Hebrew word · H7654

שׇׂבְעָה

save'ah

satiety

Being satisfied or full, mostly of food. It can also mean being sated with good things (Ps 103:5), with years (Gen 25:8, "full of days"), or, negatively, being fed up with something (Isa 1:11).

Appears 6 times in 6 verses of the Hebrew Old Testament. ·

What it means

satisfaction, satiety, one's fill

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 Haggai 1:6

Range of meaning

Being satisfied or full, mostly of food. It can also mean being sated with good things (Ps 103:5), with years (Gen 25:8, "full of days"), or, negatively, being fed up with something (Isa 1:11).

Against the English

BSB/NIV "never have enough", KJV/WEB "have not enough" and YLT "not to satiety" all get the sense. The English loses the fact that "eat and be full" is a fixed covenant phrase for blessing.

Used elsewhere in the period

Deut 8:10; 11:15 ("you shall eat and be full") belong to the blessing for keeping the covenant. Lev 26:26 ("you shall eat and not be satisfied"), Hos 4:10 and Mic 6:14 ("you shall eat but not be satisfied") are the curse version. LXX here renders it πλησμονή, "fullness".

Where it appears

Isaiah · 3

  1. Isaiah 23:18 לְשָׂבְעָ֖ה to satiety

    Yet her profits and wages will be set apart to the LORD; they will not be stored or saved, for her profit will go to those who live before the LORD, for abundant food and fine clothing.

    Here: 'Until satisfied': enough and more than enough. Plenty is a covenant blessing in Israel's speech (Deut 8:10; Lev 25:19).

  2. Isaiah 55:2 לְשָׂבְעָ֑ה to satiety

    Why spend money on that which is not bread, and your labor on that which does not satisfy? Listen carefully to Me, and eat what is good, and your soul will delight in the richest of foods.

    Here: 'To fullness': the state of having eaten enough. What they buy never brings them to that point.

  3. Isaiah 56:11 שָׂבְעָ֔ה satiety

    Like ravenous dogs, they are never satisfied. They are shepherds with no discernment; they all turn to their own way, each one seeking his own gain:

    Here: The state of having eaten enough. They never reach it. It echoes Isa 55:2, where God asks why people spend their wages on 'what does not satisfy' (the same word).

Ezekiel · 2

  1. Ezekiel 16:28 שָׂבְעָתֵ֑ךְ satiety your

    Then you prostituted yourself with the Assyrians, because you were not yet satisfied. Even after that, you were still not satisfied.

  2. Ezekiel 39:19 לְשָׂבְעָ֔ה to satiety

    At the sacrifice I am preparing, you will eat fat until you are gorged and drink blood until you are drunk.

    Here: "To the point of fullness." The guests eat until they can eat no more. The word is often used of God's generous provision, which makes its use here grimly ironic.

Haggai · 1

  1. Haggai 1:6 לְשָׂבְעָה֙ to satiety

    You have planted much but harvested little. You eat but never have enough. You drink but never have your fill. You put on clothes but never get warm. You earn wages to put into a bag pierced through.”

    Here: "To fullness": the state of having eaten enough. In covenant language being full (saba') is a sign of God's blessing, as in Deut 8:10 "you shall eat and be full and bless the LORD". Its absence here is a deliberate reversal.

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