Hebrew word · H6095

עָצָה

'otzeh

to shut

A word that occurs only once in the Bible, in this verse. Lexicons (HALOT, BDB) give 'to shut, close (the eyes)'. The sense comes from context and from proposed links to related words in Hebrew and other Semitic languages, including the similar verb ʿāṣam 'shut (the eyes)' in Isa 33:15.

Appears once in the Hebrew Old Testament. ·

What it means

(Qal) to shut

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 Proverbs 16:30

Range of meaning

A word that occurs only once in the Bible, in this verse. Lexicons (HALOT, BDB) give 'to shut, close (the eyes)'. The sense comes from context and from proposed links to related words in Hebrew and other Semitic languages, including the similar verb ʿāṣam 'shut (the eyes)' in Isa 33:15.

Against the English

KJV and NASB keep the idea of closing ('shutteth', 'winks his eyes' in a shut sense). BSB, NIV and WEB render it 'winks', which absorbs it into the wink-gesture familiar from Proverbs 6:13 and 10:10. NLT turns it into 'narrowed eyes'. 'Wink' is a fair reading of the gesture, but it hides the fact that the verb literally means closing, which could also mean shutting the eyes to concentrate on a plan.

Used elsewhere in the period

Not found elsewhere in Biblical Hebrew. The closest parallel is Isa 33:15: the righteous man 'shuts (ʿōṣēm) his eyes from looking on evil'. Proverbs 16:30 reverses it: this man shuts his eyes in order to devise evil. Ancient translators were unsure. The Septuagint has 'fixing (stērizōn) his eyes' and the Vulgate 'with fixed/staring eyes' (attonitis oculis). Both understood an intent, concentrated look rather than a playful wink.

Where it appears

Proverbs · 1

  1. Proverbs 16:30 עֹצֶ֣ה [one who] shuts

    He who winks his eye devises perversity; he who purses his lips is bent on evil.

    Here: A word found only here in the Bible. It means shutting or narrowing the eyes. The form describes a habit, 'one who shuts', so it sketches a type of person by a gesture: eyes half-closed while he works something out, or a covert signal to someone else.

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