Hebrew word · H1379

גָּבַל

hagbel

to border

The root concerns borders and territory. Its plain forms mean 'to bound' or 'to border on' (Deuteronomy 19:14; Joshua 18:20; Zechariah 9:2). The related noun gevul (H1366) means a boundary or the territory inside one. The causative form used here means 'to make a boundary, to fix a limit'.

Appears 5 times in 5 verses of the Hebrew Old Testament. ·

What it means

1) to bound, border

1a) (Qal) to bound, border

1b) (Hiphil) to set bounds, set bounds for

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 Exodus 19:12

Range of meaning

The root concerns borders and territory. Its plain forms mean 'to bound' or 'to border on' (Deuteronomy 19:14; Joshua 18:20; Zechariah 9:2). The related noun gevul (H1366) means a boundary or the territory inside one. The causative form used here means 'to make a boundary, to fix a limit'.

Against the English

'Set bounds' (KJV, WEB) and 'set up a boundary' (BSB) are accurate. YLT's 'made a border' is the most concrete. The real differences lie in what is being bounded: the Hebrew says 'the people', while several modern versions add or substitute 'the mountain'.

Used elsewhere in the period

In this form the verb occurs only here and in Exodus 19:23, where Moses recalls the order as 'Set bounds around the mountain and consecrate it' (BDB). The Septuagint uses aphorizō, 'to mark off, set apart'. The Vulgate has constitues terminos, 'you shall establish limits'. The related noun is the ordinary word for tribal and national frontiers, including the protected boundary markers of Deuteronomy 19:14.

Where it appears

Exodus · 2

  1. Exodus 19:12 וְהִגְבַּלְתָּ֤ and you will set a boundary for

    And you are to set up a boundary for the people around the mountain and tell them, ‘Be careful not to go up on the mountain or touch its base. Whoever touches the mountain shall surely be put to death.

    Here: A command to Moses: 'and you shall draw a boundary.' The verb comes from the world of land borders, and this causative form appears in the Hebrew Bible only here and in verse 23.

  2. Exodus 19:23 הַגְבֵּ֥ל set a boundary for

    But Moses said to the LORD, “The people cannot come up Mount Sinai, for You solemnly warned us, ‘Put a boundary around the mountain and set it apart as holy.’”

Deuteronomy · 1

  1. Deuteronomy 19:14 גָּבְל֖וּ they set bounds

    You must not move your neighbor’s boundary marker, which was set up by your ancestors to mark the inheritance you shall receive in the land that the LORD your God is giving you to possess.

Joshua · 1

  1. Joshua 18:20 יִגְבֹּל־ it borders

    On the east side the border was the Jordan. These were the borders around the inheritance of the clans of the tribe of Benjamin.

Zechariah · 1

  1. Zechariah 9:2 תִּגְבָּל־ [which] it borders

    and also against Hamath, which borders it, as well as Tyre and Sidon, though they are very shrewd.

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