Hebrew word · H2113

זְוָעָה

zeva'ah

trembling

Trembling, terror, horror. It also means an object of horror, something that makes onlookers shudder. It comes from the verb zuaʿ, "to tremble, shake" (Esther 5:9; Hab 2:7).

Appears once in the Hebrew Old Testament. ·

What it means

a horror, an object of terror, a trembling, an object of trembling

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 28:19

Range of meaning

Trembling, terror, horror. It also means an object of horror, something that makes onlookers shudder. It comes from the verb zuaʿ, "to tremble, shake" (Esther 5:9; Hab 2:7).

Against the English

Modern versions say "terror" (BSB, WEB) or "sheer terror" (ESV, NIV). YLT says "trembling". KJV says "vexation", which in 1611 meant agitation, torment and distress, but which now sounds like mild irritation.

How it drifted

KJV's "vexation" comes through the Latin tradition (Vulgate vexatio). In 1611 English, "vex" still meant to shake, harass or torment. Since then the word has weakened to mean being annoyed.

Used elsewhere in the period

In the covenant curses of Deut 28:25, Israel defeated in battle will become "a horror (zaʿavah) to all the kingdoms of the earth". There the letters are switched around (Hebrew ketiv; zevaʿah is the reading tradition, or qere). Jeremiah takes up the phrase for the exile (Jer 15:4; 24:9; 29:18; 34:17). 2 Chr 29:8 uses it for God's wrath on Judah.

Where it appears

Isaiah · 1

  1. Isaiah 28:19 זְוָעָ֖ה terror

    As often as it passes through, it will carry you away; it will sweep through morning after morning, by day and by night.” The understanding of this message will bring sheer terror.

    Here: Shaking terror, the kind of horror that makes the body tremble. In Deuteronomy and Jeremiah the same word describes Israel becoming "a horror" to the nations after defeat and exile.

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