עָזַב

From the study of Genesis 2:24

Range of meaning

Leave, leave behind, abandon, forsake. It also means to let go or leave something in someone's care. It is often used for breaking a covenant loyalty: Israel 'forsaking' the LORD or the covenant (Deuteronomy 29:25; Jeremiah 2:13).

Against the English

'Leave' (BSB, KJV, ESV, NIV) is correct but can sound mild or purely geographical. 'Forsake' is the word's frequent sense elsewhere and is too harsh here, since the man does not cut off his parents. What fits is a decisive reordering: these are no longer his first loyalty.

How it drifted

Modern readers usually hear 'leave home' as moving to a new address. That picture comes from modern independent households, not from Israel.

Used elsewhere in the period

Ruth 2:11 is the closest parallel. Boaz praises Ruth because 'you left (ʿazav) your father and your mother and the land of your birth', and Ruth 1:14 says she 'clung' (davaq) to Naomi. The same two verbs describe a transfer of loyalty. Psalm 27:10 ('though my father and my mother forsake me') and Proverbs 2:17 (the woman who 'forsakes the companion of her youth') show the relational and covenant overtones.

From the study of Proverbs 28:4

Range of meaning

ʿĀzaḇ: to leave, abandon, or forsake, often a relationship or a commitment (forsaking the LORD, the covenant, a spouse). Šāmar: to guard, keep watch over, preserve, or observe carefully.

Against the English

"Forsake" and "keep" are good matches. "Keep" can sound passive in modern English ("keep the rules"). Šāmar has the picture of a sentry: alert, protective, watchful.

Used elsewhere in the period

Prov 2:13 (those who "forsake the paths of uprightness"); 2:17 (the adulteress "forsakes the companion of her youth"); 4:2 ("do not forsake my torah"); 4:6 ("do not forsake her [wisdom], and she will guard (šāmar) you"); 7:2 ("keep my commandments and live"); 29:18 ("happy is the one who keeps torah"). Deut 29:25 ("they forsook the covenant").

From the study of Isaiah 55:7

Range of meaning

To leave, leave behind, abandon, forsake; to let go of; to leave someone without help. It can be physical (leaving a place or person) or covenantal (abandoning God or his law).

Against the English

'Forsake' (KJV, BSB, WEB) is accurate but sounds old-fashioned and churchy. The Hebrew is an everyday verb of walking away and leaving something behind.

Used elsewhere in the period

Isaiah uses it for Israel's apostasy: 'they have forsaken the LORD' (1:4, 1:28; cf. Jer 2:13). It also describes God's apparent abandonment of Zion: 'Zion said, The LORD has forsaken me' (49:14), and 'For a brief moment I forsook you, but with great compassion (rachamim) I will gather you' (54:7). Proverbs uses it for leaving the paths of uprightness (Prov 2:13).