Midvash

סָבַבçâbab

turn about, go around, surround

Pronunciation: saw-bab' · Hebrew/Aramaic (Old Testament) · H5437

Meanings

Qal

1. turn

a. turn about, often as preliminary to something else (1 Samuel 15:12; 1 Samuel 15:27; 1 Chronicles 16:43)

b. turn, = change (Zechariah 14:10)

c. figurative turn (in a new direction) to do something (Ecclesiastes 2:20; Ecclesiastes 7:25; Psalms 71:21)

2.

a. march, or walk, around (Joshua 6:3; Joshua 6:4; Joshua 6:7)

b. go partly round, circle about, skirt (Numbers 21:4; Judges 11:18; Deuteronomy 2:1)

c. make a round, or circuit, go about to (1 Samuel 7:16; 2 Chronicles 17:9; 2 Chronicles 23:2)

d. surround, encompass (Genesis 37:7; Job 40:22; 2 Kings 6:15)

Niph`al

1.

a. turn oneself against (עַלֿ), close round upon (עַל) (Genesis 19:4; Joshua 7:9; Judges 19:22)

b. turn round, (from a direct course) (Ezekiel 1:9; Ezekiel 1:12; Ezekiel 1:17)

c. turn round, especially of boundary (Numbers 34:4; Joshua 18:14; Joshua 15:10)

2. be turned over (Jeremiah 6:12)

Pi`el: to change, transform, the aspect of the matter (2 Samuel 14:20)

Po`.: encompass, surround (Jonah 2:4; Jonah 2:6; Deuteronomy 32:10)

1. encompass (Deuteronomy 32:10; Psalms 32:10; Psalms 32:7)

2. come about, assemble round (Psalms 7:8)

3. march or go about (Psalms 55:11; Psalms 59:7; Psalms 59:15)

4. enclose, envelop (Jonah 2:4; Jonah 2:6)

Hiph`il

1.

a. cause to turn (Judges 18:23; 1 Kings 8:14; 2 Chronicles 6:3)

b. bring over, (i.e. to allegiance) (2 Samuel 3:12; 1 Chronicles 12:24; 1 Chronicles 12:23)

c. turn into, of changing name (2 Kings 23:24; 2 Chronicles 36:4; 2 Kings 24:14)

d. = bring round (1 Samuel 5:8; 1 Samuel 5:9; 2 Samuel 20:12)

2.

a. cause to go around (Joshua 6:11; Exodus 13:18; Ezekiel 47:2)

b. surround (2 Chronicles 14:6)

c. perhaps also encompass (as foe) (Psalms 140:10)

Hoph`al

1. be turned (Ezekiel 41:24; Numbers 32:38)

2. surrounded (Exodus 28:11; Exodus 39:6; Exodus 39:13)

Same root

Where it appears

Appears 161 times in the Bible.

  • Genesis 2:11 The first branch, called the Pishon, flowed around the entire land of Havilah, where gold is found.
  • Genesis 2:13 The second branch, called the Gihon, flowed around the entire land of Cush.
  • Genesis 19:4 But before they retired for the night, all the men of Sodom, young and old, came from all over the city and surrounded the house.
  • Genesis 37:7 “We were out in the field, tying up bundles of grain. Suddenly my bundle stood up, and your bundles all gathered around and bowed low before mine!”
  • Genesis 42:24 Now he turned away from them and began to weep. When he regained his composure, he spoke to them again. Then he chose Simeon from among them and had him tied up right before their eyes.
  • Exodus 13:18 So God led them in a roundabout way through the wilderness toward the Red Sea. Thus the Israelites left Egypt like an army ready for battle.
See every passage

Source: Brown, Driver and Briggs, Hebrew and English Lexicon of the Old Testament (1906), public domain; markup by unfoldingWord, CC BY (github.com/unfoldingWord/Brown-Driver-Briggs-Enhanced).