StrongerBible

sha'av

שָׁאַב

HebrewH7579draw

Appears 19 times · tap a cell to see the verses

Gen 24:11Gen 24:13Gen 24:19Gen 24:20 (2×)Gen 24:43Gen 24:44Gen 24:45Deu 29:11(10)Jos 9:21Jos 9:23Jos 9:27Rut 2:91Sa 7:61Sa 9:112Sa 23:161Ch 11:18Isa 12:3Nam 3:14
Root family
Word studyshah-AHVverb

What sha'av means

to draw water: to lift or pull water up from a well, spring, or river

TranslatabilityDirectCertaintySettled

This is the ordinary, everyday word for getting water: lowering a jar into a well or spring and hauling it back up full. In the world of the Bible that work was usually done by women, and often more than once a day. The long betrothal scene at the well captures it perfectly, where Rebekah goes down to the spring, fills her jar, and draws again and again until the camels have all had their fill (Genesis 24).

Because fetching water was heavy, endless labor, the phrase "drawers of water" became shorthand for the lowest rank of servant. When the Gibeonites tricked Israel into a treaty, they were spared but bound to be woodcutters and water-carriers for the community (Joshua 9), a station later named in the same breath as the humblest members of the camp (Deuteronomy 29:11).

The same plain word carries some of Scripture's most vivid moments: David's warriors break through enemy lines just to draw him a drink from the well of Bethlehem (2 Samuel 23:16), Samuel's people draw water and pour it out before the LORD as an act of repentance (1 Samuel 7:6), and Isaiah promises that God's rescued people will "draw water with joy from the wells of salvation" (Isaiah 12:3). A close relative, דָּלָה, covers the same act of hauling water up.

Gen 24:11Gen 24:13Gen 24:19Gen 24:20 (2×)Gen 24:43Gen 24:44Gen 24:45Deu 29:11(10)Jos 9:21Jos 9:23Jos 9:27Rut 2:9

What scholars say about sha'av

The standard lexica (HALOT, BDB, DCH) are unanimous that שָׁאַב denotes drawing water, with the water either explicit or understood as the object throughout its occurrences. Nearly all attestations are qal, and the substantival participle "drawers of water" functions as a set expression for menial servitude (Joshua 9:21-27; Deuteronomy 29:11). The verb has recognized cognates in other Semitic languages for the same act.

Sources

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

All attested forms of שָׁאַב

qal infinitive-construct construct

שְׁאֹב

Gen 24:13, Gen 24:20, Gen 24:43, 1Sa 9:11

qal consecutive-imperfect 3mp

וַיִּשְׁאֲבוּ

1Sa 7:6, 2Sa 23:16, 1Ch 11:18

qal participle m p construct

שֹׁאֲבֵי

Jos 9:21, Jos 9:23, Jos 9:27

qal consecutive-imperfect 3fs

וַתִּשְׁאַב, וַתִּשְׁאָב

Gen 24:20, Gen 24:45

qal imperfect 1cs

אֶשְׁאָב

Gen 24:19, Gen 24:44

qal consecutive-perfect 2mp

וּשְׁאַבְתֶּם

Isa 12:3

qal imperative 2fs

שַׁאֲבִי

Nam 3:14

qal imperfect 3mp

יִשְׁאֲבוּ

Rut 2:9

qal participle f p absolute

שֹּׁאֲבֹת

Gen 24:11

qal participle m s construct

שֹׁאֵב

Deu 29:11