Hebrew word · H1500

גְּזֵלָה

gezelah

violence

To tear away or seize, to rob. It is used for open robbery and also for seizures by the powerful: taking fields and houses (Mic 2:2), withholding a worker's due (Lev 19:13), 'tearing the skin' off the people (Mic 3:2). The noun is the act of robbery or the stolen goods.

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

What it means

plunder, spoil, robbery

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 Ezekiel 18:16

Range of meaning

To tear away or seize, to rob. It is used for open robbery and also for seizures by the powerful: taking fields and houses (Mic 2:2), withholding a worker's due (Lev 19:13), 'tearing the skin' off the people (Mic 3:2). The noun is the act of robbery or the stolen goods.

Against the English

'Commit robbery' (BSB, ESV, NIV) can suggest a street crime by an outsider. KJV 'spoiled by violence' keeps the sense of force. The Hebrew also covers respectable people stripping the weak under cover of debt or status.

Used elsewhere in the period

Lev 6:2–4 (Heb 5:21–23), restoring what was taken by robbery. Lev 19:13. Deut 28:29, 31. Mic 2:2; 3:2. Ezek 18:7, 12, 18; 22:29 ('the people of the land have practiced extortion and committed robbery'); 33:15 (the repentant wicked man 'restores what he took by robbery').

From the study of Ezekiel 33:15

Range of meaning

Something seized or plundered. The verb gazal means to tear away or snatch, usually by force or by abuse of power. Hebrew has a separate verb, ganav, for stealing by stealth.

Against the English

BSB's 'what he has stolen' suggests a quiet theft. KJV's 'robbed' and the phrase 'taken by robbery' in WEB and other versions come closer to open seizure.

How it drifted

English 'steal' is a broad word and most readers picture burglary or shoplifting. The Hebrew picture here is closer to a stronger party taking from a weaker one.

Used elsewhere in the period

The verb describes a spear wrenched from a man's hand (2 Samuel 23:21), fields seized from their owners (Micah 2:2), and rulers figuratively tearing the skin off their people (Micah 3:2). Isaiah 3:14 speaks of 'the plunder of the poor' in the houses of Judah's leaders. Ezekiel 22:29 pairs robbery with oppressing the poor. The Septuagint, the ancient Greek translation, uses harpagma here, 'a thing snatched'.

From the study of Leviticus 6:4

Range of meaning

From gazal, 'tear away, seize'. It covers robbery by force or by plain abuse of power (Mic 2:2; 3:2, 'tear the skin off them'). It also means the thing seized, the plunder.

Against the English

KJV 'that which he took violently away', WEB 'took by robbery', BSB 'what he has stolen'. BSB's 'stolen' blurs the difference between open seizure and secret theft (ganav, Exod 22:1–4), though in this list the line between them is not sharp.

Used elsewhere in the period

Lev 19:13 ('do not oppress your neighbour or rob him'), pairing gazal with 'ashaq just as here. Ezek 18:7, 12, 16; Mal 1:13. Septuagint harpagma, 'thing snatched'.

Where it appears

Leviticus · 1

  1. Leviticus 6:4 הַגְּזֵלָ֜ה the thing robbed

    once he has sinned and becomes guilty, he must return what he has stolen or taken by extortion, or the deposit entrusted to him, or the lost property he found,

    Here: The object taken by open force or seizure, unlike theft done in secret. The supplied gloss 'violence' describes the act; here the word means the property itself.

Isaiah · 1

  1. Isaiah 3:14 גְּזֵלַ֥ת [the] plunder of

    The LORD brings this charge against the elders and leaders of His people: “You have devoured the vineyard; the plunder of the poor is in your houses.

Ezekiel · 4

  1. Ezekiel 18:7 גְּזֵלָ֖ה robbery

    He does not oppress another, but restores the pledge to the debtor. He does not commit robbery, but gives his bread to the hungry and covers the naked with clothing.

    Here: Property taken by force. It is the object of the next verb, which comes from the same root: "plunder he does not plunder."

  2. Ezekiel 18:12 גְּזֵל֣וֹת robberies

    He oppresses the poor and needy; he commits robbery and does not restore a pledge. He lifts his eyes to idols; he commits abominations.

    Here: Plural noun from the same root as the next verb: 'robberies'. The plural suggests a habit, not a single act.

  3. Ezekiel 18:16 וּגְזֵלָ֖ה and robbery

    He does not oppress another, or retain a pledge, or commit robbery. He gives his bread to the hungry and covers the naked with clothing.

    Here: 'And robbery,' either the act of seizing or the thing seized. It covers taking by force or by abuse of power, including seizures that might be 'legal' for the strong (Mic 2:2).

  4. Ezekiel 33:15 גְּזֵלָ֣ה robbery

    if he restores a pledge, makes restitution for what he has stolen, and walks in the statutes of life without practicing iniquity—then he will surely live; he will not die.

    Here: Property torn away from someone by force or by superior power. The word names the goods themselves, not only the act, so there is something concrete to hand back.

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