Akk. diqū, “levy (troops).” In Jer. 48:12 the LXX appears to have read ydyqw, “shatter,” instead of yryqw, “empty.” In 2 S. 22:43 ʾdqm contradicts ʾryqm in the parallel text Ps. 18:43(Eng. 42). The word twrq in Cant. 1:3 is difficult to interpret.

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IV. Dead Sea Scrolls. The Dead Sea Scrolls use the word in quoting Hab. 2:12–13 (1QpHab 10:8); the same text also uses it independently: ʿmlm lryq, “vain efforts” (l. 12), identified with (ʿbwdt) šww, “useless labor.” The expression “empty the net” in Hab. 1:17 is replaced by the variant “destroy (yʾbdw) by the sword” in 1QpHab 6:8. Elsewhere the word is a term of moral and ethical opprobrium: unclean and twisted thoughts should be banished from the heart, from the lips words that are rêqîm, “vain, lewd” (1QS 10:24), that the tongue may serve the ends of holiness. On the holy sabbath, stupid and “idle” (rēq) chatter is prohibited (CD 10:17–18).