Hebrew word · H1511

גִּזְרִי

vehagirzi

Girzite

A people's name found only in this verse. The written Hebrew letters give Girzi; the reading tradition passed down with the text says Gizri. The letters r and z have simply traded places.

Appears once in the Hebrew Old Testament. ·

What it means

Someone descended from Girzit(?), only mentioned at 1Sa.27.8

§ Gezrites = "a piece: a portion (as cut off)"

1) inhabitants of Gezer

Gerizites = "the cutters off"

2) inhabitants of Mt Gerizim?

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 1 Samuel 27:8

Range of meaning

A people's name found only in this verse. The written Hebrew letters give Girzi; the reading tradition passed down with the text says Gizri. The letters r and z have simply traded places.

Against the English

KJV's "Gezrites" follows the spoken tradition and suggests a link to the town of Gezer. BSB, WEB and most modern versions use "Girzites," following the written letters. YLT's "Gerizite" follows the written letters too, but it can make readers think of Mount Gerizim, which has nothing to do with this.

Used elsewhere in the period

There is no other biblical occurrence and no secure outside evidence. The main Greek text omits the name altogether. Gezer lies well to the north of the zone this verse describes, which counts against a simple link to that town.

Where it appears

1 Samuel · 1

  1. 1 Samuel 27:8 וְהַגִּזְרִ֖י and the Gizrite[s]

    Now David and his men went up and raided the Geshurites, the Girzites, and the Amalekites. (From ancient times these people had inhabited the land extending to Shur and Egypt.)

    Here: A people named nowhere else, and even the spelling is unsettled. Nothing certain is known about them beyond this verse.

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