Hebrew word · H1618

גָּרָב

garav

scab

A scabby, crusting skin eruption: scab, dry eczema, mange-like condition. A related Aramaic/Syriac word (garbā) means 'leprous, scabby'.

Appears 3 times in 3 verses of the Hebrew Old Testament. ·

What it means

itch, scab

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 Deuteronomy 28:27

Range of meaning

A scabby, crusting skin eruption: scab, dry eczema, mange-like condition. A related Aramaic/Syriac word (garbā) means 'leprous, scabby'.

Against the English

'Scab' (KJV, BSB) is right. 'Scurvy' (WEB, YLT) used that word in its older English sense of a scaly, scabby skin condition (compare 'scurf'), not the vitamin-C deficiency disease.

How it drifted

From the 16th century 'scurvy' came to mean the sailors' deficiency disease, and the older general sense of 'scabbiness' faded.

Used elsewhere in the period

Lev 21:20 (a descendant of Aaron with garav may not approach the altar); Lev 22:22 (an animal with garav may not be offered). The LXX renders Deut 28:27 with psōra agria, 'wild/severe mange or itch'.

Where it appears

Leviticus · 2

  1. Leviticus 21:20 גָרָב֙ eczema

    or who is a hunchback or dwarf, or who has an eye defect, a festering rash, scabs, or a crushed testicle.

  2. Leviticus 22:22 גָרָב֙ eczema

    You are not to present to the LORD any animal that is blind, injured, or maimed, or anything with a running sore, a festering rash, or a scab; you must not put any of these on the altar as a food offering to the LORD.

Deuteronomy · 1

  1. Deuteronomy 28:27 וּבַגָּרָ֖ב and with <the> eczema

    The LORD will afflict you with the boils of Egypt, with tumors and scabs and itch from which you cannot be cured.

    Here: 'And with the scab.' A crusting, scaly skin condition. In Leviticus it is a defect that bars a man from priestly service and an animal from sacrifice (Lev 21:20; 22:22).

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