Hebrew word · H1460

גֵּו

gev

back

Back, the back of the body. It is related to gaw/gēwāh, "back" or "body". It is used in sayings about putting something behind your back, which means ignoring or disowning it (1 Kgs 14:9; Isa 38:17; Ezek 23:35).

Appears 7 times in 7 verses of the Hebrew Old Testament. ·

What it means

the back, back

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 Isaiah 51:23

Range of meaning

Back, the back of the body. It is related to gaw/gēwāh, "back" or "body". It is used in sayings about putting something behind your back, which means ignoring or disowning it (1 Kgs 14:9; Isa 38:17; Ezek 23:35).

Against the English

BSB, WEB and ESV have "back". KJV and YLT have "body", which loses the picture of a back being used as a road.

Used elsewhere in the period

Isaiah 50:6: "I gave my back (gēwî) to those who strike". Psalm 129:3: "plowers plowed on my back (gabbî)". Both describe Israel's suffering as a body laid open to abuse.

Where it appears

Job · 1

  1. Job 30:5 גֵּ֥ו [the] community

    They were banished from among men, shouted at like thieves,

Proverbs · 3

  1. Proverbs 10:13 לְגֵ֣ו [is] for [the] back of

    Wisdom is found on the lips of the discerning, but a rod is for the back of him who lacks judgment.

    Here: "For the back": the back is where the rod belongs, the place set aside for this person's correction. The same phrase recurs in Proverbs 19:29 and 26:3.

  2. Proverbs 19:29 לְגֵ֣ו for [the] back of

    Judgments are prepared for mockers, and beatings for the backs of fools.

    Here: 'For the back of.' The back is where a rod or lash lands. Proverbs uses the same picture in 10:13 and 26:3 ('a rod for the back of fools').

  3. Proverbs 26:3 לְגֵ֣ו for [the] back of

    A whip for the horse, a bridle for the donkey, and a rod for the backs of fools!

    Here: 'For the back of.' The back is where beatings landed. The phrase is almost a stock expression in Proverbs (10:13; 19:29). It names the part of the body, which makes the picture blunt and physical.

Isaiah · 3

  1. Isaiah 38:17 גֵוְךָ֖ back your

    Surely for my own welfare I had such great anguish; but Your love has delivered me from the pit of oblivion, for You have cast all my sins behind Your back.

    Here: "Your back." With "throw behind," it forms a fixed Hebrew idiom for disregarding something and refusing to look at it.

  2. Isaiah 50:6 גֵּוִי֙ back my

    I offered My back to those who struck Me, and My cheeks to those who tore out My beard. I did not hide My face from scorn and spittle.

    Here: 'My back.' It comes first in the Hebrew for emphasis. In Hebrew the back is where the rod lands on fools, slaves and convicted offenders (Prov 10:13; 19:29; 26:3), so a flogging is in view straight away.

  3. Isaiah 51:23 גֵּוֵ֔ךְ back your

    I will place it in the hands of your tormentors, who told you: ‘Lie down, so we can walk over you,’ so that you made your back like the ground, like a street to be traversed.”

    Here: Specifically the back, which is the part that gets walked on. KJV's "body" blurs the picture.

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