Hebrew word · H1406

גָּג

gag

roof

Roof or housetop, especially the flat roofs of Levantine houses. It also means the top surface of an altar or tower.

Appears 30 times in 27 verses of the Hebrew Old Testament. ·

What it means

1) roof, top, housetop

1a) roof (of house)

1b) top (of altar of incense)

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 21:9

Range of meaning

Roof or housetop, especially the flat roofs of Levantine houses. It also means the top surface of an altar or tower.

Against the English

'Roof' and 'housetop' are accurate. A modern reader may picture a sloping shingled roof or, as in NLT's 'attic', an indoor loft. Either picture loses the open, flat, weather-exposed surface.

How it drifted

Western roofs are steep and nobody sits on them. Israelite roofs were flat working spaces.

Used elsewhere in the period

Rahab hid the spies under flax drying on her roof (Joshua 2:6). Saul slept on Samuel's roof (1 Samuel 9:25–26). David walked on the palace roof (2 Samuel 11:2). The law required a guard wall around a roof edge (Deuteronomy 22:8). Booths for the festival were built on roofs (Nehemiah 8:16), and people burned incense to other gods there (Jeremiah 19:13; Zephaniah 1:5).

From the study of 2 Samuel 11:2

Range of meaning

Roof, specifically the flat roof of a house or other building. It was used as living space for sleeping, drying produce, prayer, public announcements and mourning.

Against the English

"Roof" is accurate, but Western readers picture a pitched roof that no one walks on. In Israel, walking on the roof was ordinary.

How it drifted

Different building styles: Western pitched roofs versus the flat beam-and-plaster roofs of the Levant.

Used elsewhere in the period

Deut 22:8 (a law requiring a parapet so no one falls off the roof); Josh 2:6 (Rahab hides the spies among flax on her roof); 1 Sam 9:25–26 (Saul sleeps on Samuel's roof); 2 Sam 16:22, where Absalom pitches a tent "on the roof" of this same palace and goes in to David's concubines "in the sight of all Israel". That event fulfils Nathan's word in 12:11–12.

From the study of Isaiah 22:1

Range of meaning

Roof or housetop. In Israelite houses this was a flat surface of beams, brush and packed clay, reached by an outside stair or ladder.

Against the English

'Housetops' (KJV, WEB) and 'rooftops' (BSB) are accurate. Modern readers, though, may picture pitched roofs and assume that climbing up means panic or escape.

How it drifted

This is a change in house design, not in the word: flat working roofs are no longer the norm in English-speaking countries.

Used elsewhere in the period

Roofs were used for sleeping and walking (1 Samuel 9:25–26; 2 Samuel 11:2), drying flax (Joshua 2:6), building booths for the festival (Nehemiah 8:16), public mourning (Isaiah 15:3; Jeremiah 48:38), proclamation (Matthew 10:27), and worship of the 'host of heaven' and Baal (Jeremiah 19:13; 32:29; Zephaniah 1:5). Deuteronomy 22:8 requires a parapet, because people were up there.

Where it appears

Exodus · 2
  1. Exodus 30:3 גַּגּ֧וֹ top its

    Overlay with pure gold the top and all the sides and horns, and make a molding of gold around it.

  2. Exodus 37:26 גַּגּ֧וֹ top its

    And he overlaid with pure gold the top and all the sides and horns. Then he made a molding of gold around it.

Deuteronomy · 1
  1. Deuteronomy 22:8 לְגַגֶּ֑ךָ for roof your

    If you build a new house, you are to construct a railing around your roof, so that you do not bring bloodguilt on your house if someone falls from it.

Joshua · 3
  1. Joshua 2:6 הַגָּ֑גָה הַגָּֽג׃ the roof towards, the roof

    (But Rahab had taken them up to the roof and hidden them among the stalks of flax that she had laid out there.)

  2. Joshua 2:8 הַגָּֽג׃ the roof

    Before the spies lay down for the night, Rahab went up on the roof

Judges · 2
  1. Judges 9:51 גַּ֥ג [the] roof of

    But there was a strong tower inside the city, and all the men, women, and leaders of the city fled there. They locked themselves in and went up to the roof of the tower.

  2. Judges 16:27 הַגָּ֗ג the roof

    Now the temple was full of men and women; all the lords of the Philistines were there, and about three thousand men and women were on the roof watching Samson entertain them.

1 Samuel · 2
  1. 1 Samuel 9:25 הַגָּֽג׃ the roof

    And after they had come down from the high place into the city, Samuel spoke with Saul on the roof of his house.

  2. 1 Samuel 9:26 הַגָּ֣גָה the roof towards

    They got up early in the morning, and just before dawn Samuel called to Saul on the roof, “Get ready, and I will send you on your way!” So Saul got ready, and both he and Samuel went outside together.

