Hebrew word · H3619

כְּלוּב

keluv

basket

A basket or cage made of woven material. It occurs only here, in 8:1, and in Jer 5:27 (a bird cage). It is related to words for wicker work.

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

What it means

cage, basket, dog cage

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 Amos 8:2

Range of meaning

A basket or cage made of woven material. It occurs only here, in 8:1, and in Jer 5:27 (a bird cage). It is related to words for wicker work.

Against the English

All English versions say “basket,” which is accurate.

Used elsewhere in the period

In Jer 5:27 it is a cage full of birds, used as an image for houses crammed with plunder. The Greek translation (LXX) of Amos took it as a fowler's container (ἄγγος ἰξευτοῦ), perhaps because of that link with bird cages.

From the study of Amos 8:1

Range of meaning

A woven container. In Jer 5:27 it is a cage or trap full of birds. Here it is a fruit basket. The word is rare: only Jer 5:27 and Amos 8:1–2 as a common noun, plus the personal name Chelub (1 Chr 4:11; 27:26). Related words in other Semitic languages refer to cages or woven traps.

Against the English

'Basket' is accurate. The basket is incidental to the message: everything depends on what is in it.

Used elsewhere in the period

Jer 5:27 'like a cage full of birds'. The Greek Septuagint seems to have taken the word in the trap or cage sense here (see textual notes).

Where it appears

Jeremiah · 1

  1. Jeremiah 5:27 כִּכְלוּב֙ like a cage

    Like cages full of birds, so their houses are full of deceit. Therefore they have become powerful and rich.

Amos · 2

  1. Amos 8:1 כְּל֥וּב a basket of

    This is what the Lord GOD showed me: I saw a basket of summer fruit.

    Here: A woven container. Elsewhere the word means a cage of birds (Jer 5:27), so it was probably a wicker basket or crate. Here it is the kind of container used to carry harvested fruit.

  2. Amos 8:2 כְּל֣וּב a basket of

    “Amos, what do you see?” He asked. “A basket of summer fruit,” I replied. So the LORD said to me, “The end has come for My people Israel; I will no longer spare them.”

    Here: A woven basket or cage. The only other use is Jer 5:27, a bird cage “full of birds.” Here it is a harvest basket packed with fruit.

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