me.zim.mah denotes devised plans, often harmful schemes but also the discretion or purpose associated with wisdom and resolve.

The word most often concerns schemes devised for harmful or unjust ends; several Proverbs passages use it for discretion kept with knowledge and wisdom, while passages about the LORD and Job describe purposes or plans that are carried out or cannot be restrained.

1. Harmful schemes and intended wrongdoing · dominant

   Plural forms occur where people devise or pursue harmful action: in Job 21:27 the APB renders the speaker's accusation as “your plots, and the schemes by which you wrong me,” and in Psalm 10:2 the afflicted are pursued and the wicked are to be caught in what they devised. Proverbs 12:2 and Proverbs 24:8 likewise place the term with a wicked man and one who devises evil; Psalm 139:20 describes hostile speech “with malicious intent.”

   Job 21:27Proverbs 12:2Proverbs 24:8Psalm 10:2Psalm 139:20
2. Discretion joined with wisdom and knowledge · common

   Singular and plural forms appear in instructional statements about what wisdom gives or preserves. In Proverbs 1:4 the APB places the term alongside knowledge and discretion for the youth, while Proverbs 2:11 says that discretion will keep the addressee; Proverbs 3:21 and Proverbs 5:2 similarly connect it with sound wisdom, knowledge, and guarded speech.

   Proverbs 1:4Proverbs 2:11Proverbs 3:21Proverbs 5:2Proverbs 8:12
3. Purposes held and carried out · occasional

   Construct plural forms in Jeremiah 23:20 and Jeremiah 30:24 are linked to the LORD's heart and to actions completed despite burning anger. Job 42:2 uses the singular in Job's statement that no purpose can be restrained.

   Jeremiah 23:20Jeremiah 30:24Job 42:2

In the Anselm Project Bible: The APB variously uses “plots,” “schemes,” “discretion,” and “purpose” in the surrounding clauses. Because this is a whole-verse translation, those renderings show the verse contexts rather than fixed one-to-one equivalents.