Hebrew word · H1478

גָּוַע

gava'

to die

To expire, breathe one's last, perish. A physical-event word for the moment of dying, often used of mass death (flood, Gen 6:17; 7:21–22; wilderness rebels, Num 17:12–13 [Eng 17:27–28]; 20:3) and of individuals (Gen 25:8, 17; 35:29; 49:33; Job 3:11; 14:10).

Appears 24 times in 23 verses of the Hebrew Old Testament. ·

What it means

1) to expire, die, perish, give up the ghost, yield up the ghost, be dead, be ready to die

1a) (Qal) to expire, die, be about to die

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 Genesis 25:8

Range of meaning

To expire, breathe one's last, perish. A physical-event word for the moment of dying, often used of mass death (flood, Gen 6:17; 7:21–22; wilderness rebels, Num 17:12–13 [Eng 17:27–28]; 20:3) and of individuals (Gen 25:8, 17; 35:29; 49:33; Job 3:11; 14:10).

Against the English

KJV 'gave up the ghost' and WEB 'gave up his spirit' add a picture of a spirit or soul leaving the body. The Hebrew has no noun at all here, neither 'spirit' (ruach) nor 'soul' (nephesh). BSB/NIV/ESV 'breathed his last' and YLT 'expireth' are closer.

How it drifted

In 1611 'ghost' was the normal English word for spirit or breath (as in 'Holy Ghost'), and 'give up the ghost' was already a stock idiom for dying. Since then 'ghost' has come to mean an apparition, and the idiom has become jokey ('my car gave up the ghost'). Both changes pull the modern reader away from the plain Hebrew.

Used elsewhere in the period

In the Pentateuch it appears in the patriarchal death formula 'he expired and died and was gathered to his people' (Gen 25:8, 17; 35:29; 49:33). In Job it is a parallel to 'die' (Job 14:10 'man dies… expires, and where is he?'). The Septuagint renders it here with ekleipō, 'to fail, give out', a picture of life running out rather than of a spirit departing.

From the study of Job 14:10

Range of meaning

To expire, breathe one's last, perish. It names the moment of dying and is often paired with mût ('die'). It can also mean 'perish' in a collective sense, as with all flesh in the flood.

Against the English

BSB and ESV have 'breathes his last'. NIV has 'breathes his last'. NASB has 'expires'. YLT has 'expireth'. KJV has 'giveth up the ghost', and WEB has 'gives up the spirit'. These last two add a noun the Hebrew does not have.

How it drifted

'Give up the ghost' comes from earlier English Bible tradition, building on Latin phrases such as 'emisit spiritum'. In 1611 'ghost' simply meant 'spirit, breath of life'. Today the phrase suggests either an apparition or a soul leaving the body for somewhere else. The Hebrew verb says only that the man stopped living.

Used elsewhere in the period

Gen 25:8, 25:17, 35:29, 49:33 (the patriarchs 'expired and died and were gathered to their people'); Gen 6:17, 7:21 (flood). It is especially frequent in Job (3:11, 10:18, 13:19, 27:5, 34:15, 36:12). Job 34:15: 'all flesh would gwʿ together, and man would return to dust.'

From the study of Job 27:5

Range of meaning

To expire, perish, breathe out one's life. Almost always the physical moment of dying; mostly found in poetry and in the patriarchal narratives.

Against the English

KJV/ESV/WEB 'till I die' is accurate. YLT 'till I expire' keeps the sense of the last breath.

Used elsewhere in the period

Genesis 25:8 (Abraham 'breathed his last and died'); 49:33 (Jacob); Job 3:11; 10:18; 13:19 ('if anyone can contend with me, I would be silent and die'); 14:10.

Where it appears

Genesis · 6

  1. Genesis 6:17 יִגְוָֽע׃ <it> will die

    And behold, I will bring floodwaters upon the earth to destroy every creature under the heavens that has the breath of life. Everything on the earth will perish.

    Here: 'Will expire': a quiet, physical word for the moment life ends. It pairs with 'breath of life' just before it. What breathes will stop breathing.

  2. Genesis 7:21 וַיִּגְוַ֞ע and it died

    And every living thing that moved upon the earth perished—birds, livestock, animals, every creature that swarms upon the earth, and all mankind.

  3. Genesis 25:8 וַיִּגְוַ֨ע and he expired

    And at a ripe old age he breathed his last and died, old and contented, and was gathered to his people.

    Here: The moment life ends: the last breath goes out. It says nothing about a 'spirit' or 'ghost' being released. It is the plain physical word for expiring, and the same verb is used of the creatures that perished in the flood (Gen 6:17; 7:21).

