Hebrew word · H2118
זָחַח
yizach
to remove
Found only in the Niphal (passive/reflexive) form in Exod 28:28 and 39:21: 'be displaced, be moved, slip away/loose'. Its meaning is clear from context and from later Hebrew usage ('move away, shift').
Appears 2 times in 2 verses of the Hebrew Old Testament. ·
What it means
1) to remove, displace
1a) (Niphal) to be removed, be loosened, be displaced
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 Exodus 39:21
- Range of meaning
Found only in the Niphal (passive/reflexive) form in Exod 28:28 and 39:21: 'be displaced, be moved, slip away/loose'. Its meaning is clear from context and from later Hebrew usage ('move away, shift').
- Against the English
KJV/WEB/ESV/NASB 'not be loosed/come loose' fits the idea of separating. BSB/NIV 'not swing out' adds a specific picture: the free bottom edge swinging forward when the priest bends. That is a plausible guess at the problem, but the Hebrew word is more general ('shift out of place').
- Used elsewhere in the period
In later Hebrew and Aramaic the root means 'move, shift'. The Septuagint renders it as 'not be loosened/slack'.
Where it appears
Exodus · 2
-
Exodus 28:28 יִזַּ֣ח it will be displaced
The rings of the breastpiece shall be tied to the rings of the ephod with a cord of blue yarn, so that the breastpiece is above the waistband of the ephod and does not swing out from the ephod.
-
Exodus 39:21 יִזַּ֣ח it was displaced
Then they tied the rings of the breastpiece to the rings of the ephod with a cord of blue yarn, so that the breastpiece was above the waistband of the ephod and would not swing out from the ephod, just as the LORD had commanded Moses.
Here: 'Will (not) be shifted/slip away.' Another rare verb found only here and in 28:28. It describes the breastpiece moving out of place, whether swinging forward or sliding apart from the ephod.
Word data: STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0), main text only.