Hebrew word · H5498

סָחַב

yischavum

to drag

To drag, haul or pull something along the ground, usually roughly. It is rare in the Hebrew Bible (about five times), and every use is violent or degrading: dragging bodies, dragging away the young of a flock.

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

What it means

(Qal) to drag

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 2 Samuel 17:13

Range of meaning

To drag, haul or pull something along the ground, usually roughly. It is rare in the Hebrew Bible (about five times), and every use is violent or degrading: dragging bodies, dragging away the young of a flock.

Against the English

BSB and ESV 'drag' keep the roughness. KJV and WEB 'draw' sounds milder to modern ears (it can suggest drawing water, or gently pulling), though in older English 'draw' could mean haul.

How it drifted

'Draw' has softened in English since 1611; the Hebrew has not.

Used elsewhere in the period

Jer 22:19: King Jehoiakim gets 'the burial of a donkey, dragged and thrown out beyond the gates'. Jer 15:3: 'dogs to drag'. Jer 49:20 and 50:45: 'the little ones of the flock shall be dragged away'. (BDB, HALOT s.v.)

From the study of Jeremiah 15:3

Range of meaning

To drag or haul, usually roughly: a city dragged into a valley with ropes (2 Sam 17:13), a corpse dragged out (Jer 22:19), lambs of the flock dragged off by a predator (Jer 49:20; 50:45). There are only a handful of occurrences, and the core sense is clear.

Against the English

KJV and WEB render 'to tear'. BSB ('drag away') and YLT ('drag') keep the Hebrew picture. 'Tear' probably follows the ancient versions (Latin lacerandum, 'to mangle'; the Septuagint apparently 'tearing apart'). That is a reasonable guess at what dogs do, but it is not what the Hebrew verb says.

Used elsewhere in the period

Jeremiah 22:19 is the closest parallel: Jehoiakim 'will be buried with the burial of a donkey, dragged and thrown out beyond the gates of Jerusalem'. In the same book, dragging is what happens to a body nobody buries.

Similar words

Where it appears

2 Samuel · 1

  1. 2 Samuel 17:13 וְסָחַ֤בְנוּ and we will drag

    If he retreats to a city, all Israel will bring ropes to that city, and we will drag it down to the valley until not even a pebble can be found there.”

    Here: A rough, degrading verb used elsewhere for dragging corpses and carcasses (Jer 22:19). Hushai switches to 'we', putting himself among the eager attackers.

Jeremiah · 4

  1. Jeremiah 15:3 לִסְחֹ֑ב to drag away

    I will appoint over them four kinds of destroyers, declares the LORD: the sword to kill, the dogs to drag away, and the birds of the air and beasts of the earth to devour and destroy.

    Here: Literally 'to drag'. It pictures dogs hauling corpses through the streets, as Jeremiah says of King Jehoiakim's body in 22:19 ('dragged and thrown out beyond the gates'). 'Tear' (KJV, WEB) comes from the Latin and Greek versions.

  2. Jeremiah 22:19 סָח֣וֹב people will drag

    He will be buried like a donkey, dragged away and thrown outside the gates of Jerusalem.

  3. Jeremiah 49:20 יִסְחָבוּם֙ people will drag away them

    Therefore hear the plans that the LORD has drawn up against Edom and the strategies He has devised against the people of Teman: Surely the little ones of the flock will be dragged away; certainly their pasture will be made desolate because of them.

  4. Jeremiah 50:45 יִסְחָבוּם֙ people will drag away them

    Therefore hear the plans that the LORD has drawn up against Babylon and the strategies He has devised against the land of the Chaldeans: Surely the little ones of the flock will be dragged away; certainly their pasture will be made desolate because of them.

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