StrongerBible

baz

בַּז

HebrewH0957spoil, prey, ...

Appears 25 times · tap a cell to see the verses

Num 14:3Num 14:31Num 31:32Deu 1:392Ki 21:14Isa 10:6Isa 33:23Isa 42:22Jer 2:14Jer 15:13Jer 17:3Jer 30:16Jer 49:32Ezk 29:19
Root family
Names & words formed with this
Word studyBAHZnoun

What baz means

war plunder: the goods or people seized and carried off by force from a defeated enemy

TranslatabilityApproximateCertaintySettled

This word names what a raiding army carries home. Sometimes that is a haul of things: livestock, silver, food, whatever can be stripped from the losing side and divided up. Other times it is the people themselves, a family, a nation, or a whole land handed over to be looted, dragged off, and left helpless. The one word covers both the loot and the losers.

Because it points to the aftermath of a defeat, it often travels in pairs with a near-twin for spoil, so a verse will speak of taking "the spoil and the plunder" together for emphasis. The prophets lean on it hard: when God warns that Israel or a foreign nation will "become plunder," the image is of a people stripped bare and carried away, a reversal of fortune that the raiders once inflicted on others now falling on them.

So the two shades are not two different words but one idea seen from two angles: the treasure that is taken, and the victims from whom it is taken.

Nuances

1abooty: the goods, livestock, and valuables carried off after a victory
TranslatabilityDirect
Num 31:32Isa 10:6Isa 33:23Jer 15:13Jer 17:3Jer 49:32Ezk 7:21Ezk 29:19Ezk 38:12Ezk 38:13
1bprey: a people, nation, or land handed over to be plundered; the helpless victims of raiders
Num 14:3Num 14:31Deu 1:392Ki 21:14Isa 42:22Jer 2:14Jer 30:16Ezk 23:46Ezk 25:7Ezk 26:5Ezk 34:8Ezk 34:22

What scholars say about baz

The standard lexica (BDB; HALOT) treat בַז as a noun from the root בָזַז "to plunder, seize as spoil," glossed "spoiling, booty, spoil" with a well-attested extension to persons as "prey." HALOT and DCH note the two registers, concrete goods and human captives, as contextual applications of one lexeme rather than distinct homonyms, and observe its stereotyped pairing with שָׁלָל and מְשִׁסָּה in prophetic judgment oracles, especially in Ezekiel. TWOT and NIDOTTE situate it within the broader plunder-and-spoil vocabulary of holy-war and judgment texts.

Sources

  • BDB, s.v. בַזlexicon
  • HALOT, s.v. בַזlexicon
  • DCH, s.v. בַזlexicon
  • TWOT, §225 (בָזַז)theological-dictionary

All attested forms of בַּז

m s absolute

בַּז, בָּז

Num 14:3, Num 14:31, Deu 1:39, 2Ki 21:14, Isa 10:6, Isa 33:23, Isa 42:22, Jer 2:14

m s construct

בִּזָּהּ

Ezk 29:19