Hebrew word · H6651

צָבַר

veyitzberu-

to heap

To pile up or store in heaps: grain in Egypt's storehouses (Gen 41:35, 49), dead frogs (Exod 8:14), silver "like dust" (Job 27:16; Zech 9:3), earth for siege ramps (Hab 1:10).

Appears 7 times in 7 verses of the Hebrew Old Testament. ·

What it means

1) (Qal) to heap up, pile up

1a) of grain, dust, silver

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 Psalm 39:6

Range of meaning

To pile up or store in heaps: grain in Egypt's storehouses (Gen 41:35, 49), dead frogs (Exod 8:14), silver "like dust" (Job 27:16; Zech 9:3), earth for siege ramps (Hab 1:10).

Against the English

KJV puts "[riches]" in italics and BSB adds "riches." WEB leaves the object out, as the Hebrew does. Adding "riches" is fair, but the bare verb lets the reader picture any piling up, mainly harvest and silver.

Used elsewhere in the period

Job 27:16–17 is the closest parallel: the wicked man "heaps up silver like dust… but the righteous will wear it." The Septuagint has thēsaurizei ("he stores up treasure"), the same verb Jesus uses in Matt 6:19–20 and Luke 12:21.

From the study of Genesis 41:35

Range of meaning

To heap up, pile up, amass. Used of grain, of dead frogs in heaps, of silver and gold piled like dust, and of earth piled into a siege ramp. It always suggests large quantity and physical piles, and sometimes reckless hoarding.

Against the English

KJV "lay up", WEB and ESV "store", YLT "heap up". "Store" is accurate but colourless. "Heap up" keeps the picture of grain mounded in huge piles, which matters because the narrator picks the same verb up again in 41:49.

Used elsewhere in the period

Gen 41:49 (Joseph heaps up grain "like the sand of the sea"); Exod 8:14 [MT 8:10] (frogs gathered in heaps); Job 27:16 (heaping up silver like dust); Zech 9:3 (Tyre heaps up silver like dust); Hab 1:10 (heaping up earth to take a fortress); Ps 39:6 [MT 39:7] (a man heaps up wealth and does not know who will gather it).

From the study of Job 27:16

Range of meaning

To heap up or pile up, used of grain gathered into storehouses (Gen 41:35, 49), of dead frogs piled in heaps (Exod 8:14), of earth thrown up into siege mounds (Hab 1:10), and of treasure amassed (Ps 39:6; Zech 9:3). It is a rare verb (about seven occurrences) and always implies accumulation in bulk.

Against the English

'Heap up' (KJV, BSB, WEB, YLT) is exact. Paraphrases like 'have piles of money' lose the verb's sense of active, repeated piling.

Used elsewhere in the period

The closest parallel is Zech 9:3, where Tyre 'heaped up (wattiṣbor) silver like dust (keʿāp̄ār) and gold like the mud of the streets.' It uses the same verb, the same noun and the same simile, and there too the wealth is about to be stripped away (9:4). Ps 39:6: man 'heaps up (yiṣbōr) and does not know who will gather it,' the same thought as Job 27:16–17.

Where it appears

Genesis · 2

  1. Genesis 41:35 וְיִצְבְּרוּ־ and let them store up

    Under the authority of Pharaoh, let them collect all the excess food from these good years, that they may come and lay up the grain to be preserved as food in the cities.

    Here: To pile in heaps. It pictures grain mounded in great piles, and it sets up 41:49, where Joseph heaps up grain "like the sand of the sea".

  2. Genesis 41:49 וַיִּצְבֹּ֨ר and he stored up

    So Joseph stored up grain in such abundance, like the sand of the sea, that he stopped keeping track of it; for it was beyond measure.

Exodus · 1

  1. Exodus 8:14 וַיִּצְבְּר֥וּ and people piled up

    They were piled into countless heaps, and there was a terrible stench in the land.

Job · 1

  1. Job 27:16 יִצְבֹּ֣ר he will heap up

    Though he heaps up silver like dust and piles up a wardrobe like clay,

    Here: To gather into heaps, as grain is heaped (Gen 41:35, 49). The imperfect tense pictures ongoing or repeated piling: he keeps adding to the pile.

Psalms · 1

  1. Psalm 39:6 יִ֝צְבֹּ֗ר he heaps up

    Surely every man goes about like a phantom; surely he bustles in vain; he heaps up riches not knowing who will haul them away.

    Here: To pile things in heaps, like grain on the threshing floor or silver like dust. No object is named, but riches or produce are clearly meant, which is why translations add "riches."

Habakkuk · 1

  1. Habakkuk 1:10 וַיִּצְבֹּ֥ר and it heaped up

    They scoff at kings and make rulers an object of scorn. They laugh at every fortress and build up siege ramps to seize it.

Zechariah · 1

  1. Zechariah 9:3 וַתִּצְבָּר־ and it heaped up

    Tyre has built herself a fortress; she has heaped up silver like dust, and gold like the dirt of the streets.

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