Hebrew word · H696
אֹ֫רֶב
'arebo
ambush
Ambush, a lying-in-wait. It comes from ʾārab, 'to lie in wait', used of soldiers hidden to attack a city (Josh 8; Judg 9) and of robbers or murderers waiting for a victim (Deut 19:11; Prov 1:11).
Appears 2 times in 2 verses of the Hebrew Old Testament. ·
What it means
1) ambuscade, hiding place
2) treachery, deceit (fig.)
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 Jeremiah 9:8
- Range of meaning
Ambush, a lying-in-wait. It comes from ʾārab, 'to lie in wait', used of soldiers hidden to attack a city (Josh 8; Judg 9) and of robbers or murderers waiting for a victim (Deut 19:11; Prov 1:11).
- Against the English
BSB 'sets a trap' softens it into a hunter's snare. WEB/ESV/NASB 'ambush' keeps the military and murderous picture. KJV 'layeth his wait' is literal but archaic.
- Used elsewhere in the period
Hos 7:6 (their heart like an oven 'in their lying in wait'). Ps 10:8–9 (the wicked 'sits in ambush… to murder the innocent'). Ps 64:3–4 joins tongues sharpened like swords, words aimed like arrows, and shooting 'from ambush' at the blameless. That is the same cluster of images as this verse.
Where it appears
Jeremiah · 1
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Jeremiah 9:8 אָרְבּֽוֹ׃ ambush his
Their tongues are deadly arrows; they speak deception. With his mouth a man speaks peace to his neighbor, but in his heart he sets a trap for him.
Here: An ambush, people lying in wait to strike by surprise. It is a military and murderous image: the friendly greeting covers a planned attack.
Hosea · 1
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Hosea 7:6 בְּאָרְבָּ֑ם in ambush their
For they prepare their heart like an oven while they lie in wait; all night their anger smolders; in the morning it blazes like a flaming fire.
Word data: STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0), main text only.