יְהָב

From the study of Psalm 55:22

Range of meaning

The word occurs only here in the Hebrew Bible. It comes from the root y-h-b, 'to give', which is common in Aramaic and survives in the Hebrew command havah/hav, 'give! come on!' (Gen 11:3; 29:21). The likely meanings are: (1) 'what is given/allotted', your lot or portion; (2) a load or pack, 'burden'. The two overlap. A load is what has been handed to you to carry.

Against the English

KJV, BSB, ESV, NASB and WEB have 'burden'. NIV has 'cares', which follows the Greek Septuagint and 1 Peter 5:7. YLT has 'that which He hath given thee', a strict reading from the root. 'Burden' is well supported. 'Cares' narrows it to inner worry. The Hebrew word covers anything that has landed on you: circumstances, troubles, responsibilities, your lot in life.

How it drifted

This is a narrowing rather than a mistake. Through the Septuagint's merimna ('care, anxiety') and 1 Peter 5:7, the verse came to be read mainly as being about anxious feelings. The Hebrew is more concrete.

Used elsewhere in the period

The Babylonian Talmud (Rosh Hashanah 26b) records that the rabbis were unsure of this word. Rabbah bar bar Hana explained it from something he heard on a journey. An Arab traveller told him, 'Take up your yehav and throw it on my camel.' So in everyday speech the word meant a traveller's pack or load. The Septuagint (Ps 54:23) translates it τὴν μέριμνάν σου, 'your care'. The Latin Vulgate follows it with curam tuam.