Hebrew word · H1498

גָּזֵל

gazel

robbery

Robbery or plunder: taking what belongs to someone else by force, intimidation, or abuse of power. The verb gāzal covers violent seizure (Gen 31:31; Judg 21:23), extortion by the powerful (Mic 2:2; 3:2), and taking from the poor (Isa 10:2; Ezek 18:7, 12).

Appears 6 times in 6 verses of the Hebrew Old Testament. ·

What it means

robbery, something plundered

Also means: ge.zel (גֵּזֶל "violence" H1499)

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 61:8

Range of meaning

Robbery or plunder: taking what belongs to someone else by force, intimidation, or abuse of power. The verb gāzal covers violent seizure (Gen 31:31; Judg 21:23), extortion by the powerful (Mic 2:2; 3:2), and taking from the poor (Isa 10:2; Ezek 18:7, 12).

Against the English

'Robbery' is accurate. English readers may picture a mugging, but the Hebrew word often describes the powerful exploiting the weak through economic and legal means.

Used elsewhere in the period

Lev 19:13: 'Do not oppress your neighbour and do not rob (tigzōl); the wage (pəʿullat) of a hired worker must not stay with you overnight.' Lev 5:21–23 (Eng. 6:2–4); Ezek 22:29; Mal 1:13 ('what was seized', brought as an offering). b. Sukkah 30a quotes this verse to rule a stolen palm branch unfit for worship.

Where it appears

Leviticus · 1

  1. Leviticus 6:2 בְגָזֵ֔ל <in> a robbery

    “If someone sins and acts unfaithfully against the LORD by deceiving his neighbor in regard to a deposit or security entrusted to him or stolen, or if he extorts his neighbor

    Here: 'Concerning a robbery': something taken openly by force or by abuse of power. The lie lies in denying it, or keeping it as though it were rightfully his.

Psalms · 1

  1. Psalm 62:10 וּבְגָזֵ֪ל and in robbery

    Place no trust in extortion or false hope in stolen goods. If your riches increase, do not set your heart upon them.

    Here: Open seizure of someone else's property, and also the stolen goods themselves. Paired with ʿosheq it covers the two ways of getting rich at others' expense: squeezing and grabbing.

Ecclesiastes · 1

  1. Ecclesiastes 5:8 וְגֵ֨זֶל and robbery of

    If you see the oppression of the poor and the denial of justice and righteousness in the province, do not be astonished at the matter; for one official is watched by a superior, and others higher still are over them.

    Here: Taking something by force, open robbery (the root is used for seizing property or tearing off skin, Mic 3:2). Here what gets robbed is justice itself, a deliberately jarring phrase.

Isaiah · 1

  1. Isaiah 61:8 גָזֵ֖ל robbery

    For I, the LORD, love justice; I hate robbery and iniquity; in My faithfulness I will give them their recompense and make an everlasting covenant with them.

    Here: Taking property by force or by abusing power. This is the word the Law uses for robbing a neighbour, and it sits right next to the ban on holding back a worker's wages (Lev 19:13).

Ezekiel · 2

  1. Ezekiel 18:18 גֵּ֣זֶל robbery of

    As for his father, he will die for his own iniquity, because he practiced extortion, robbed his brother, and did what was wrong among his people.

  2. Ezekiel 22:29 גָּזֵ֑ל robbery

    The people of the land have practiced extortion and committed robbery. They have oppressed the poor and needy and have exploited the foreign resident without justice.

    Here: Again the matching noun as object ("robbed robbery"). The doubled pattern is now complete: extortion done as extortion, robbery done as robbery.

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