Hebrew word · H5034

נָבֵל

navel

to wither

To sink, droop, wither, fade; to fall off, as leaves or petals do; by extension to wear out or collapse.

Appears 25 times in 21 verses of the Hebrew Old Testament. ·

What it means

1) to sink or drop down, languish, wither and fall, fade

1a) (Qal)

1a1) to sink or drop down

1a2) to fall, wither and fall, fade

1a3) to droop

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 Isaiah 40:8

Range of meaning

To sink, droop, wither, fade; to fall off, as leaves or petals do; by extension to wear out or collapse.

Against the English

KJV, WEB and ESV have 'fadeth / fades', BSB and NIV 'fall'. Both are within the word's range: the flower wilts and drops.

Used elsewhere in the period

Isa 1:30 ('like an oak whose leaf withers'), Isa 34:4 (the heavenly host 'falls like a withered leaf'), Isa 64:6 ('we all wither like a leaf'), Ps 1:3 ('whose leaf does not wither'), Ps 37:2.

From the study of Isaiah 34:4

Range of meaning

To wither, droop, fade, or wilt, of plants, leaves and flowers (Isaiah 1:30; 28:1, 4; 40:7–8; 64:6 'we all fade like a leaf'; Jeremiah 8:13; Psalm 1:3 'whose leaf does not wither'). By extension it means to wear out or lose strength (Exodus 18:18). The participle nōbelet means 'a withering thing'.

Against the English

KJV, BSB, ESV and NIV render the result, 'fall'. WEB and NASB keep the verb's own sense, 'fade', 'wither'. 'Fall' is a fair reading of the picture, but the Hebrew stresses that life drains out before anything drops. The three-fold use of the verb (yibbôl … kinbōl … nōbelet) is lost when translators vary the English.

How it drifted

'Fall' probably comes through the Greek Old Testament, which uses piptō ('fall') here. That was then reinforced by the New Testament echoes in Mark 13:25 and Revelation 6:13, where the stars do fall.

Used elsewhere in the period

In Isaiah 40:7–8 the same verb sets the fading of all flesh against the word of God, which stands forever. The LXX of 34:4 has 'all the stars will fall like leaves from a vine and as leaves fall from a fig tree'. Revelation 6:13 turns the fig image into unripe figs shaken loose by a gale.

From the study of Ezekiel 47:12

Range of meaning

To wither, fade, droop (of leaves and flowers). Figuratively, to wear out or collapse, and to come to nothing.

Against the English

'Wither' (BSB, WEB) and 'fade' (KJV, YLT) are both accurate.

Used elsewhere in the period

Psalm 1:3: the righteous person is 'like a tree planted by streams of water… its leaf does not wither (lo-yibbol)'. That is the same phrase. Jeremiah 17:8 gives the same picture with 'its leaf will be green… it will not cease from bearing fruit'. Isaiah 40:7–8: 'the grass withers, the flower fades (navel)'.

Where it appears

Exodus · 2

  1. Exodus 18:18 נָבֹ֣ל תִּבֹּ֔ל certainly <to wear out>, you will wear yourself out

    Surely you and these people with you will wear yourselves out, because the task is too heavy for you. You cannot handle it alone.

Deuteronomy · 1

  1. Deuteronomy 32:15 וַיְנַבֵּ֖ל and he treated with contempt

    But Jeshurun grew fat and kicked—becoming fat, bloated, and gorged. He abandoned the God who made him and scorned the Rock of his salvation.

    Here: "And he treated as worthless / disgraced." From the same root as nabal, the 'fool' who has no sense or decency. In v. 6 Israel was called a 'nabal people'; now that foolish people treats its Rock as if He were the nabal. It is an act of public dishonor, not mild neglect.

2 Samuel · 1

  1. 2 Samuel 22:46 יִבֹּ֑לוּ they withered

    Foreigners lose heart and come trembling from their strongholds.

Job · 1

  1. Job 14:18 יִבּ֑וֹל it crumbles away

    But as a mountain erodes and crumbles and a rock is dislodged from its place,

Psalms · 3

  1. Psalm 1:3 יִבּ֑וֹל it withers

    He is like a tree planted by streams of water, yielding its fruit in season, whose leaf does not wither, and who prospers in all he does.

    Here: 'Wither', 'droop'. The verb is used of leaves and grass shrivelling in heat and drought (Isa 1:30; 40:7). Even in the summer drought, this tree stays green.

  2. Psalm 18:45 יִבֹּ֑לוּ they wither

    Foreigners lose heart and come trembling from their strongholds.

  3. Psalm 37:2 יִבּוֹלֽוּן׃ they will fade !

    For they wither quickly like grass and wilt like tender plants.

