Hebrew word · H5433

סָבָא

sove'

to imbibe

To drink heavily, swill, get drunk. Its noun form sove' means 'drunkard' or 'heavy drinker'. A related noun, sove', means liquor or drink (Isa 1:22; Hos 4:18).

Appears 5 times in 5 verses of the Hebrew Old Testament. ·

What it means

1) to drink heavily or largely, imbibe

1a) (Qal)

1a1) to imbibe

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 56:12

Range of meaning

To drink heavily, swill, get drunk. Its noun form sove' means 'drunkard' or 'heavy drinker'. A related noun, sove', means liquor or drink (Isa 1:22; Hos 4:18).

Against the English

KJV and WEB have 'fill ourselves with', ESV 'fill ourselves', NASB 'drink heavily', BSB 'imbibe', YLT 'quaff'. 'Imbibe' is accurate but sounds polite, even genteel. The Hebrew is coarser: they mean to get drunk.

Used elsewhere in the period

In Deut 21:20 the rebellious son is 'a glutton and a drunkard' (zolel vesove'). Prov 23:20–21 warns against 'heavy drinkers of wine' (sov'ei-yayin) and says they will come to poverty. Nah 1:10 pictures enemies 'drunk as with their drink' (seva'im). The Akkadian sābû/sābītu, 'tavern-keeper, brewer', is often linked to this root; Siduri in the Gilgamesh epic is a sābītu.

From the study of Proverbs 23:21

Range of meaning

To drink heavily, to guzzle, to drink one's fill of wine or strong drink. The related noun sōve' means 'liquor, drink' (Isa 1:22; Hos 4:18). The verb is always about excess, never about ordinary drinking.

Against the English

'Drunkard' (KJV, BSB, WEB), 'heavy drinker' (NASB), 'quaffer' (YLT). All are fair. 'Heavy drinker' and 'quaffer' capture the action of the verb better than a fixed label.

Used elsewhere in the period

Deut 21:20 (the rebellious son: 'a glutton and a drunkard', zolel wesove'); Isa 56:12 ('let us fill ourselves with strong drink', the careless leaders); Nah 1:10 ('drunk as with their drink'); Prov 23:20 'guzzlers of wine'. In the Bible it belongs to scenes of carousing and leaders who have lost their way.

From the study of Deuteronomy 21:20

Range of meaning

To drink heavily, guzzle, get drunk. The related noun sove means drink, beer or wine (Isa 1:22; Hos 4:18). Compare Isa 56:12, 'Come, let us guzzle (nisbe'ah) strong drink,' and Nah 1:10. It names a habit, not one cup too many.

Against the English

'Drunkard' is accurate. The Hebrew participle, like 'drunkard,' names a habitual identity.

Used elsewhere in the period

Akkadian (the language of ancient Mesopotamia) has related words for the brewer or tavern-keeper. Siduri, the tavern-keeper in the Gilgamesh epic, is a sabitu. The Hebrew word belongs to the world of the drinking house. Prov 23:20–21 pairs it with zolel.

Where it appears

Deuteronomy · 1

  1. Deuteronomy 21:20 וְסֹבֵֽא׃ and a drunkard

    and say to the elders, “This son of ours is stubborn and rebellious; he does not obey us. He is a glutton and a drunkard.”

    Here: 'And a guzzler,' a heavy drinker. The related noun means beer or strong drink. Like the other descriptions, it names a habit and a way of life.

Proverbs · 2

  1. Proverbs 23:20 בְסֹֽבְאֵי־ among drunkards of

    Do not join those who drink too much wine or gorge themselves on meat.

    Here: "Among the guzzlers of." The verb is not the ordinary word for drinking (שָׁתָה) but a word for swilling and soaking oneself in drink. The participle describes people for whom heavy drinking is a habit and an identity.

  2. Proverbs 23:21 סֹבֵ֣א a drunkard

    For the drunkard and the glutton will come to poverty, and drowsiness will clothe them in rags.

    Here: A participle, 'one who guzzles': not someone who drinks wine, but someone who drinks deep and often, as a way of life. It picks up 'guzzlers of wine' from verse 20.

Isaiah · 1

  1. Isaiah 56:12 וְנִסְבְּאָ֣ה and let us drink

    “Come, let me get the wine, let us imbibe the strong drink, and tomorrow will be like today, only far better!”

    Here: The speaker shifts to the plural, 'let us', a group invitation. The verb does not mean ordinary drinking. It means heavy drinking, swilling, getting drunk, and it belongs to the same family as the word for 'drunkard'.

Nahum · 1

  1. Nahum 1:10 סְבוּאִ֑ים drunkards

    For they will be entangled as with thorns and consumed like the drink of a drunkard—like stubble that is fully dry.

    Here: 'Soaked', sodden with drink. It describes their state, not mainly a moral label. Together with the previous word it makes a sound-play: drunk with their drink, sodden in their sauce.

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