Hebrew word · H1363

גֹּ֫בַהּ

goah

height

Govah means 'height': of a tree (Ezek 19:11), of Goliath (1 Sam 17:4), of the heavens (Job 22:12). With 'eyes', 'heart' or 'spirit' it becomes a word for haughtiness (Ps 10:4, 'the height of his nose').

Appears 17 times in 16 verses of the Hebrew Old Testament. ·

What it means

1) height, exaltation

1a) height

1b) exaltation, grandeur

1c) haughtiness

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 Proverbs 16:18

Range of meaning

Govah means 'height': of a tree (Ezek 19:11), of Goliath (1 Sam 17:4), of the heavens (Job 22:12). With 'eyes', 'heart' or 'spirit' it becomes a word for haughtiness (Ps 10:4, 'the height of his nose'). Ruach means wind, breath, spirit, and in Proverbs often a person's inner temper (Prov 16:32; 17:27; 25:28).

Against the English

'Haughty spirit' is a good rendering. It can, though, be heard as a spiritual being or an outside 'spirit' acting on someone. The Hebrew means the person's own attitude: 'loftiness of spirit', 'a high-headed temper'.

How it drifted

Some modern popular use talks about 'a spirit of pride' as a separate force. That idea comes from later reading, not from this phrase.

Used elsewhere in the period

Eccl 7:8: 'patient (long) of spirit is better than high (gevah) of spirit'. Prov 16:19 directly contrasts 'lowly of spirit' (shefal ruach). Prov 29:23: 'a man's pride brings him low, but the lowly in spirit gains honor'. The Septuagint here has kakophrosynē, 'wrong-headedness'.

From the study of Amos 2:9

Range of meaning

Height, tallness. Used of physical stature and of trees. In a moral sense it also means haughtiness or loftiness of heart (e.g. Prov 16:18, "a haughty spirit"; 2 Chr 32:26).

Against the English

English "height" carries only the physical sense. The Hebrew word and its root (gavah) also carry the overtone of pride, which Israel's prophets often pictured as tall trees (Isa 2:12–13; Ezek 31:10).

Used elsewhere in the period

Physical: 1 Sam 17:4 uses the root's ideas for Goliath; Ezek 31:10, 14 has the root for the lofty cedar that stands for Assyria. Isa 2:12–13 pairs "cedars of Lebanon, high and lifted up" with "oaks of Bashan" as targets of the Day of the LORD. Num 13:32–33 and Deut 1:28 describe the land's inhabitants as tall (using the related word qomah and the verb rum).

From the study of Psalm 10:4

Range of meaning

gōbah is height or loftiness, used for physical height (Ezek 1:18) and for arrogance (Prov 16:18 "a haughty spirit"; Jer 48:29 Moab's "loftiness"; 2 Chr 32:26). ʾap is the nose or nostrils, by extension the face, and very often anger (from flaring nostrils).

Against the English

KJV "pride of his countenance" and YLT "height of his face" keep the bodily picture. BSB and NIV "in his pride" keep the meaning but lose the image.

Used elsewhere in the period

Similar body-language for pride appears in "haughty eyes" (Ps 101:5; Prov 6:17) and "lofty eyes" (Ps 131:1; Isa 2:11). The Greek (LXX) and Latin (Vulgate) took ʾap here as "anger" and gōbah as "greatness": "according to the abundance of his wrath."

Where it appears

1 Samuel · 1

  1. 1 Samuel 17:4 גָּבְה֕וֹ height his

    Then a champion named Goliath, who was from Gath, came out from the Philistine camp. He was six cubits and a span in height,

    Here: 'His height.' The noun comes from the root for 'be high', which can also suggest haughtiness. In Samuel that echo matters: in 16:7 God told Samuel not to look at Eliab's appearance 'or the height of his stature' (same word), because the LORD looks on the heart.

2 Chronicles · 2

  1. 2 Chronicles 3:4 וְהַגֹּ֖בַהּ and the height

    The portico at the front, extending across the width of the temple, was twenty cubits long and twenty cubits high. He overlaid the inside with pure gold.