    Here: "They will fade." This is the verb for leaves and flowers drooping and losing colour. The extra -ûn ending is an older, fuller verb form used in poetry, often to round off a line with weight. The supplied gloss marks this with "!".

Proverbs · 1

  1. Proverbs 30:32 נָבַ֥לְתָּ you have been foolish

    If you have foolishly exalted yourself or if you have plotted evil, put your hand over your mouth.

    Here: "You have acted like a nabal." A nabal is the coarse, godless, socially destructive kind of fool, not the merely silly kind. The perfect tense shows the act as already done: "if you have gone and done this." This is the only place the verb appears in this simple form.

Isaiah · 11

  1. Isaiah 1:30 נֹבֶ֣לֶת [which is] withering

    For you will become like an oak whose leaves are withered, like a garden without water.

  2. Isaiah 24:4 נָֽבְלָה֙ נָבְלָ֖ה it has withered

    The earth mourns and withers; the world languishes and fades; the exalted of the earth waste away.

  3. Isaiah 28:1 נֹבֵ֖ל withering

    Woe to the majestic crown of Ephraim’s drunkards, to the fading flower of his glorious splendor, set on the summit above the fertile valley, the pride of those overcome by wine.

    Here: A participle (a verb form describing ongoing action): the flower is already wilting, like a garland at the end of a long night of drinking. The same verb appears in Isaiah 40:7–8, 'the flower fades'.

  4. Isaiah 28:4 נֹבֵל֙ <of> withering

    The fading flower of his beautiful splendor, set on the summit above the fertile valley, will be like a ripe fig before the summer harvest: Whoever sees it will take it in his hand and swallow it.

  5. Isaiah 34:4 יִבּ֔וֹל כִּנְבֹ֤ל וּכְנֹבֶ֖לֶת it will wither, as withers, and like withered fruit

    All the stars of heaven will be dissolved. The skies will be rolled up like a scroll, and all their stars will fall like withered leaves from the vine, like foliage from the fig tree.

    Here: 'It will wither, droop.' This is the word for leaves and flowers losing life and sagging, as in Isaiah 40:7–8 ('the flower fades'). It describes losing life rather than the act of dropping, though withered leaves do then fall.

  6. Isaiah 40:7 נָ֣בֵֽל it withers

    The grass withers and the flowers fall when the breath of the LORD blows on them; indeed, the people are grass.

  7. Isaiah 40:8 נָ֣בֵֽל it withers

    The grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of our God stands forever.”

    Here: A flower wilting and dropping its petals. It is the same 'finished, general truth' verb form as the first word, and its sound echoes yāḇēš (yavesh … navel), so the line feels like a dirge.

  8. Isaiah 64:6 וַנָּ֤בֶל and we have withered

    Each of us has become like something unclean, and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags; we all wither like a leaf, and our iniquities carry us away like the wind.

    Here: 'And we withered,' like vegetation drying up. The Hebrew spelling is unusual, but the meaning is clear.

Jeremiah · 2

  1. Jeremiah 8:13 נָבֵ֔ל it will wither

    I will take away their harvest, declares the LORD. There will be no grapes on the vine, nor figs on the tree, and even the leaf will wither. Whatever I have given them will be lost to them.”

  2. Jeremiah 14:21 תְּנַבֵּ֖ל you treat with contempt

    For the sake of Your name do not despise us; do not disgrace Your glorious throne. Remember Your covenant with us; do not break it.

    Here: An intensive form of the root behind nabal, 'fool, morally worthless person'. It means to treat something as contemptible or worthless, to expose it to shame. It plays against 'glory' (kavod, literally 'weight') right after it: do not make your weighty throne a thing of no account.

Ezekiel · 1

  1. Ezekiel 47:12 יִבּ֨וֹל it will wither

    Along both banks of the river, fruit trees of all kinds will grow. Their leaves will not wither, and their fruit will not fail. Each month they will bear fruit, because the water from the sanctuary flows to them. Their fruit will be used for food and their leaves for healing.”

    Here: 'Will (not) wither'. This is the word for leaves drooping in drought or heat (Psalm 1:3; Isaiah 1:30; 40:7–8). Here it is denied: no dry season, no autumn.

Micah · 1

  1. Micah 7:6 מְנַבֵּ֣ל [is] treating with contempt

    For a son dishonors his father, a daughter rises against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law. A man’s enemies are the members of his own household.

    Here: An intensive form (Piel) of the verb behind 'fool' (nāvāl): to treat someone as worthless, a nobody, and so disgrace them. It is the opposite of the fifth commandment's 'honour' (literally 'give weight to'). The participle shows something going on now, not a one-off act.

Nahum · 1

  1. Nahum 3:6 וְנִבַּלְתִּ֑יךְ and I will treat with contempt you

    I will pelt you with filth and treat you with contempt; I will make a spectacle of you.

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