Hebrew word · H1365
גַּבְהוּת
gavhut
haughtiness
From the root g-b-h, "to be high, tall." The root describes physical height (tall trees, high mountains, a tall man like Saul in 1 Samuel 9:2, using the related adjective). Figuratively it describes a heart or spirit that 'rises up' in arrogance.
Appears 2 times in 2 verses of the Hebrew Old Testament. ·
What it means
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
- Range of meaning
From the root g-b-h, "to be high, tall." The root describes physical height (tall trees, high mountains, a tall man like Saul in 1 Samuel 9:2, using the related adjective). Figuratively it describes a heart or spirit that 'rises up' in arrogance. The abstract noun gavhut means "tallness, loftiness," applied to human self-exaltation.
- Against the English
KJV/WEB "loftiness" keeps the picture of height. BSB/NIV "pride" or "arrogance" turn it straight into an inner attitude. That is not wrong, but it loses the picture that ties the verse to the tall cedars, towers and walls of verses 13–15.
- How it drifted
English "pride" has become mostly a word about inner psychology or self-esteem. The Hebrew is a spatial picture: something that towers. In the context it covers status, wealth, fortifications and prestige goods as much as private feelings.
- Used elsewhere in the period
The noun occurs only in Isaiah 2:11 and 2:17. The root is common in this sense: Proverbs 16:18 "a haughty (literally high) spirit before a fall"; Psalm 131:1 "my heart is not lifted high"; and, telling for Isaiah's era, 2 Chronicles 26:16 says of King Uzziah, "his heart grew high (gavah) to his destruction." In the year that king died, Isaiah saw Yahweh "high and lifted up" (Isaiah 6:1).
- Range of meaning
From the root g-b-h, 'to be high, tall'. The root covers literal height (tall trees, mountains, Saul's height in 1 Sam 9:2) and, by extension, arrogance: a 'high heart' (Prov 16:5), 'high eyes'. The abstract noun gabhût means 'loftiness, haughtiness' and occurs only in Isa 2:11 and 2:17.
- Against the English
BSB 'proud look', KJV/WEB 'lofty looks', YLT 'haughty eyes'. 'Lofty looks' and 'haughty eyes' keep both the eyes and the height. 'Proud look' keeps the attitude but loses the spatial picture that the rest of the passage depends on.
- How it drifted
English 'pride' can be positive (self-respect, 'proud of my children'). The Hebrew is never positive here: it is self-elevation that refuses to look up.
- Used elsewhere in the period
The idiom of 'high eyes' for arrogance is widespread: Ps 18:27 (ʿênayim rāmôt tašpîl, 'haughty eyes you bring low'), Ps 101:5, Ps 131:1, Prov 6:17, Prov 30:13. Isa 5:15 has the near-identical 'the eyes of the lofty will be brought low' (ʿênê gəbōhîm tišpalnâ).
Where it appears
Isaiah · 2
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Isaiah 2:11 גַּבְה֤וּת haughtiness of
The proud look of man will be humbled, and the loftiness of men brought low; the LORD alone will be exalted in that day.
Here: An abstract noun from the root 'to be high/tall'. It appears only here and in the refrain at 2:17. 'Eyes of height' means a lofty, superior gaze: the arrogance of people who think themselves tall.
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Isaiah 2:17 גַּבְה֣וּת [the] haughtiness of
So the pride of man will be brought low, and the loftiness of men will be humbled; the LORD alone will be exalted in that day,
Here: "The tallness of": an abstract noun from the root "to be high/tall." It appears only here and in 2:11. It means human self-elevation: the attitude, and also the visible ways people make themselves tower over others. Hebrew lets the masculine verb come first even though this noun is feminine.
Word data: STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0), main text only.