StrongerBible

gavar

גָּבַר

HebrewH1396prevail, confirm, ...

Appears 25 times · tap a cell to see the verses

Gen 7:18Gen 7:19Gen 7:20Gen 7:24Gen 49:26Exo 17:11 (2×)1Sa 2:92Sa 1:232Sa 11:231Ch 5:2Job 15:25Job 21:7Job 36:9Psa 12:4(5)Psa 65:3(4)Psa 103:11Psa 117:2Ecc 10:10Isa 42:13Jer 9:3(2)Lam 1:16Dan 9:27Zec 10:6Zec 10:12
Word studygah-VARverb

What gavar means

to be strong and so to prevail: to overpower a rival, to be mighty or great, or to make someone or something strong.

TranslatabilityPartialCertaintySettled

At its core this verb is about strength that shows itself in action. When someone or something is stronger than what stands against it, it wins out, and that is the picture the word draws again and again: floodwaters rising until they overwhelm the whole earth, Israel getting the upper hand over Amalek as long as Moses holds up his hands, an enemy prevailing over a fallen city.

Strength does not always need an opponent to overcome. The same word can simply say that something is mighty, abundant, or towering: Judah rising above his brothers, a father's blessings surpassing all that came before, and, most memorably, God's steadfast love said to be as great over those who fear him as the height of heaven above the earth.

The word can also be turned outward, so that the strength is given rather than merely possessed. In this use God strengthens his people, a worker puts more force behind a blunt tool, and a covenant is made to hold firm. Turned back on the doer, it describes someone flexing strength defiantly, stretching out a hand against God, or the LORD himself going out mighty against his foes.

Because one idea of strength runs through all of these, English cannot settle on a single word for it. Translators reach for prevail, be mighty, be great, grow strong, strengthen, and confirm depending on what the strength is doing in the sentence.

Nuances

1ato prevail: to be the stronger party and gain the upper hand over a rival or obstacle.
Gen 7:18Gen 7:19Gen 7:20Gen 7:24Exo 17:11 (2×)1Sa 2:92Sa 11:23Psa 65:3(4)Lam 1:16
1bto be mighty, great, or preeminent: to tower over or surpass, with no opponent being defeated.
Gen 49:262Sa 1:231Ch 5:2Job 21:7Psa 103:11Psa 117:2Jer 9:3(2)
1cto strengthen: to make a person or thing strong.
Ecc 10:10Zec 10:6Zec 10:12
1dto make prevail or confirm: to cause a word, covenant, or claim to hold firm and win out.
Psa 12:4(5)Dan 9:27
1eto show oneself mighty: to act with defiant strength, whether a person against God or God against his foes.
Job 15:25Job 36:9Isa 42:13

What scholars say about gavar

The standard lexica treat H1396 as a single root meaning "to be strong, mighty," with a well-established range: qal for intransitive prevailing (of the flood waters, Gen 7) and being great (of chesed, Ps 103:11; 117:2), piel and hiphil for the causative (strengthen, Zech 10:6, 12; make a covenant firm, Dan 9:27), and hithpael for the reflexive "show oneself mighty" (Job 15:25; Isa 42:13, of Yahweh). BDB and HALOT both organize the entry this way; Kosmala's TDOT article (s.v. gabhar) surveys the same distribution and the derived noun-forms of the root (gibbor, geburah). The sense is not in scholarly doubt; the only much-discussed occurrence, Dan 9:27, is contested over the identity of the covenant-maker in eschatological interpretation, not over the lexical value of the verb, which is simply causative "make prevail / cause to be strong."

Sources

  • HALOT, s.v. גברlexicon
  • BDB, s.v. גברlexicon
  • TDOT, vol. 2, s.v. גָּבַר (H. Kosmala)dictionary
  • TWOT, no. 310, s.v. גברdictionary

All attested forms of גָּבַר

qal perfect 3cp

גָּבְרוּ, גָּבֵרוּ

Gen 7:19, Gen 7:20, Gen 49:26, 2Sa 11:23, Job 21:7, Psa 65:3, Jer 9:3, 2Sa 1:23

qal perfect 3ms

גָּבַר

1Ch 5:2, Psa 103:11, Psa 117:2, Lam 1:16

hithpael imperfect 3ms

יִתְגַּבָּר

Job 15:25, Isa 42:13

piel consecutive-perfect 1cs

וְגִבַּרְתִּי

Zec 10:6, Zec 10:12

qal consecutive-imperfect 3mp

וַיִּגְבְּרוּ

Gen 7:18, Gen 7:24

qal consecutive-perfect 3ms

וְגָבַר

Exo 17:11, Exo 17:11

hiphil consecutive-perfect 3ms

וְהִגְבִּיר

Dan 9:27

hiphil imperfect 1cp

נַגְבִּיר

Psa 12:4

hithpael imperfect 3mp

יִתְגַּבָּרוּ

Job 36:9

piel imperfect 3ms

יְגַבֵּר

Ecc 10:10

qal imperfect 3ms

יִגְבַּר

1Sa 2:9