Hebrew word · H1354

גַּב

gev

back; rim; brow

Anything convex or curved: the back of a body or of a shield (the boss, Job 15:26), a mound or raised platform (Ezek 16:24, 31, where it is a platform for illicit worship), the curve of the eyebrow (Lev 14:9, gabbōt ʿênāyw), and, in a technical sense, the rim or felloe of a wheel (the curved...

Appears 13 times in 11 verses of the Hebrew Old Testament. ·

What it means

1) convex surface, back

1a) back (of man)

1b) mound (for illicit worship)

1c) boss (convex projection of shield)

1d) bulwarks, breastworks (of arguments-fig.)

1e) brow, eyebrow

1f) rim (of wheel)

Aramaic equivalent: gav (גַּב "back" H1355)

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

From the study of Ezekiel 1:18

Range of meaning

Anything convex or curved: the back of a body or of a shield (the boss, Job 15:26), a mound or raised platform (Ezek 16:24, 31, where it is a platform for illicit worship), the curve of the eyebrow (Lev 14:9, gabbōt ʿênāyw), and, in a technical sense, the rim or felloe of a wheel (the curved outer ring the spokes fit into) (1 Kgs 7:33). (BDB; HALOT.)

Against the English

Modern versions say 'rims,' which is correct. KJV and YLT say 'rings.' In 1611 that could mean a circular band, but a modern reader thinks of jewelry or a plain circle. The Septuagint translated it nōtoi, 'backs,' which is the word's root sense but loses the wheel meaning.

How it drifted

'Ring' narrowed in English toward finger-rings and circles in general. Readers of the KJV now lose the fact that this is a working wheel part.

Used elsewhere in the period

The closest parallel is 1 Kings 7:33, describing the wheeled bronze stands in Solomon's temple: 'their axles, their rims (gabbêhem), their spokes and their hubs were all cast.' That is the same word with the same feminine suffix, used for temple equipment on wheels. Ezekiel was a priest (1:3) and would have known that vocabulary.

Where it appears

Leviticus · 1

  1. Leviticus 14:9 גַּבֹּ֣ת [the] eyebrows of

    On the seventh day he must shave off all his hair—his head, his beard, his eyebrows, and the rest of his hair. He must wash his clothes and bathe himself with water, and he will be clean.

    Here: Literally "the rims" or "the ridges" (the word is also used for a back or a curved rim). Together with "his eyes" it means the eyebrows. This exact phrase appears only here in the Hebrew Bible.

1 Kings · 1

  1. 1 Kings 7:33 וְגַבֵּיהֶ֗ם and rims their

    The wheels were made like chariot wheels; their axles, rims, spokes, and hubs were all of cast metal.

Job · 3

  1. Job 13:12 לְגַבֵּי־ גַּבֵּיכֶֽם׃ [are] <to> defenses of, defenses your

    Your maxims are proverbs of ashes; your defenses are defenses of clay.

  2. Job 15:26 גַּבֵּ֥י [the] bosses of

    rushing headlong at Him with a thick, studded shield.

Psalms · 1

  1. Psalm 129:3 גַּ֭בִּי back my

    The plowmen plowed over my back; they made their furrows long.

Ezekiel · 7

  1. Ezekiel 1:18 וְגַ֨בֵּיהֶ֔ן וְגַבֹּתָ֗ם and rims their

    Their rims were high and awesome, and all four rims were full of eyes all around.

    Here: 'And their rims': the curved outer rims (felloes, the outer wooden ring) of the four wheels described in vv. 15–17. It stands first as the topic of the sentence ('As for their rims…'). The suffix is feminine, though the wheels (ophanim) are masculine. Ezekiel 1 often switches gender like this.

  2. Ezekiel 10:12 וְגַבֵּהֶ֔ם and backs their

    Their entire bodies, including their backs, hands, and wings, were full of eyes all around, as were their four wheels.

  3. Ezekiel 16:24 גֶּ֑ב a mound

    you built yourself a mound and made yourself a lofty shrine in every public square.

  4. Ezekiel 16:31 גַּבֵּךְ֙ mound your

    But when you built your mounds at the head of every street and made your lofty shrines in every public square, you were not even like a prostitute, because you scorned payment.

  5. Ezekiel 16:39 גַבֵּךְ֙ mound your

    Then I will deliver you into the hands of your lovers, and they will level your mounds and tear down your lofty shrines. They will strip off your clothes, take your fine jewelry, and leave you naked and bare.

  6. Ezekiel 43:13 גַּ֥ב [is] [the] mound of

    These are the measurements of the altar in long cubits (a cubit and a handbreadth): Its gutter shall be a cubit deep and a cubit wide, with a rim of one span around its edge. And this is the height of the altar:

Word data: STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0), main text only.