StrongerBible

zevaḥ

זֶבַח

HebrewH2078Proper NounZebah

Appears 12 times · tap a cell to see the verses

Jdg 8:5Jdg 8:6Jdg 8:7Jdg 8:10Jdg 8:12 (2×)Jdg 8:15 (2×)Jdg 8:18Jdg 8:21 (2×)Psa 83:11(12)
Root family
Word studyResearch-gradeZEH-vakhproper noun

What zevaḥ means

Zebah: one of the two Midianite kings Gideon chased down and put to death

TranslatabilityApproximateCertaintySettled

Zebah was a king of Midian in Gideon's day, and the story never mentions him alone. He is always "Zebah and Zalmunna" (צַלְמֻנָּע), the pair who got away when Gideon's three hundred men broke the Midianite camp. Gideon crosses the Jordan after them, asks the men of Succoth for bread and is mocked for it, since they do not believe he will ever lay hands on the two kings. He catches them anyway at Karkor with what was left of their army, and he comes back through Succoth with them to prove the point.

The end of the chase is a family matter. Gideon asks the two kings about the men they killed at Tabor and learns they were his own brothers. He tells his oldest son to kill them, and the boy is too frightened to draw his sword, so the kings themselves tell Gideon to do it, and he does, taking the crescent ornaments off their camels' necks afterward.

His name is where the Hebrew does something English cannot follow. It is spelled exactly like the everyday Hebrew word for a sacrifice (זֶבַח), the animal killed so that a household could eat it in God's presence. English Bibles print the sound of it, "Zebah," and the ordinary word behind it vanishes. Hebrew readers heard it, and this king is not the only case: the two Midianite officers hunted down earlier in the same campaign are named "Raven" and "Wolf" (עֹרֵב, זְאֵב). The account itself makes no comment on any of the three names. Psalm 83 later prays that a new set of enemies will end up like all four of these men.

Jdg 8:5Jdg 8:6Jdg 8:7Jdg 8:10Jdg 8:12 (2×)Jdg 8:15 (2×)Jdg 8:18Jdg 8:21 (2×)Psa 83:11(12)

What scholars say about zevaḥ

All twelve taggings are the single form זֶבַח, always in the pair זֶבַח וְצַלְמֻנָּע: eight verses in the Gideon cycle (Judg 8:5, 6, 7, 10, 12, 15, 18, 21) and the retrospective simile of Ps 83:11 English (83:12 MT), where the pair follows עֹרֵב and זְאֵב. BDB and HALOT file the name as the noun זֶבַח, "sacrifice," used as a personal name; the separate concordance number therefore reflects lexicographic convention for a common noun serving as a name, not a distinct lexeme, and neither DCH nor the TDOT treatment of the root posits a separate root behind the name. The standard Judges commentaries observe that the Midianite leaders of Judges 7 and 8 all bear names that are ordinary Hebrew nouns (עֹרֵב, "raven"; זְאֵב, "wolf"; זֶבַח, "sacrifice"), and they weigh, without reaching a settled result, whether these are authentic Midianite names transmitted in Hebrew dress or characterizations shaped in the telling; the narrative itself draws no attention to the sense of any of the three. The two pairs must be kept apart in exegesis: Zebah and Zalmunna are מַלְכֵי מִדְיָן (Judg 8:5, 12), captured east of the Jordan, while Oreb and Zeeb are the שָׂרֵי מִדְיָן of Judg 7:25, killed at the crossings; Ps 83:11 English enumerates all four. The Greek tradition transliterates the name rather than rendering it, as it does for the paired name.

In-depth research

This is a research paper, so it may be hard to read without scholarly background. It is useful if you want to dig even deeper into this word.

Sources

  • BDB, s.v. זֶבַחlexicon
  • HALOT, s.v. זֶבַחlexicon
  • DCH (Clines), vol. 3, s.v. זבחlexicon
  • B. Lang and J. Bergman, "זבח zabah," Theological Dictionary of the Old Testament 4 (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1980), 8-29reference
  • Robert G. Boling, Judges (AB 6A; Garden City: Doubleday, 1975)commentary
  • J. Alberto Soggin, Judges: A Commentary (OTL; Philadelphia: Westminster, 1981)commentary
  • Barry G. Webb, The Book of Judges (NICOT; Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2012)commentary
  • Trent C. Butler, Judges (WBC 8; Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 2009)commentary

All attested forms of זֶבַח

m

זֶבַח

Jdg 8:5, Jdg 8:6, Jdg 8:7, Jdg 8:10, Jdg 8:12, Jdg 8:12, Jdg 8:15, Jdg 8:15