Hebrew word · H3580
כְּזִיב
vikhziv
Chezib
A place name. It is generally connected with the root kazav, 'to lie, be deceptive, fail'. The related word ʾakhzav means a stream that dries up and so 'lies' to the traveller (Jer 15:18; compare Isa 58:11, 'waters that do not fail').
Appears once in the Hebrew Old Testament. ·
What it means
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 Genesis 38:5
- Range of meaning
A place name. It is generally connected with the root kazav, 'to lie, be deceptive, fail'. The related word ʾakhzav means a stream that dries up and so 'lies' to the traveller (Jer 15:18; compare Isa 58:11, 'waters that do not fail').
- Against the English
English versions transliterate it (Chezib/Kezib), so readers see a bare place name. A Hebrew hearer heard 'Deception-town' or 'Failing-town' in it.
- Used elsewhere in the period
It is probably the same as Achzib in the Judean lowlands (Josh 15:44, listed with Keilah and Mareshah) and the 'Cozeba' of 1 Chr 4:22. Micah plays on the name: 'the houses of Achzib will be an akhzav (a deceptive thing) to the kings of Israel' (Mic 1:14), which shows Israelite audiences did hear the pun. Targum Onkelos and Genesis Rabbah (85:4) read it as 'cessation': she stopped bearing. Rashi cites this, and Jerome's Vulgate translates it that way.
Where it appears
Genesis · 1
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Genesis 38:5 בִכְזִ֖יב in Kezib
Then she gave birth to another son and named him Shelah; it was at Chezib that she gave birth to him.
Here: 'In Chezib', a town in the Judean lowlands near Adullam, probably the same as Achzib (Josh 15:44; Mic 1:14). Its name sounds like the Hebrew root kazav, 'to lie, deceive, fail'. Hebrew hearers would catch the sound in a chapter about broken promises and deception.
Word data: STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0), main text only.