Hebrew word · H2883

טָבַע

hateba'u

to sink

Sink down, be sunk or submerged: in mud (here; Ps 69:2, 14), into the sea (Exod 15:4, Pharaoh's officers), into the ground (Lam 2:9, gates sunk into the earth; 1 Sam 17:49, the stone sinking into Goliath's forehead).

Appears 10 times in 10 verses of the Hebrew Old Testament. ·

What it means

1) to sink, sink into, sink down, pierce, settle down, drown, be settled, be planted

1a) (Qal) to sink, sink down

1b)(Pual) to be sunk

1c) (Hophal) to cause to sink

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 Jeremiah 38:6

Range of meaning

Sink down, be sunk or submerged: in mud (here; Ps 69:2, 14), into the sea (Exod 15:4, Pharaoh's officers), into the ground (Lam 2:9, gates sunk into the earth; 1 Sam 17:49, the stone sinking into Goliath's forehead).

Against the English

'Sank' is right in every version. BSB's 'sank down' brings out the downward, settling motion.

Used elsewhere in the period

Exod 15:4; Ps 69:2, 14; Lam 2:9; Job 38:6 ('its bases sunk', i.e. set into the ground).

From the study of Proverbs 8:25

Range of meaning

To sink or sink down into something soft or deep: feet sinking into mud (Psalm 69:2, 14; Jeremiah 38:6), a stone sinking into a forehead (1 Samuel 17:49), Pharaoh's officers sinking in the sea (Exodus 15:4), gates sunk into the ground (Lamentations 2:9). The passive form used here means "to be sunk, to be set down in." The related noun ṭabbaʿat ("signet ring") likely comes from pressing a seal down into clay.

Against the English

KJV, BSB, NASB and NIV have "settled" (NIV "settled in place"). Some modern versions use words like "shaped" or "formed." YLT's "were sunk" is the most literal. "Settled" gets close to the end result (firmly set) but loses the motion: something heavy pushed down into a footing.

How it drifted

Translators chose "settled" because "sunk" sounds odd in English applied to mountains. Today "settled" mostly suggests things calming down or being decided, which takes the reader further from the Hebrew picture.

Used elsewhere in the period

Job 38:6 is the closest parallel and uses the identical form: "On what were its bases sunk (hoṭbāʿû)?" There God describes founding the earth like a builder setting a building's foundation. Elsewhere the Bible speaks of "the roots of the mountains" (Jonah 2:6) and "the foundations of the mountains" (Deuteronomy 32:22; Psalm 18:7). In the ancient Near East, mountains were thought of as anchored deep in the earth, sometimes as pillars holding up the sky.

From the study of Psalm 69:14

Range of meaning

To sink, sink down or in. It is used of a stone sinking into a forehead (1 Sam 17:49), feet sinking into mud (Jer 38:22), gates sunk into the ground (Lam 2:9), and drowning (Exod 15:4). The related noun ṭabba'at, 'signet ring,' comes from pressing a seal down into clay.

Against the English

'Sink' is exact. The Hebrew form here is a first-person wish ('may I not sink'), which English has to put as 'let me not sink' or 'do not let me sink.' NLT's 'any deeper' brings out the point that he is already partly under (v. 2).

Used elsewhere in the period

In Exodus 15:4 Pharaoh's chosen officers 'are sunk in the Sea of Reeds.' In Jeremiah 38:6 and 22 it is used for sinking in mud. Verse 2 of this psalm uses the same verb: 'I have sunk (ṭāba'tî) in deep mire.'

Where it appears

Exodus · 1

  1. Exodus 15:4 טֻבְּע֥וּ they have been sunk

    Pharaoh’s chariots and army He has cast into the sea; the finest of his officers are drowned in the Red Sea.

1 Samuel · 1

  1. 1 Samuel 17:49 וַתִּטְבַּ֤ע and it sank

    Then David reached into his bag, took out a stone, and slung it, striking the Philistine on the forehead. The stone sank into his forehead, and he fell facedown on the ground.

Job · 1

  1. Job 38:6 הָטְבָּ֑עוּ were they sunk

    On what were its foundations set, or who laid its cornerstone,

    Here: "Were sunk": pressed or settled down into something, the way foundation-blocks are bedded into the ground. The passive leaves the one who did it unnamed, and the reader is meant to supply "God".

Psalms · 3

  1. Psalm 9:15 טָבְע֣וּ they have sunk

    The nations have fallen into a pit of their making; their feet are caught in the net they have hidden.

    Here: Not simply 'fell' but 'sank': the word is used for sinking into mud or deep water and getting stuck (Ps 69:2; Jer 38:6). Placed first, it opens the verse with the image of the attackers bogged down at the bottom of their own trap.

  2. Psalm 69:2 טָבַ֤עְתִּי׀ I have sunk

    I have sunk into the miry depths, where there is no footing; I have drifted into deep waters, where the flood engulfs me.

    Here: To sink down into something soft that gives way and closes around you. The form describes something that has already happened: the speaker is already in it, not merely in danger of it.

  3. Psalm 69:14 אֶטְבָּ֑עָה I sink

    Rescue me from the mire and do not let me sink; deliver me from my foes and out of the deep waters.

    Here: 'Let me not sink.' The form is a first-person wish, 'may I not go under.' The same verb is used for Pharaoh's officers sinking in the sea (Exod 15:4) and Jeremiah sinking into the mud of a cistern (Jer 38:6).

Proverbs · 1

  1. Proverbs 8:25 הָטְבָּ֑עוּ they were planted

    Before the mountains were settled, before the hills, I was brought forth,

    Here: A passive form meaning "were made to sink" or "were sunk down." The mountains are pictured as great pillars driven down into their footings. God is the unstated one who sinks them. Job 38:6 uses the exact same form for the earth's foundations.

Jeremiah · 2

  1. Jeremiah 38:6 וַיִּטְבַּ֥ע and he sank

    So they took Jeremiah and dropped him into the cistern of Malchiah, the king’s son, which was in the courtyard of the guard. They lowered Jeremiah with ropes into the cistern, which had no water but only mud, and Jeremiah sank down into the mud.

    Here: 'Sink down, be submerged.' The same verb is used of Pharaoh's officers sunk in the sea (Exod 15:4) and of the psalmist's cry 'I sink in deep mire' (Ps 69:2). Jeremiah is not drowning; he is stuck fast.

  2. Jeremiah 38:22 הָטְבְּע֥וּ they are sunk

    All the women who remain in the palace of the king of Judah will be brought out to the officials of the king of Babylon, and those women will say: ‘They misled you and overcame you—those trusted friends of yours. Your feet sank into the mire, and they deserted you.’

Lamentations · 1

  1. Lamentations 2:9 טָבְע֤וּ they have sunk

    Her gates have sunk into the ground; He has destroyed and shattered their bars. Her king and her princes are exiled among the nations, the law is no more, and even her prophets find no vision from the LORD.

    Here: "They have sunk." The verb for sinking into mud or water: Jeremiah sinking into the muck of a cistern, Pharaoh's chariots sinking in the sea. The gates are pictured as swallowed down into the ground. It is the first word of the stanza and starts with the letter tet, as the alphabetic poem requires.

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