Hebrew word · H695

אֶ֫רֶב

'arev

ambush

A hiding place or lair, literally a 'place of lying in wait'. It comes from the verb ʾārab, 'to lie in ambush', which is used of robbers, enemies and predators (Judg 9:32; Ps 10:9; Lam 3:10). The noun itself occurs only here and in Job 38:40.

Appears 2 times in 2 verses of the Hebrew Old Testament. ·

What it means

1) a lying-in-wait

2) covert, lair, den

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 Job 37:8

Range of meaning

A hiding place or lair, literally a 'place of lying in wait'. It comes from the verb ʾārab, 'to lie in ambush', which is used of robbers, enemies and predators (Judg 9:32; Ps 10:9; Lam 3:10). The noun itself occurs only here and in Job 38:40.

Against the English

'Lair', 'den' and 'covert' (YLT) are all fair. They lose the idea of crouching out of sight that the root carries. WEB and NLT turn the phrase into a verb, 'take cover', which keeps the idea of hiding but loses the image of a place.

Used elsewhere in the period

Job 38:40 uses it of lions that 'crouch in their dens and lie in wait in the thicket' (lᵉmô-ʾārev, almost the same phrase as here). This links Elihu's line to God's own speech that follows soon after.

From the study of Job 38:40

Range of meaning

This noun appears only twice in the Bible (Job 37:8; 38:40). It comes from the very common verb ʾārab, 'to lie in wait, ambush' (Judg 9:25; Ps 10:9; Prov 1:11). Lexicons give both 'ambush, lying in wait' and 'lair, hiding place'.

Against the English

BSB, WEB, NIV, ESV and KJV take it as the act of waiting: 'lie in wait'. YLT takes it as a place: 'for a covert'. Both readings are defensible.

Used elsewhere in the period

In Job 37:8 the beasts 'go into ʾāreb and remain in their dens', where 'lair' reads more naturally. In 38:40, with the purpose word lĕmô ('for'), 'for ambush, in ambush' fits better. The related noun ʾōreb ('ambush, trap') appears in Jer 9:8 and Hos 7:6.

Where it appears

Job · 2

  1. Job 37:8 אָ֑רֶב a lair

    The wild animals enter their lairs; they settle down in their dens.

    Here: It comes from the verb 'to lie in ambush'. It names the hidden spot where a predator crouches out of sight. Here the creature is not hunting. It is hiding from the storm, and the word gives the picture of an animal pressed down out of view.

  2. Job 38:40 אָֽרֶב׃ lying-in-wait

    when they crouch in their dens and lie in wait in the thicket?

    Here: 'Ambush.' This rare noun comes from the common verb 'to lie in wait'. It can mean the act of waiting in ambush or the hiding place where an animal waits. Both senses fit, and the verse's picture is the same either way.

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