Hebrew word · H5445

סָבַל

lisbol

to bear

Carry a heavy load, especially as hard labour. The related noun sēbel means a burden or forced-labour duty (1 Kgs 11:28; Ps 81:6[7]), and siblôt are the 'burdens' of Hebrew slaves in Egypt (Exod 1:11; 2:11; 6:6–7).

Appears 9 times in 8 verses of the Hebrew Old Testament. ·

What it means

1) to bear, bear a load, drag oneself along

1a) (Qal) to bear (a load)

1b) (Pual) laden (participle)

1c)(Hithpael) to make oneself a burden, drag oneself along

Aramaic equivalent: se.val (סְבַל "to bear" H5446)

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 53:4

Range of meaning

Carry a heavy load, especially as hard labour. The related noun sēbel means a burden or forced-labour duty (1 Kgs 11:28; Ps 81:6[7]), and siblôt are the 'burdens' of Hebrew slaves in Egypt (Exod 1:11; 2:11; 6:6–7). The verb is also used with guilt: 'Our fathers sinned and are no more, and we bear (sābalnû) their iniquities' (Lam 5:7).

Against the English

'Carried' is accurate, but it can sound light. The Hebrew pictures a man bent under a load.

Used elsewhere in the period

Lam 5:7 shows the verb used for suffering the consequences of someone else's sin. Isa 46:1–4 contrasts Babylon's idols, which have to be loaded onto weary animals, with Israel's God, who carries his people. Isa 53:11 uses it again: 'their iniquities he will carry.'

From the study of Isaiah 46:4

Range of meaning

To carry a heavy load, especially on the back or shoulder. Related nouns are sabbal, "porter, load-carrier" (1 Kgs 5:15; Neh 4:10), and sevel/sobel, "burden, forced-labour duty" (1 Kgs 11:28; Ps 81:6). The word belongs to the world of manual labour and conscripted work gangs. It is the work of a burden-bearer, not a gentle cradling.

Against the English

English "carry" or "bear" is fine but soft. BSB's "bear you up" and "sustain you" (for the second esbol) move toward a general idea of support and lose the picture of strain under weight. KJV/WEB "carry" is closer.

Used elsewhere in the period

Within this same chapter, v. 7 says of an idol-worshipper's god: "they lift it (yissa'uhu) on the shoulder, they haul it (yisbeluhu)". The same two verbs as v. 4 are used, but now of humans carrying a god. Later in the same collection, Isa 53:4 and 53:11 use sabal for the servant who "hauled our pains" and "will haul their iniquities". Lam 5:7: "we have borne (sabalnu) their iniquities".

From the study of Isaiah 46:7

Range of meaning

To carry a heavy load, to haul or bear a burden. It is used of porters and labourers. Related nouns are sevel ("burden, forced labour", 1 Kgs 11:28; Ps 81:6) and sivlot (Israel's "burdens" of forced labour in Egypt, Exod 1:11; 6:6). Used figuratively, it means bearing someone else's weight, guilt or grief (Isa 53:4, 11; Lam 5:7).

Against the English

"Carry" (BSB, KJV, WEB, YLT) is accurate but bland. The Hebrew sounds like hard work: someone straining under a load.

Used elsewhere in the period

It is rare in the Hebrew Bible (9 times), and Isaiah 46 and 53 account for several of them. In Isa 46:4 God says 'ani 'esbol, "I will carry". In Isa 53:4 and 53:11 the Servant "carried" Israel's sorrows and their guilt. In Genesis 49:15 Issachar bends his shoulder lisbol, "to bear" a load, as a forced labourer.

Where it appears

Genesis · 1

  1. Genesis 49:15 לִסְבֹּ֔ל to carry a load

    He saw that his resting place was good and that his land was pleasant, so he bent his shoulder to the burden and submitted to labor as a servant.

Psalms · 1

  1. Psalm 144:14 מְֽסֻבָּ֫לִ֥ים [will be] loaded

    Our oxen will bear great loads. There will be no breach in the walls, no going into captivity, and no cry of lament in our streets.

Ecclesiastes · 1

  1. Ecclesiastes 12:5 וְיִסְתַּבֵּ֣ל so it may drag itself along

    when men fear the heights and dangers of the road, when the almond tree blossoms, the grasshopper loses its spring, and the caper berry shrivels—for then man goes to his eternal home and mourners walk the streets.

    Here: A form meaning 'loads itself' or 'becomes burdened': the locust drags itself along heavily. The creature known for springing leaps now moves like a stiff old body.

Isaiah · 5

  1. Isaiah 46:4 אֶסְבֹּ֑ל אֶסְבֹּ֖ל I will carry

    Even to your old age, I will be the same, and I will bear you up when you turn gray. I have made you, and I will carry you; I will sustain you and deliver you.

    Here: "I will haul". This verb is used for porters and forced labourers carrying heavy loads on their backs. God casts himself as the porter and his aging people as the load.

  2. Isaiah 46:7 יִסְבְּלֻ֜הוּ they carry it

    They lift it to their shoulder and carry it along; they set it in its place, and there it stands, not budging from that spot. They cry out to it, but it does not answer; it saves no one from his troubles.

    Here: "They haul it." This verb is about carrying something heavy, like a porter or a labourer. It is the verb God uses for himself in v. 4 ("I will carry"), so the contrast is deliberate.

  3. Isaiah 53:4 סְבָלָ֑ם he carried them

    Surely He took up our infirmities and carried our sorrows; yet we considered Him stricken, struck down by God, and afflicted.

    Here: 'He carried them.' The verb pictures a porter or forced labourer with a heavy load on his back. In verse 11 the same verb is used with iniquities: 'their iniquities he will carry.'

  4. Isaiah 53:11 יִסְבֹּֽל׃ he will bear

    After the anguish of His soul, He will see the light of life and be satisfied. By His knowledge My righteous Servant will justify many, and He will bear their iniquities.

    Here: "He will carry" as a porter carries a heavy load on his back. It is the same verb as v. 4 ("our pains he carried"), and the tense points to a continuing burden the servant takes on.

Lamentations · 1

  1. Lamentations 5:7 סָבָֽלְנוּ׃ we have borne

    Our fathers sinned and are no more, but we bear their punishment.

    Here: 'We have carried.' This verb belongs to porters and forced labourers hauling heavy loads. The form describes a burden taken up and still on the speakers' backs. Read with verses 5 and 13, where young men grind at the mill and boys stagger under loads of wood, it is close to literal.

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