Hebrew word · H1327
בַּתָּה
habatot
precipice
Found only here. Most likely 'precipice, steep slope', from a root meaning 'to cut off'. Older interpreters linked it to bātâ, 'waste, desolation' (Isaiah 5:6), hence 'desolate'.
Appears once in the Hebrew Old Testament. ·
What it means
cliff, precipice, steep
Abridged from Brown, Driver and Briggs, A Hebrew and English Lexicon of the Old Testament (1906), via STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0).
In depth
- Range of meaning
Found only here. Most likely 'precipice, steep slope', from a root meaning 'to cut off'. Older interpreters linked it to bātâ, 'waste, desolation' (Isaiah 5:6), hence 'desolate'.
- Against the English
KJV/WEB/YLT 'desolate valleys'. BSB/NIV/ESV/NASB 'steep ravines'.
- How it drifted
'Desolate' comes from linking the word to a similar-looking Hebrew word for 'waste' (Isaiah 5:6). Most modern lexicons prefer a topographical sense, 'sheer/steep', which suits the parallel 'clefts of the crags'.
- Used elsewhere in the period
No other biblical occurrence. Both senses are argued from etymology, so certainty is limited. The parallel with rock-clefts favours steep terrain.
Where it appears
Isaiah · 1
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Isaiah 7:19 הַבַּתּ֔וֹת the cliffs
And they will all come and settle in the steep ravines and clefts of the rocks, in all the thornbushes and watering holes.
Here: This word occurs only here in the Bible. It most likely means sheer, steep-sided ground, so 'wadis of the precipices' are steep ravines. Older translations read it as 'desolate'.
Word data: STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0), main text only.