Hebrew word · H7579

שָׁאַב

sho'ev

to draw

To draw water: lowering a jar and hauling it up, or filling vessels at a spring or well. It is a concrete, everyday labour word.

Appears 19 times in 18 verses of the Hebrew Old Testament. ·

What it means

1) to draw (water)

1a) (Qal)

1a1) to draw (water)

1a2) water-drawing women (participle)

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 Isaiah 12:3

Range of meaning

To draw water: lowering a jar and hauling it up, or filling vessels at a spring or well. It is a concrete, everyday labour word.

Against the English

'Draw' is accurate. The English simply does not carry the social overtone that this was menial work, done by women at the spring (Gen 24:11–20) or by servants and subjugated people ('hewers of wood and drawers of water', Josh 9:21–27; Deut 29:11).

Used elsewhere in the period

Gen 24:11, 13, 19–20 (Rebekah); Ruth 2:9; 2 Sam 23:16 (David's warriors draw water from Bethlehem's well); 1 Sam 7:6 (at Mizpah Israel 'drew water and poured it out before the LORD', a ritual use). The later Jewish name for the Temple water-drawing festival, Simchat Beit HaSho'evah ('the rejoicing of the place of drawing'), is built from this root and this verse.

Where it appears

Genesis · 8

  1. Genesis 24:11 הַשֹּׁאֲבֹֽת׃ the [women who] draw water

    As evening approached, he made the camels kneel down near the well outside the town at the time when the women went out to draw water.

  2. Genesis 24:13 לִשְׁאֹ֥ב to draw

    Here I am, standing beside the spring, and the daughters of the townspeople are coming out to draw water.

  3. Genesis 24:19 אֶשְׁאָ֔ב I will draw water

    After she had given him a drink, she said, “I will also draw water for your camels, until they have had enough to drink.”

  4. Genesis 24:20 לִשְׁאֹ֑ב וַתִּשְׁאַ֖ב to draw water, and she drew water

    And she quickly emptied her jar into the trough and ran back to the well to draw water, until she had drawn water for all his camels.

  5. Genesis 24:43 לִשְׁאֹ֔ב to draw water

    Here I am, standing beside this spring. Now if a maiden comes out to draw water and I say to her, ‘Please let me drink a little water from your jar,’

  6. Genesis 24:44 אֶשְׁאָ֑ב I will draw water

    and she replies, ‘Drink, and I will draw water for your camels as well,’ may she be the woman the LORD has appointed for my master’s son.

  7. Genesis 24:45 וַתִּשְׁאָ֑ב and she drew water

    And before I had finished praying in my heart, there was Rebekah coming out with her jar on her shoulder, and she went down to the spring and drew water. So I said to her, ‘Please give me a drink.’

Deuteronomy · 1

  1. Deuteronomy 29:11 שֹׁאֵ֥ב [the] drawer of

    your children and wives, and the foreigners in your camps who cut your wood and draw your water—

Joshua · 3

  1. Joshua 9:21 וְשֹֽׁאֲבֵי־ and drawers of

    They continued, “Let them live, but let them be woodcutters and water carriers for the whole congregation.” So the leaders kept their promise.

    Here: 'And drawers (of water)', meaning people who haul water from a well or spring, a daily chore usually done by women or servants (Genesis 24:11).

  2. Joshua 9:23 וְשֹֽׁאֲבֵי־ and drawers of

    Now therefore you are under a curse and will perpetually serve as woodcutters and water carriers for the house of my God.”

  3. Joshua 9:27 וְשֹׁ֥אֲבֵי and drawers of

    On that day he made them woodcutters and water carriers, as they are to this day for the congregation of the LORD and for the altar at the place He would choose.

Ruth · 1

  1. Ruth 2:9 יִשְׁאֲב֖וּן they will draw !

    Let your eyes be on the field they are harvesting, and follow along after these girls. Indeed, I have ordered the young men not to touch you. And when you are thirsty, go and drink from the jars the young men have filled.”

1 Samuel · 2

  1. 1 Samuel 7:6 וַיִּֽשְׁאֲבוּ־ and they drew

    When they had gathered at Mizpah, they drew water and poured it out before the LORD. On that day they fasted, and there they confessed, “We have sinned against the LORD.” And Samuel judged the Israelites at Mizpah.

    Here: The ordinary verb for drawing water from a well or spring, the daily work usually done by women and servants. Here the whole assembly does it as a deliberate act.

  2. 1 Samuel 9:11 לִשְׁאֹ֣ב to draw

    And as they were climbing the hill to the city, they met some young women coming out to draw water and asked, “Is the seer here?”

2 Samuel · 1

  1. 2 Samuel 23:16 וַיִּֽשְׁאֲבוּ־ and they drew

    So the three mighty men broke through the Philistine camp, drew water from the well near the gate of Bethlehem, and brought it back to David. But he refused to drink it; instead, he poured it out to the LORD,

1 Chronicles · 1

  1. 1 Chronicles 11:18 וַיִּֽשְׁאֲבוּ־ and they drew

    So the Three broke through the Philistine camp, drew water from the well at the gate of Bethlehem, and brought it back to David. But he refused to drink it; instead, he poured it out to the LORD,

    Here: The ordinary word for drawing water from a well or cistern, the daily chore of women and servants (Gen 24:11). Here warriors do it under enemy eyes.

Isaiah · 1

  1. Isaiah 12:3 וּשְׁאַבְתֶּם־ and you will draw

    With joy you will draw water from the springs of salvation,

    Here: "And you will draw." The form looks like a past tense but, joined to 'and', it carries on the future promise begun in v. 1 ('on that day'). The 'you' is plural: v. 1 spoke to one person, and here the whole community is addressed. The verb is the everyday word for hauling water from a spring or well, usually women's or servants' daily work.

Nahum · 1

  1. Nahum 3:14 שַֽׁאֲבִי־ draw

    Draw your water for the siege; strengthen your fortresses. Work the clay and tread the mortar; repair the brick kiln!

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