mach.mad denotes what is prized or cherished, including valued possessions, loved ones, and things desired by the eyes.

The term most often marks prized or desirable things that can be destroyed, seized, exchanged, or lost; it also names what people cherish personally, including the “desire of [the] eyes,” children, and a beloved person.

1. Prized possessions and desirable things · dominant

   Plural construct forms occur where valued things are exposed to loss or destruction: in 2 Chronicles 36:19 the APB renders the clause “destroyed all her precious articles,” and in Lamentations 1:11 people give their “desirable things for food.” In Lamentations 1:10 and Lamentations 2:4, the APB likewise describes desirable things overrun or slain; Hosea 9:6 places the singular construct form in the clause about silver.

   2 Chronicles 36:19Hosea 9:6Lamentations 1:10Lamentations 1:11Lamentations 2:4Isaiah 64:10
2. What is personally cherished · common

   In Ezekiel 24:16, Ezekiel 24:21, and Ezekiel 24:25, the singular construct form stands in the repeated phrase rendered by the APB as “the desire of your eyes,” in contexts of something being taken away or profaned. Hosea 9:16 speaks of “the desires of their belly” that will die, while Song of Songs 5:16 uses the plural absolute form in the APB’s description of the beloved as “altogether desirable.”

   Ezekiel 24:16Ezekiel 24:21Ezekiel 24:25Hosea 9:16Song of Songs 5:16

In the Anselm Project Bible: The APB variously uses “precious articles,” “desirable things,” “the desire of your eyes,” and “altogether desirable.” These renderings show the verse contexts rather than fixed English equivalents for each form.