StrongerBible

garash

גָּרַשׁ

HebrewH1644drive out, cast out, ...

Appears 47 times · tap a cell to see the verses

Gen 3:24Gen 4:14Gen 21:10Exo 2:17Exo 6:1Exo 10:11Exo 11:1 (2×)Exo 12:39Exo 23:28Exo 23:29Exo 23:30Exo 23:31Exo 33:2Exo 34:11Lev 21:7Lev 21:14Lev 22:13Num 22:6Num 22:11Num 30:9(10)Deu 33:27Jos 24:12Jos 24:18Jdg 2:3Jdg 6:9Jdg 9:41Jdg 11:2Jdg 11:71Sa 26:191Ki 2:271Ch 17:212Ch 20:11Job 30:5Psa 34:0(1)Psa 78:55Psa 80:8(9)Pro 22:10Isa 57:20 (2×)Ezk 31:11Ezk 44:22Hos 9:15Amo 8:8Jon 2:4(5)Mic 2:9Zep 2:4
Root family
Word studyga-RASHverb

What garash means

to drive out by force: to expel a person or group from a place they would otherwise stay

TranslatabilityPartialCertaintySettled

At its core this verb is forceful removal. Someone with power pushes someone else out, away from a home, a land, a position, or a presence, and the one removed does not go willingly. The same word covers a king driving conquered peoples off their land, a household throwing out an unwanted member, and God expelling the first humans from the garden.

Three shades of that one idea show up in the Bible. Most often it describes clearing nations or people off territory, the language of conquest and dispossession. A second, narrower use is legal: a man putting away his wife, so that a "driven-out woman" is simply the Hebrew term for a divorced woman. A third, vivid use turns the force outward and upward, picturing the restless sea heaving up the mud and filth it cannot keep down.

What ties all three together is the picture of something expelled against the pull that would otherwise hold it in place. People belong to their land, a wife to her household, the sea's silt to its depths, and this verb names the act of forcing them out anyway. The shade you land on depends entirely on what is being driven out and from where.

Nuances

1ato drive out people or nations from a land, home, or position; to expel or banish
Gen 3:24Gen 4:14Gen 21:10Exo 2:17Exo 6:1Exo 10:11Exo 11:1 (2×)Exo 12:39Exo 23:28Exo 23:29Exo 23:30Exo 23:31
1bto divorce or put away a wife; (as a passive form) a divorced woman
Lev 21:7Lev 21:14Lev 22:13Num 30:9(10)Ezk 44:22
1cto cast up or heave up; (of the sea) to toss up mire and filth
Isa 57:20 (2×)Amo 8:8

What scholars say about garash

The standard lexica (BDB, HALOT, DCH) treat גרשׁ as a single verb meaning to drive out, expel, with the divorce usage (the passive participle גְּרוּשָׁה designating a divorced woman in the priestly marriage laws of Leviticus 21-22, Numbers 30, and Ezekiel 44) understood as a specialization of the one root rather than a separate homonym. The verb is overwhelmingly attested in the piel, the conquest-narrative term for Yahweh or Israel dispossessing the Canaanite nations (Exodus 23, 33-34; Joshua 24; Psalms 78, 80). The niphal in Isaiah 57:20 and Amos 8:8 yields the marine image of the sea heaving up mire, classed by the lexica under a passive be tossed up, cast up sense. The two STEPBible homograph seeds (drive out vs. divorce) reflect this contextual range, not two unrelated roots.

Sources

  • BDB, s.v. גרשׁlexicon
  • HALOT, s.v. גרשׁlexicon
  • DCH, s.v. גרשׁlexicon

All attested forms of גָּרַשׁ

piel consecutive-imperfect 3ms

וַיְגָרֶשׁ, וַיְגָרֲשֵׁ

Gen 3:24, Exo 10:11, Deu 33:27, Jos 24:18, Jdg 9:41, 1Ki 2:27, Psa 78:55, Psa 34:0

qal passive-participle f s absolute

גְּרוּשָׁה

Lev 21:7, Lev 21:14, Lev 22:13, Num 30:9, Ezk 44:22

piel imperfect 1cs

אֲגָרְשֶׁ, אֲגָרְשֵׁ, אֲגָרֵשׁ

Exo 23:29, Exo 23:30, Hos 9:15, Jdg 2:3

piel infinitive-construct construct

גָּרֵשׁ, גָרְשֵׁ

Exo 11:1, 1Ch 17:21, 2Ch 20:11

piel consecutive-imperfect 3mp

וַיְגָרְשׁוּ

Exo 2:17, Jdg 11:2

piel consecutive-perfect 1cs

וְגֵרַשְׁתִּי

Exo 33:2, Num 22:11

piel imperative 2ms

גָּרֵשׁ

Gen 21:10, Pro 22:10

piel imperfect 3ms

יְגָרְשֵׁ, יְגָרֵשׁ

Exo 6:1, Exo 11:1

niphal consecutive-perfect 3fs

וְנִגְרְשָׁה

Amo 8:8

niphal participle m s absolute

נִגְרָשׁ

Isa 57:20

niphal perfect 1cs

נִגְרַשְׁתִּי

Jon 2:4

piel conjunctive-imperfect 1cs

וַאֲגָרְשֶׁ

Num 22:6

piel consecutive-imperfect 1cs

וָאֲגָרֵשׁ

Jdg 6:9

piel consecutive-imperfect 2mp

וַתְּגָרְשׁוּ

Jdg 11:7

piel consecutive-imperfect 3fs

וַתְּגָרֶשׁ

Jos 24:12

piel consecutive-perfect 2ms

וְגֵרַשְׁתָּ

Exo 23:31

piel consecutive-perfect 3fs

וְגֵרְשָׁה

Exo 23:28

piel imperfect 2mp

תְּגָרְשׁוּ

Mic 2:9

piel imperfect 2ms

תְּגָרֵשׁ

Psa 80:8

piel imperfect 3mp

יְגָרְשׁוּ

Zep 2:4

piel perfect 1cs

גֵּרַשְׁתִּ

Ezk 31:11

piel perfect 2ms

גֵּרַשְׁתָּ

Gen 4:14

piel perfect 3cp

גֵרְשׁוּ

1Sa 26:19

pual imperfect 3mp

יְגֹרָשׁוּ

Job 30:5

pual perfect 3cp

גֹרְשׁוּ

Exo 12:39

qal consecutive-imperfect 3mp

וַיִּגְרְשׁוּ

Isa 57:20

qal participle m s absolute

גֹרֵשׁ

Exo 34:11