"Water" (cf. Isaiah 48:1//1 Nephi 20:1) as a Euphemism for Offspring

  

מַ֫יִם _580.9.168.3 n.m. water(s)—מָֽיִם; cstr. (מֵימֵי) מֵי; sf. מֵימֶ֫יךָ, מֵימָיו, Q מימיה, מֵימֵ֫ינוּ, מֵימֵיהֶם; + -ה of direction מַיְמָה (מָֽיְמָה).

 

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4. water as term for other liquids, tears (e.g. Lm 1:16), urine (2 K 18:27(Qr)), menstrual discharge (Is 30:22; if em. תִּזְרֵם כְּמוֹ דָוָה you will cast them away like a menstrual garment to תְּזִירֵם כְּמֵי דָוָה you will loathe them like an impure discharge), bodily fluids, humours (Ps 102:4; if em. כִּי־כָלוּ בְעָשָׁן יָמָ֑י for my days are consumed in smoke to כִּי־כָלוּ כְעָשָׁן מֶי מָ֑י for my humours are consumed like smoke), appar. semen (Is 48:1 [or em. מִמֵּי from the semen of to מִמְּעֵי from the innards of]).(The Dictionary of Classical Hebrew, ed. David J. A. Clines, 8 vols. [Sheffield: Sheffield Phoenix Press, 2011], 5:255)

 

When discussing the meanings of מֵעֶה (“belly, womb”):

 

<cstr> מְעֵי אמִּי my mother’s womb Is 49:1; Ps 71:6, מע[י] עמו its mother’s womb 4QHalakhah^a 7₂, מעי דך (the) insides of one crushed Si 4:2, מְעֵי הַדָּג the fish’s inside Jon 2:1, 2 (הַדָּגָה), מִמְּעֵי יְהוּדָה from the genitals of Judah Is 48:1 (if em. מִמֵּי from the [seminal] waters of); צֵאֱצָאֵי מֵעֶיךָ the issue(s) of your genitals Is 48:19 (Ibid., 5:383)

 

On the euphemistic meaning of “water,” one Evangelical scholar noted that:

 

In other passages of Scripture, the following are said metaphorically to be “water”: God’s help (Isa. 8:6: “the gently flowing waters of Shiloah”); God’s judgment (Isa. 28:17: “water will overflow your hiding place”); man’s words (Prov. 18:4: “The words of man’s mouth are deep waters”); man’s purposes (Prov. 20:5: “The purposes of a man’s heart are deep waters”); an adulterous woman (Prov. 9:17: “Stolen water is sweet”); and a person’s posterity (Isa. 48:1: “Listen to this, O house of Jacob, who are called by the name of Israel and have come forth out of the line [waters] of Judah”). (Wesley L. Gerig, “Water,” in Evangelical Dictionary of Biblical Theology, ed. Walter A. Elwell [Baker Reference Library (Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1996], 813)