2 Samuel · 4
  1. 2 Samuel 11:2 גַּ֣ג הַגָּ֑ג [the] roof of, the roof

    One evening David got up from his bed and strolled around on the roof of the palace. And from the roof he saw a woman bathing—a very beautiful woman.

    Here: A flat roof used as living space. A palace roof in Jerusalem gave a view down over the houses on the slope below.

  2. 2 Samuel 16:22 הַגָּ֑ג the roof

    So they pitched a tent for Absalom on the roof, and he slept with his father’s concubines in the sight of all Israel.

  3. 2 Samuel 18:24 גַּ֤ג [the] roof of

    Now David was sitting between the two gates when the watchman went up to the roof of the gateway by the wall, looked out, and saw a man running alone.

2 Kings · 2
  1. 2 Kings 19:26 גַּגּ֔וֹת roofs

    Therefore their inhabitants, devoid of power, are dismayed and ashamed. They are like plants in the field, tender green shoots, grass on the rooftops, scorched before it is grown.

  2. 2 Kings 23:12 הַגָּג֩ the roof of

    He pulled down the altars that the kings of Judah had set up on the roof near the upper chamber of Ahaz, and the altars that Manasseh had set up in the two courtyards of the house of the LORD. The king pulverized them there and threw their dust into the Kidron Valley.

Nehemiah · 1
  1. Nehemiah 8:16 גַּגּוֹ֙ own roof his

    And the people went out, brought back branches, and made booths on their own rooftops, in their courtyards, in the courts of the house of God, and in the squares by the Water Gate and by the Gate of Ephraim.

    Here: His roof, a flat surface people used as living space. Hebrew has only 'his roof', and 'of his house' is English expansion. A shelter up there was practical, not odd.

Psalms · 2
  1. Psalm 102:7 גָּֽג׃ a roof

    I lie awake; I am like a lone bird on a housetop.

  2. Psalm 129:6 גַּגּ֑וֹת roofs

    May they be like grass on the rooftops, which withers before it can grow,

Proverbs · 2
  1. Proverbs 21:9 גָּ֑ג a roof

    Better to live on a corner of the roof than to share a house with a quarrelsome wife.

    Here: The flat roof of an Israelite house: packed clay over beams, reached by ladder or outside stairs. People worked and slept there in summer, but it had no shelter from sun, wind or winter rain.

  2. Proverbs 25:24 גָּ֑ג a roof

    Better to live on a corner of the roof than to share a house with a quarrelsome wife.

Isaiah · 3
  1. Isaiah 15:3 גַּגּוֹתֶ֧יהָ roofs its

    In its streets they wear sackcloth; on the rooftops and in the public squares they all wail, falling down weeping.

  2. Isaiah 22:1 לַגַּגּֽוֹת׃ to the roofs

    This is the burden against the Valley of Vision: What ails you now, that you have all gone up to the rooftops,

    Here: 'To the roofs.' Flat roofs were used as living space, so a city-wide climb to the roofs is a mass public gathering. Verse 2 suggests a noisy, celebrating crowd.

  3. Isaiah 37:27 גַּגּ֔וֹת roofs

    Therefore their inhabitants, devoid of power, are dismayed and ashamed. They are like plants in the field, tender green shoots, grass on the rooftops, scorched before it is grown.

Jeremiah · 3
  1. Jeremiah 19:13 גַּגֹּֽתֵיהֶם֙ roofs their

    The houses of Jerusalem and the houses of the kings of Judah will be defiled like that place, Topheth—all the houses on whose rooftops they burned incense to all the host of heaven and poured out drink offerings to other gods.”

    Here: Flat roofs used for living space. The highest point of the house, closest to the sky and so the natural place to worship sky gods.

  2. Jeremiah 32:29 גַּגּֽוֹתֵיהֶ֜ם roofs their

    And the Chaldeans who are fighting against this city will come in, set it on fire, and burn it, along with the houses of those who provoked Me to anger by burning incense to Baal on their rooftops and by pouring out drink offerings to other gods.

    Here: "Their roofs": the roofs of the houses. Judean roofs were flat and used as living and working space, open to the sky.

  3. Jeremiah 48:38 גַּגּ֥וֹת [the] roofs of

    On all the rooftops of Moab and in the public squares, everyone is mourning; for I have shattered Moab like an unwanted jar,” declares the LORD.

Ezekiel · 2
  1. Ezekiel 40:13 מִגַּ֤ג לְגַגּ֔וֹ from [the] roof of, to roof its

    Then he measured the gateway from the roof of one gate chamber to the roof of the opposite one; the distance was twenty-five cubits from doorway to doorway.

Zephaniah · 1
  1. Zephaniah 1:5 הַגַּגּ֖וֹת the roofs

    those who bow on the rooftops to worship the host of heaven, those who bow down and swear by the LORD but also swear by Milcom,

    Here: The flat roofs of Judean houses, used as living space; open to the night sky, they were the natural place to face the sun, moon and stars. This is private, household-level worship, not only temple cult.

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