  4. Genesis 25:17 וַיִּגְוַ֣ע and he expired

    Ishmael lived a total of 137 years. Then he breathed his last and died, and was gathered to his people.

  5. Genesis 35:29 וַיִּגְוַ֨ע and he expired

    Then he breathed his last and died and was gathered to his people, old and full of years. And his sons Esau and Jacob buried him.

    Here: The moment life runs out: Isaac stops breathing. The verb is physical and plain, used also of animals perishing in the Flood, and opens the fixed formula Genesis uses for the deaths of the patriarchs.

  6. Genesis 49:33 וַיִּגְוַ֖ע and he expired

    When Jacob had finished instructing his sons, he pulled his feet into the bed and breathed his last, and he was gathered to his people.

    Here: The moment the breath goes. Genesis uses this verb for the deaths of Abraham, Ishmael and Isaac. Here, unusually, it stands without the usual partner 'and he died'.

Numbers · 5

  1. Numbers 17:12 גָּוַ֛עְנוּ we will die

    Then the Israelites declared to Moses, “Look, we are perishing! We are lost; we are all lost!

  2. Numbers 17:13 לִגְוֹֽעַ׃ ס to die

    Anyone who comes near the tabernacle of the LORD will die. Are we all going to perish?”

  3. Numbers 20:3 גָוַ֛עְנוּ בִּגְוַ֥ע we had died, when died

    The people quarreled with Moses and said, “If only we had perished with our brothers before the LORD!

  4. Numbers 20:29 גָוַ֖ע he had died

    When the whole congregation saw that Aaron had died, the entire house of Israel mourned for him thirty days.

Joshua · 1

  1. Joshua 22:20 גָוַ֖ע did he die?

    Was not Achan son of Zerah unfaithful regarding what was set apart for destruction, bringing wrath upon the whole congregation of Israel? Yet it was not only Achan who perished because of his sin!’”

    Here: 'Breathe one's last, expire'. It is a fairly formal word for death, used in Genesis of the patriarchs and in the flood story of all flesh perishing. Here it covers Achan's execution and the deaths that came with his crime.

Job · 8

  1. Job 3:11 וְאֶגְוָֽע׃ and I may expire?

    Why did I not perish at birth; why did I not die as I came from the womb?

  2. Job 10:18 אֶ֝גְוַ֗ע I expired

    Why then did You bring me from the womb? Oh, that I had died, and no eye had seen me!

  3. Job 13:19 וְאֶגְוָֽע׃ and I may expire

    Can anyone indict me? If so, I will be silent and die.

  4. Job 14:10 וַיִּגְוַ֖ע and he expired

    But a man dies and is laid low; he breathes his last, and where is he?

    Here: The moment life goes out. Genesis uses the same verb for the deaths of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and for every creature in the flood. No word for 'spirit' or 'ghost' stands beside it. The verb alone means 'expires'.

  5. Job 27:5 אֶגְוָ֑ע I will expire

    I will never say that you are right; I will maintain my integrity until I die.

    Here: A vivid word for the moment of death: the last breath going out. Job is a man who expects to die soon, so this is no figure of speech.

  6. Job 29:18 אֶגְוָ֑ע I will expire

    So I thought: ‘I will die in my nest and multiply my days as the sand.

  7. Job 34:15 יִגְוַ֣ע it will expire

    all flesh would perish together and mankind would return to the dust.

  8. Job 36:12 וְ֝יִגְוְע֗וּ and they may expire

    But if they do not obey, then they perish by the sword and die without knowledge.

Psalms · 2

  1. Psalm 88:15 וְגֹוֵ֣עַ and [have been] about to die

    From my youth I was afflicted and near death. I have borne Your terrors; I am in despair.

    Here: An ongoing participle: "and breathing my last." The verb is used for actual death (the patriarchs in Genesis "breathed their last"). Here the speaker describes his life as one long dying.

  2. Psalm 104:29 יִגְוָע֑וּן they die !

    When You hide Your face, they are terrified; when You take away their breath, they die and return to dust.

    Here: 'They expire'. A word for the moment of dying, used of the flood destroying 'all flesh' and of patriarchs 'breathing their last'. Here it follows directly from the breath being withdrawn.

Lamentations · 1

  1. Lamentations 1:19 גָּוָ֑עוּ they perished

    I called out to my lovers, but they have betrayed me. My priests and elders perished in the city while they searched for food to keep themselves alive.

Zechariah · 1

  1. Zechariah 13:8 יִגְוָ֑עוּ they will perish

    And in all the land, declares the LORD, two-thirds will be cut off and perish, but a third will be left in it.

    Here: "Breathe one's last." It comes right after the previous verb with no "and" between them ("cut off, they expire"), which makes it blunt and final. It is death, not exile.

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