Language Studies

Hebrew Thoughts

yâshabh - ישב (Strong's #3427)
Sat

The frequently occurring root verb ישב yâshabh (Strong's #3427, x1090) generally means to "dwell, remain, abide, sit" and thus is broader in application than a mere "sitting down" to supper. Metaphorically it is used for dwelling and inhabitation, God formed the earth to be "inhabited" (Isaiah 45:18). Where one "sits" is where one "lives". It can also have the sense of "to remain, stay" or "be set" somewhere, so it is static in location even if active in process. Hebrew often imagines even the verbs to "stand" or "sit" as active in process even if passive in momentum.

Curiously, ישב yâshabh can also mean "to marry" (as it does in the Ethiopic ’awsaba), probably from the sense of "to give another a dwelling place" or to "remain with them". Ezra 10:2ff. describes the "taking" or "marrying" of pagan women as wives using the verb ישב yâshabh (cf. Nehemiah 13:23,27 using the same verb for "marrying"). More positively, Psalm 68:6 says that "God seats the solitary in families" and in Psalm 113:9 that "He makes the home of a barren woman a place to dwell".

The related Arabic root wataba (in some Semitic languages s/sh<->t and y->w, 'y' even becomes an 'n' in the Canaanite nishab) more commonly means "to spring up" rather than "to sit down", even to pounce upon prey from having been seated or lying in wait. According to Gesenius, however, the Himyarite dialect use it like the Hebrew (cf. the 17th century arabist and biblical scholar Edward Pococke's Specimen Historiae Arabum, ed. Joseph White, Oxford, 1806, p.15 - only worth £500, so I haven't got a copy yet - although Rashi Antiquarian Booksellers have a copy towards the end of their Arabic Studies catalogue list - Donations gratefully received!).

Even in the Hebrew "to sit" can carry the meaning of "seated ready for action". For instance, Psalm 17:12 describes the youthful lion "lurking" or "sitting in wait" in its hiding place "longing" for its prey. Its sitting is not passive or sedentary but is rather like a coiled spring ready to launch and lynch its lunch! Psalm 10:8 describes the wicked God-denying man (cf. v.4) in the same way, "He sits in the lurking places of the villages; In the secret places he murders the innocent". I love the almost lascivious language of the KJV, NKJV and JPS, completely dropped and ignored by the NIV's less colourful "lying in wait near the villages" or RSV's "sits in ambush". The term מארב ma’^arâbh (Strong's #3993) "lurking-place" is quite expressive in the Hebrew of a cunning place for an ambush, snare or trap.

In the Greek Septuagint (LXX) of Genesis 15:11 describing carrion birds descending upon the carcasse used in God's covenant with Abraham it says that "Abram sat down by them" yet in the English versions it portrays him more probably as "driving them away". This comes from the indeterminate use of ויּשּׁב vayyashshêbh in the verse. If taken from ישב yâshabh then it could imply that he sat down with the vultures. If from נשב nâshabh (Strong's #5380), as understood by the later Jewish commentator Rashi, which only occurs in two other places and normally means "to blow" it could mean he dispersed them by shooing them away. But neither "sitting" nor "blowing" in their normal senses appear appropriate. The LXX uses the Greek verb "to sit" suggesting that the Hebrews originally thought that ישב yâshabh was in use here, however, the later Greek version by Aquila uses a different verb in keeping with our modern English versions. If, we accept the more active use of ישב yâshabh as to "ambush" or "strike from a crouched position", then perhaps we have a better picture of Abraham pouncing on them to clear them away.

In Genesis 49:24 ישב yâshabh is used of a bow "remaining" steady or strong, but could equally, given the above, be "sat" or "sprung" for action, tensed and ready to fire.

To "sit" can take on a more formal meaning when "enthroned" is intended. In 1 Samuel 4:4 God is described as "the LORD of hosts, who sitteth upon the cherubim" according to the JPS, but other versions render as "dwell" (KJV) or is "enthroned" (NIV). In Isaiah 28:6 it has the meaning of "sitting in judgement", much as our modern idiom speaks of "judges sitting".

It is used as an almost technical idiomatic term to describe discipleship, or the place of learning or teaching. In the Hebrew Bible we find Elisha's disciples the "sons of the prophets" described as "sitting before him" (2 Kings 4:38). Deuteronomy 33:3 has "They sit down at Your feet; Everyone receives Your words" describing the posture of instruction using an unknown verb תכה tâkhâh (Strong's #8497) translated as "sit down" but not used anywhere else in the Bible (from the similar Arabic root we could guess at "recline", as for a Middle Eastern meal, or from the Syriac "remain"). In the New Testament we read of Mary "sat" at the feet of Jesus (Luke 10:39) and Paul at the feet of Gamaliel (Acts 22:3).

So, "to sit" can carry the meaning of permanence whether through dwelling or marrying; or the picture of preparedness, ready to pounce or attentive to learn; or the idea of power and authority, as in seated to rule, judge or instruct.

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