Hebrew word · H2288

חֲגָוִים

bechagvei

cleft

Chagwim: clefts, crevices, hiding places in rock (only here, Jeremiah 49:16, Song 2:14). Sela': a high crag or cliff, especially a rocky height used for refuge. Sela' is also a place name: an Edomite fortress taken by Amaziah of Judah (2 Kings 14:7), probably also in Isaiah 16:1 and 42:11.

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

What it means

clefts, places of concealment, retreats

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 Obadiah 1:3

Range of meaning

Chagwim: clefts, crevices, hiding places in rock (only here, Jeremiah 49:16, Song 2:14). Sela': a high crag or cliff, especially a rocky height used for refuge. Sela' is also a place name: an Edomite fortress taken by Amaziah of Judah (2 Kings 14:7), probably also in Isaiah 16:1 and 42:11.

Against the English

Translations say 'clefts of the rock(s)'. BSB's plural 'rocks' and 'dwellers' blur the singular Hebrew, which pictures one people perched in one great Rock.

Used elsewhere in the period

Edom's heartland, the high, broken sandstone and limestone plateau east of the Arabah, rises over 1,500 m in places. Iron Age Edomite settlements sat on nearly inaccessible summits: Umm el-Biyara above the Petra basin, and es-Sela' near the capital Bozrah, a rock fortress with a carved relief of the Babylonian king Nabonidus, who campaigned in the region around 552 BC.

From the study of Song of Songs 2:14

Range of meaning

Clefts, fissures, places of refuge in rock. It occurs only in the phrase "clefts of the rock" (Song 2:14; Jer 49:16; Obad 3). It may be related to an Arabic root meaning to seek shelter, but that link is uncertain.

Against the English

"Clefts" (KJV, BSB, ESV, YLT) is accurate. NLT turns the phrase into a whole clause about hiding behind rocks.

Used elsewhere in the period

Jer 49:16 and Obad 3 address Edom, "you who dwell in the clefts of the rock", meaning a people perched in mountain fortresses (the area around later Petra) who think no one can reach them. The phrase stands for a place that is high, safe and out of reach.

Where it appears

Song of Songs · 1

  1. Song of Songs 2:14 בְּחַגְוֵ֣י in [the] clefts of

    O my dove in the clefts of the rock, in the crevices of the cliff, let me see your face, let me hear your voice; for your voice is sweet, and your countenance is lovely.

    Here: "In the clefts of": narrow cracks in a rock face. The same phrase describes Edom's mountain strongholds that can't be reached (Jer 49:16; Obad 3). The point is that she is out of reach.

Jeremiah · 1

  1. Jeremiah 49:16 בְּחַגְוֵ֣י in [the] clefts of

    The terror you cause and the pride of your heart have deceived you, O dwellers in the clefts of the rocks, O occupiers of the mountain summit. Though you elevate your nest like the eagle, even from there I will bring you down,” declares the LORD.

    Here: 'In the clefts of': cracks and recesses in rock faces. Elsewhere it is where a dove hides (Song 2:14). The picture is of homes and strongholds tucked into cliff fissures, hard to reach.

Obadiah · 1

  1. Obadiah 1:3 בְחַגְוֵי־ in clefts of

    The pride of your heart has deceived you, O dwellers in the clefts of the rocks whose habitation is the heights, who say in your heart, ‘Who can bring me down to the ground?’

    Here: 'In the clefts of': cracks and recesses in a rock face. The rare word also appears in Jeremiah 49:16 (the parallel oracle) and Song 2:14, where a dove hides in such clefts.

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