StrongerBible

sava

שָׂבֵעַ

HebrewH7646satisfied, full, ...

Appears 97 times · tap a cell to see the verses

Exo 16:8Exo 16:12Lev 26:26Deu 6:11Deu 8:10Deu 8:12Deu 11:15Deu 14:29Deu 26:12Deu 31:20Rut 2:141Ch 23:12Ch 24:152Ch 31:10Neh 9:25Job 7:4Job 9:18Job 19:22Job 27:14Job 31:31Job 38:27Psa 17:14Psa 17:15Psa 22:26(27)Psa 37:19Psa 59:15(16)Psa 63:5(6)Psa 65:4(5)Psa 78:29Psa 81:16(17)Psa 88:3(4)Psa 90:14Psa 91:16Psa 103:5Psa 104:13Psa 104:16Psa 104:28Psa 105:40Psa 107:9Psa 123:3Psa 123:4Psa 132:15Psa 145:16Psa 147:14Pro 1:31Pro 5:10Pro 12:11Pro 12:14Pro 14:14Pro 18:20 (2×)
Root family
Word studysah-VAHverb

What sava means

to have one's fill: to eat or have enough of something until the appetite or need is met

TranslatabilityPartialCertaintySettled

At its root this word is about reaching the point where a hunger is met and there is no longer any lack. Most often that hunger is literal: a person eats and is full, livestock graze and are full, the land drinks rain and has had enough. The word names the moment of completion, not the eating or drinking itself.

From there the same idea stretches in two directions without changing its core. When God is the one who satisfies, the word turns positive and generous: he fills the hungry with good things, satisfies the poor with bread, fills a long life with days. When a person reaches past enough into too much, the same word turns sour: to be glutted, fed up, sick of a thing, sated to the point of loathing it.

The word can also leave food behind entirely and describe being satisfied in the deepest sense, content because the one true need has been met. The clearest cases are the ones where a person is satisfied not with bread but with God himself, with his favor, his presence, his likeness. The English picture of being full holds all of this together: the question is always what fills you, and whether enough has tipped over into too much.

Nuances

1ato eat one's fill, to have enough food and be full
Exo 16:8Exo 16:12Lev 26:26Deu 6:11Deu 8:10Deu 8:12Deu 11:15Deu 14:29Deu 26:12Deu 31:20Rut 2:14Neh 9:25
1bfor God to satisfy someone, filling the hungry or needy with good things
Psa 81:16(17)Psa 91:16Psa 103:5Psa 104:13Psa 104:28Psa 105:40Psa 107:9Psa 132:15Psa 145:16Psa 147:14Isa 58:11Jer 31:14
1cto be satisfied with more than food: with God's favor, his presence, or life itself
Psa 17:14Psa 17:15Psa 63:5(6)Psa 65:4(5)Psa 90:14Pro 12:14Pro 14:14Pro 18:20 (2×)Ecc 6:3Isa 53:11Isa 66:11
1dto have more than enough, to be glutted or sated to excess and weariness
Job 7:4Job 19:22Pro 25:16Pro 25:17Pro 27:20 (2×)Pro 30:15Pro 30:16Isa 1:11Isa 9:20(19)Lam 3:15Lam 3:30Hab 2:5
1eof a person sated with sorrow or contempt, having had more than a full share of suffering
Job 9:18Psa 88:3(4)Psa 123:3Psa 123:4Hab 2:16
1ffull of days or years: at the end of a long life that has had its fill of time
1Ch 23:12Ch 24:15

What scholars say about sava

Standard lexica treat שָׂבַע as a single verb meaning to be sated or have one's fill, with a literal core (to eat to the full) that extends naturally to satisfaction in a fuller sense and, at the other extreme, to being glutted or sated to excess. HALOT and BDB list these as shades of one verb rather than separate words. The hiphil (to satisfy, fill, sate) is most often used of God satisfying the hungry, the poor, and the living with good things. TDOT and the theological dictionaries trace the theological weight of the word in the satisfaction language of the Psalms and Deuteronomy, where having enough is tied to God as the giver and where forgetting him follows on being filled.

