חָבָא

Genesis 3:8 וַיִּתְחַבֵּ֨א and he hid himself

Then the man and his wife heard the voice of the LORD God walking in the garden in the breeze of the day, and they hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God among the trees of the garden.

Here: A self-directed form, 'hid himself'. The verb is singular even though two people hide, because Hebrew often makes the verb agree with the first-named subject (the man). Hiding is the instinctive response of someone who has broken a command and is now exposed.

Genesis 3:10 וָאֵחָבֵֽא׃ and I hid myself

“I heard Your voice in the garden,” he replied, “and I was afraid because I was naked; so I hid myself.”

Here: A reflexive form: 'I hid myself.' The same root is used in 3:8, and elsewhere of people hiding from danger or from being found (kings in a cave, Josh 10:16; Saul among the baggage, 1 Sam 10:22). The sequence is complete: heard, feared, hid.

Genesis 31:27 נַחְבֵּ֙אתָ֙ did you hide yourself

Why did you run away secretly and deceive me, without even telling me? I would have sent you away with joy and singing, with tambourines and harps.

Joshua 6:17 הֶחְבְּאַ֔תָה she hid

Now the city and everything in it must be devoted to the LORD for destruction. Only Rahab the prostitute and all those with her in her house will live, because she hid the spies we sent.

Here: 'She hid (them)', a completed act. The spelling is unusual for this verb form (the regular form would be heḥbi'ah), but the meaning is clear. It recalls her hiding the men under the flax on her roof (2:4–6).

Joshua 6:25 הֶחְבִּ֙יאָה֙ she hid

And Joshua spared Rahab the prostitute, with her father’s household and all who belonged to her, because she hid the men Joshua had sent to spy out Jericho. So she has lived among the Israelites to this day.

Here: The causative form, 'she caused to be hidden', i.e. concealed them. It echoes 6:17, which uses the same verb, while 2:4 used a different verb (tsafan, 'to treasure up, conceal').

Joshua 10:16 וַיֵּחָבְא֥וּ and they hid themselves

Now the five kings had fled and hidden in the cave at Makkedah.

Joshua 10:17 נֶחְבְּאִ֥ים hidden

And Joshua was informed: “The five kings have been found; they are hiding in the cave at Makkedah.”

Joshua 10:27 נֶחְבְּאוּ־ they had hidden themselves

At sunset Joshua ordered that they be taken down from the trees and thrown into the cave in which they had hidden. Then large stones were placed against the mouth of the cave, and the stones are there to this day.

Here: A reflexive form, 'they hid themselves'. Here it refers back to earlier events: they had fled there (10:16). Their own chosen refuge becomes their tomb.

Judges 9:5 נֶחְבָּֽא׃ ס he hid himself

He went to his father’s house in Ophrah, and on one stone murdered his seventy brothers, the sons of Jerubbaal. But Jotham, the youngest son of Jerubbaal, survived, because he hid himself.

1 Samuel 10:22 נֶחְבָּ֖א [is] hiding himself

So again they inquired of the LORD, “Has the man come here yet?” And the LORD replied, “Behold, he has hidden himself among the baggage.”

Here: A participle, describing an ongoing state: 'is hiding himself' or 'is in hiding' right now. The form usually means hiding oneself on purpose. It is the same form Adam uses in Gen 3:10 ('I hid myself'), and the same verb is used of Israelites hiding from the Philistines later in Saul's story (1 Sam 13:6; 14:11).

1 Samuel 13:6 וַיִּֽתְחַבְּא֣וּ and they hid themselves

Seeing that they were in danger because their troops were hard-pressed, the men of Israel hid in caves and thickets, among the rocks, and in cellars and cisterns.

Here: A reflexive form: they took themselves into hiding. It describes soldiers melting away from the battle line, and it sets up the Philistine sneer in 14:11 about Hebrews crawling out of holes.

1 Samuel 14:11 הִתְחַבְּאוּ־ they have hidden themselves

So the two of them showed themselves to the outpost of the Philistines, who exclaimed, “Look, the Hebrews are coming out of the holes in which they were hiding!”

1 Samuel 14:22 הַמִּֽתְחַבְּאִ֤ים who had hidden themselves

When all the Israelites who had been hiding in the hill country of Ephraim heard that the Philistines were fleeing, they also joined the battle in close pursuit.

1 Samuel 19:2 וְנַחְבֵּֽאתָ׃ and you will hide yourself

so he warned David, saying, “My father Saul intends to kill you. Be on your guard in the morning; find a secret place and hide there.

1 Samuel 23:23 יִתְחַבֵּ֣א he hides himself

Observe and find out all the places where he hides. Then come back to me with certainty, and I will go with you. If he is in the land, I will search him out among all the clans of Judah.”