  2. 2 Chronicles 32:26 בְּגֹ֣בַהּ in [the] haughtiness of

    Then Hezekiah humbled the pride of his heart—he and the people of Jerusalem—so that the wrath of the LORD did not come upon them during the days of Hezekiah.

    Here: Literally 'in the height (of).' It picks up v. 25, 'his heart was high' (gābah libbô). The little preposition bə- ('in/with/concerning') is ambiguous. He humbled himself 'in respect of' his pride, or 'from' it, or 'for' it.

Job · 3

  1. Job 11:8 גָּבְהֵ֣י [the] heights of

    They are higher than the heavens—what can you do? They are deeper than Sheol—what can you know?

  2. Job 22:12 גֹּ֣בַהּ [the] height of

    Is not God as high as the heavens? Look at the highest stars, how lofty they are!

  3. Job 40:10 וָגֹ֑בַהּ and dignity

    Then adorn yourself with majesty and splendor, and clothe yourself with honor and glory.

    Here: 'And height.' It can be literal height (Goliath, 1 Sam 17:4; the 'height of heaven' where God dwells, Job 22:12). For people it usually means a lofty, arrogant spirit (Prov 16:18; Ps 10:4). Paired with gāʾôn, it pictures being raised high above everything else.

Psalms · 1

  1. Psalm 10:4 כְּגֹ֣בַהּ according to [the] haughtiness of

    In his pride the wicked man does not seek Him; in all his schemes there is no God.

    Here: "According to the height of..." The prefix kə- means "in keeping with, in proportion to": what follows is the outlook that matches his raised-up arrogance. Height is the Hebrew picture for pride (Prov 16:18, "a haughty spirit").

Proverbs · 1

  1. Proverbs 16:18 גֹּ֣בַהּ haughtiness of

    Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall.

    Here: Literally 'height', the same word used for a tall tree or Goliath's stature. Here it is joined to 'spirit', so it means a lofty, self-elevated attitude: the height you build for yourself.

Jeremiah · 1

  1. Jeremiah 48:29 גָּבְה֧וֹ haughtiness its

    We have heard of Moab’s pomposity, his exceeding pride and conceit, his proud arrogance and haughtiness of heart.

Ezekiel · 6

  1. Ezekiel 1:18 וְגֹ֥בַהּ and height

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

    Here: 'And height': the rims are huge and tower over the viewer. Ezekiel sounds the same consonants twice here (gav, govah, 'rim… height'), and the echo ties the rim to its looming size.

  2. Ezekiel 19:11 בְגָבְה֔וֹ by height its

    It had strong branches, fit for a ruler’s scepter. It towered high above the thick branches, conspicuous for its height and for its dense foliage.

  3. Ezekiel 31:10 בְּגָבְהֽוֹ׃ in height its

    Therefore this is what the Lord GOD says: ‘Since it became great in height and set its top among the clouds, and it grew proud on account of its height,

  4. Ezekiel 31:14 בְּגָבְהָ֖ם by height their

    This happened so that no other trees by the waters would become great in height and set their tops among the clouds, and no other well-watered trees would reach them in height. For they have all been consigned to death, to the depths of the earth, among the mortals who descend to the Pit.’

  5. Ezekiel 40:42 וְגֹ֖בַהּ and [the] height

    There were also four tables of dressed stone for the burnt offering, each a cubit and a half long, a cubit and a half wide, and a cubit high. On these were placed the utensils used to slaughter the burnt offerings and the other sacrifices.

  6. Ezekiel 41:8 גֹּ֖בַהּ a height

    I saw that the temple had a raised base all around it, forming the foundation of the side rooms. It was the full length of a rod, six long cubits.

Amos · 2

  1. Amos 2:9 כְּגֹ֤בַהּ גָּבְה֔וֹ [was] like [the] height of, height his

    Yet it was I who destroyed the Amorite before them, though his height was like that of the cedars, and he was as strong as the oaks. Yet I destroyed his fruit above and his roots below.

    Here: A comparison: "like the height of." The same noun comes back two words later, so the sentence says "height" twice.

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