Sources

  • HALOT, s.v. שׂבעlexicon
  • BDB, s.v. שׂבעlexicon
  • DCH, s.v. שׂבעlexicon
  • G. Gerleman, "שׂבעׂ to be sated," Theological Dictionary of the Old Testament (TDOT)dictionary
  • TWOT, s.v. שׂבע (no. 2231)dictionary

All attested forms of שָׂבֵעַ

qal imperfect 3mp

יִשְׂבְּעוּ, יִשְׂבָּעוּ

Job 27:14, Psa 17:14, Psa 59:15, Psa 104:16, Psa 104:28, Pro 5:10, Psa 37:19, Pro 1:31

qal imperfect 3ms

יִשְׂבַּע, יִשְׂבָּע, יִשְׂבָּעֲ

Pro 12:11, Pro 12:14, Pro 14:14, Pro 28:19, Pro 28:19, Pro 30:22, Ecc 5:10, Lam 3:30

qal imperfect 3fs

תִּשְׂבַּע

Psa 63:5, Psa 104:13, Pro 18:20, Ecc 1:8, Ecc 4:8, Ecc 6:3, Jer 50:19

qal consecutive-perfect 2ms

וְשָׂבָעְתָּ

Deu 6:11, Deu 8:10, Deu 8:12, Deu 11:15

hiphil imperfect 1cs

אַשְׂבִּיעֵ, אַשְׂבִּיעֶ, אַשְׂבִּיעַ

Psa 91:16, Psa 81:16, Psa 132:15

hiphil imperfect 3ms

יַשְׂבִּיעֵ, יַשְׂבִּעַ

Psa 105:40, Psa 147:14, Job 9:18

qal consecutive-imperfect 3mp

וַיִּשְׂבְּעוּ, וַיִּשְׂבָּעוּ

Neh 9:25, Psa 78:29, Hos 13:6

qal consecutive-perfect 2mp

וּשְׂבַעְתֶּם

Isa 66:11, Ezk 39:20, Jol 2:19

qal imperfect 2mp

תִשְׂבָּעוּ, תִּשְׂבְּעוּ

Lev 26:26, Job 19:22, Exo 16:12

qal imperfect 3fp

תִשְׂבַּעְנָה

Pro 27:20, Pro 27:20, Pro 30:15

qal perfect 3fs

שָׂבְעָה

Psa 88:3, Psa 123:4, Pro 30:16

hiphil participle m s absolute

מַשְׂבִּיעַ, מַּשְׂבִּיַע

Psa 145:16, Psa 103:5

hiphil perfect 3ms

הִשְׂבִּיעַ

Psa 107:9, Lam 3:15

qal consecutive-perfect 3cp

וְשָׂבֵעוּ

Deu 14:29, Deu 26:12

qal imperfect 2ms

תִשְׂבָּע, תִּשְׂבָּעֶ

Mic 6:14, Pro 25:16

qal infinitive-absolute absolute

שָׂבוֹעַ

2Ch 31:10, Jol 2:26

qal infinitive-construct construct

שְׂבֹּעַ

Exo 16:8, Lam 5:6

qal perfect 2fs

שָׂבָעַתְּ

Ezk 16:28, Ezk 16:29

qal perfect 3cp

שָׂבְעוּ, שָׂבֵעוּ

Hos 13:6, Isa 9:20

hiphil consecutive-imperfect 1cs

וָאַשְׂבִּעַ

Jer 5:7

hiphil consecutive-perfect 1cs

וְהִשְׂבַּעְתִּי

Ezk 32:4

hiphil consecutive-perfect 3ms

וְהִשְׂבִּיעַ

Isa 58:11

hiphil imperfect 2ms

תַּשְׂבִּיעַ

Isa 58:10

hiphil infinitive-construct construct

הַשְׂבִּיעַ

Job 38:27

hiphil perfect 2fs

הִשְׂבַּעַתְּ

Ezk 27:33

niphal participle m s absolute

נִשְׂבָּע

Job 31:31

piel imperative 2ms

שַׂבְּעֵ

Psa 90:14

piel imperfect 3mp

יְשַׂבֵּעוּ

Ezk 7:19

qal cohortative 1cp

נִשְׂבְּעָה

Psa 65:4

qal cohortative 1cs

אֶשְׂבְּעָה

Psa 17:15

qal conjunctive-imperfect 3mp

וְיִשְׂבָּעוּ

Psa 22:26

qal conjunctive-imperfect 3ms

וְיִשְׂבָּע

Isa 44:16

qal consecutive-imperfect 1cp

וַנִּשְׂבַּע

Jer 44:17

qal consecutive-imperfect 3fs

וַתִּשְׂבַּע

Rut 2:14

qal consecutive-imperfect 3ms

וַיִּשְׂבַּע

2Ch 24:15

qal consecutive-perfect 1cs

וְשָׂבַעְתִּי

Job 7:4

qal consecutive-perfect 3fs

וְשָׂבְעָה

Jer 46:10

qal consecutive-perfect 3ms

וְשָׂבַע

Deu 31:20

qal imperative 2ms

שְׂבַע

Pro 20:13

qal imperfect 1cs

אֶשְׂבַּע

Pro 30:9

4 further parsings are listed under Syntax.