Hebrew word · H2106

זָוִית

khezaviyot

corner

'Corner.' In the Bible it appears only here and in Zech 9:15, 'like the corners of the altar' (soaked with blood from the bowls). Later Hebrew and Aramaic use it for 'corner, angle'. In an architectural setting it refers to corner elements of a building.

Appears 2 times in 2 verses of the Hebrew Old Testament. ·

What it means

corner

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 Psalm 144:12

Range of meaning

'Corner.' In the Bible it appears only here and in Zech 9:15, 'like the corners of the altar' (soaked with blood from the bowls). Later Hebrew and Aramaic use it for 'corner, angle'. In an architectural setting it refers to corner elements of a building. Commentators suggest corner pillars, carved corner stones, cornices, or (more speculatively) carved figures serving as columns.

Against the English

KJV 'corner stones' can call up the Bible's other 'cornerstone' (Hebrew פִּנָּה, Ps 118:22; Isa 28:16), the foundational stone. That is a different word and a different idea. BSB/ESV/NASB 'corner pillars', NIV/WEB/NLT 'pillars' and Alter's 'cornices' all aim at a visible, decorative architectural feature.

How it drifted

The KJV phrase 'corner stones' (often merged in modern speech into 'cornerstones') pulled the image toward 'foundation that holds the house up', a sense carried by פִּנָּה, not זָוִית.

Used elsewhere in the period

Zech 9:15 shows the word for the projecting corners of an altar. Iron Age Israelite royal sites (Samaria, Megiddo, Ramat Raḥel) have finely dressed stone and carved 'proto-Aeolic' capitals, the kind of ornamented stonework a palace displayed. Carved female figures used as supports appear in Near Eastern and later Greek architecture (the 'caryatids'). Whether that is in view here is uncertain.

From the study of Zechariah 9:15

Range of meaning

A corner, an angled projection. It occurs only here and in Psalm 144:12 ('our daughters like corner pillars, carved for a palace').

Against the English

All English versions say 'corners'. That is accurate, but readers may not know that the altar's corners were where blood ran and collected.

Used elsewhere in the period

In the sacrificial laws blood is put on the altar's 'horns' (qarnot, its four corner projections) and poured or dashed against its sides and base (Leviticus 4:7, 25; 1:5). Zavit is a different word, but it describes the same angled corners of the altar.

Where it appears

Psalms · 1

  1. Psalm 144:12 כְזָוִיֹּ֑ת [will be] like corners

    Then our sons will be like plants nurtured in their youth, our daughters like corner pillars carved to adorn a palace.

    Here: 'Like corners', the corner-pieces of a building. The word occurs only here and in Zech 9:15 (the corners of the altar). It most likely means decorated corner pillars or corner stones of a fine building, things meant to be seen.

Zechariah · 1

  1. Zechariah 9:15 כְּזָוִיּ֖וֹת like [the] corners of

    The LORD of Hosts will shield them. They will destroy and conquer with slingstones; they will drink and roar as with wine. And they will be filled like sprinkling bowls, drenched like the corners of the altar.

    Here: 'Like the corners of.' A rare word, found only here and in Psalm 144:12. It means the angled corners of the altar, which ran wet with sacrificial blood.

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