Hebrew word · H5629

סֶ֫רַח

veserach

excess

The basic idea is something that spreads out, hangs loose or extends past its limits. In the tabernacle chapter it describes fabric draping loosely past an edge (here and in v. 13, 'hang over the sides'). The noun seraḥ occurs only in this verse.

Appears once in the Hebrew Old Testament. ·

What it means

excess, overhanging

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 Exodus 26:12

Range of meaning

The basic idea is something that spreads out, hangs loose or extends past its limits. In the tabernacle chapter it describes fabric draping loosely past an edge (here and in v. 13, 'hang over the sides'). Elsewhere: a vine that spreads low and wide (Ezek 17:6), people sprawling on couches at a feast (Amos 6:4, 7), and, in a passive form, wisdom that has 'gone loose', meaning spoiled or slack (Jer 49:7). The noun seraḥ occurs only in this verse.

Against the English

English translations use 'overlap' (BSB), 'remnant' (KJV), 'overhanging part' (WEB), 'superfluity' (YLT), 'additional length' and the like. 'Overlap' can suggest one panel lying on another. The Hebrew picture is of loose cloth spilling down past an edge. 'Remnant' sounds like a leftover scrap, but this is a working part of the covering.

Used elsewhere in the period

The verb is rare and appears in technical, agricultural and prophetic writing (Exod 26:12–13; Ezek 17:6; Amos 6:4, 7; Jer 49:7). It is also well attested in later Hebrew, where it is used for things hanging over or trailing. BDB and HALOT group the uses under 'go free, be unrestrained, overhang'.

Similar words

Where it appears

Exodus · 1

  1. Exodus 26:12 וְסֶ֙רַח֙ and [the] overhanging of

    As for the overlap that remains of the tent curtains, the half curtain that is left over shall hang down over the back of the tabernacle.

    Here: The loose, extending part of a fabric that runs past an edge. It comes first in the sentence and announces the topic: 'as for the overhang…'. The noun appears only here in the Hebrew Bible.

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