2 Samuel 17:9 נֶחְבָּא֙ [has] hidden himself

Surely by now he is hiding in a cave or some other location. If some of your troops fall first, whoever hears of it will say, ‘There has been a slaughter among the troops who follow Absalom.’

1 Kings 18:4 וַֽיַּחְבִּיאֵ֞ם and he hid them

for when Jezebel had slaughtered the prophets of the LORD, Obadiah had taken a hundred prophets and hidden them, fifty men per cave, providing them with food and water.)

Here: Causative 'made them hide / concealed them'. The verb is used for hiding from a pursuer who means to kill (compare Joash hidden from Athaliah, 2 Kgs 11:2-3).

1 Kings 18:13 וָאַחְבִּא֩ and I hid

Was it not reported to my lord what I did when Jezebel slaughtered the prophets of the LORD? I hid a hundred prophets of the LORD, fifty men per cave, and I provided them with food and water.

2 Kings 6:29 וַתַּחְבִּ֖א and she had hidden

So we boiled my son and ate him, and the next day I said to her, ‘Give up your son, that we may eat him.’ But she had hidden her son.”

2 Kings 11:3 מִתְחַבֵּ֖א hiding himself

And Joash remained hidden with his nurse in the house of the LORD for six years while Athaliah ruled the land.

1 Chronicles 21:20 מִֽתְחַבְּאִ֑ים [were] hiding themselves

Now Ornan was threshing wheat when he turned and saw the angel; and his four sons who were with him hid themselves.

2 Chronicles 18:24 לְהֵחָבֵֽא׃ to hide yourself

Micaiah replied, “You will soon see, on that day when you go and hide in an inner room.”

Here: The verb form means "to hide yourself." It is the hiding of someone afraid for his life. That is the last thing Micaiah says to Zedekiah.

2 Chronicles 22:9 מִתְחַבֵּ֣א [was] hiding himself

Then Jehu looked for Ahaziah, and Jehu’s soldiers captured him while he was hiding in Samaria. So Ahaziah was brought to Jehu and put to death. They buried him, for they said, “He is the grandson of Jehoshaphat, who sought the LORD with all his heart.” So no one was left from the house of Ahaziah with the strength to rule the kingdom.

2 Chronicles 22:12 מִתְחַבֵּ֖א hiding

And Joash remained hidden with them in the house of God for six years while Athaliah ruled the land.

Job 5:21 תֵּחָבֵ֑א you will be hidden

You will be hidden from the scourge of the tongue, and will not fear havoc when it comes.

Here: A passive verb ('you will be hidden'). The one doing the hiding is not named, but from verses 17–20 it is God. The picture is being kept out of sight and out of reach, as in a refuge.

Job 24:4 חֻ֝בְּא֗וּ they are made to hide themselves

They push the needy off the road and force all the poor of the land into hiding.

Job 29:8 וְנֶחְבָּ֑אוּ and they hid themselves

the young men saw me and withdrew, and the old men rose to their feet.

Job 29:10 נֶחְבָּ֑אוּ they were hidden

The voices of the nobles were hushed, and their tongues stuck to the roofs of their mouths.

Job 38:30 יִתְחַבָּ֑אוּ they become hard

when the waters become hard as stone and the surface of the deep is frozen?

Isaiah 42:22 הָחְבָּ֑אוּ they are hidden

But this is a people plundered and looted, all trapped in caves or imprisoned in dungeons. They have become plunder with no one to rescue them, and loot with no one to say, “Send them back!”

Here: Passive form: “they have been hidden away,” stashed out of sight by someone else. Being hidden means being forgotten, with no one able to see them and come to help.

Isaiah 49:2 הֶחְבִּיאָ֑נִי he hid me

He made My mouth like a sharp sword; He hid Me in the shadow of His hand. He made Me like a polished arrow; He hid Me in His quiver.

Here: "He hid me." Concealment that keeps someone safe, the way Rahab or Obadiah hid people from danger (Josh 6:17, 1 Kgs 18:4). The sword stays covered until the moment it is drawn.

Daniel 10:7 בְּהֵחָבֵֽא׃ in hiding themselves

Only I, Daniel, saw the vision; the men with me did not see it, but a great terror fell upon them, and they ran and hid themselves.

Here: Literally 'in [their] hiding themselves'. They ran off and took cover, which explains why Daniel is 'left alone' in 10:8. The same verb is used when Adam says 'I was afraid… and I hid' (Genesis 3:10).

Amos 9:3 יֵחָֽבְאוּ֙ they will hide themselves

Though they hide themselves atop Carmel, there I will track them and seize them; and though they hide from Me at the bottom of the sea, there I will command the serpent to bite them.

Here: The verb form means 'they hide themselves'. It is the word for fugitives slipping into a hiding place, used of Adam among the trees (Gen 3:10) and of the five kings in the cave at Makkedah (Josh 10:16).