שֶׁ֫בֶת

From the study of Isaiah 30:7

Range of meaning

Ceasing, inactivity, being out of action. Exod 21:19 uses it for a man's lost working time while he lies injured, and Prov 20:3 for keeping away from a quarrel. A different noun with the same spelling, from yashav 'to sit', means 'seat' or 'dwelling' (Amos 6:3). Lexicons file Isa 30:7 under 'cessation'.

Against the English

'Sits still' (BSB, WEB, KJV, ESV) is a fair picture of 'doing nothing'. In English, though, 'sit still' can sound calm and admirable. The Hebrew is dismissive: idle, inactive, out of action. NIV's 'Do-Nothing' gets the tone.

How it drifted

Devotional reading of the KJV ('their strength is to sit still') took 'sitting still' as the restful trust Isaiah praises in 30:15. That verse uses different words and is about Judah, not Egypt.

Used elsewhere in the period

The root sh-b-t ('to stop, rest') gives 'sabbath'. Isaiah uses the verb for the oppressor who 'has ceased' (14:4). The emendation hammoshbat would be a form of the same root: 'the one made to stop'.

From the study of Proverbs 20:3

Range of meaning

A noun meaning 'cessation, inactivity, sitting still'. The same consonants and vowels are also the ordinary infinitive of yashav, 'to sit, stay'. Related uses: Exod 21:19 (an injured man's 'lost time', literally his 'sitting'), Isa 30:7 (Egypt is 'Rahab who sits still', i.e. does nothing).

Against the English

KJV 'to cease from', YLT 'cessation from', WEB 'to keep aloof from', BSB 'to resolve'. The first three stay close to the Hebrew. BSB's 'resolve' adds the idea of actively settling or mediating a dispute, which the word does not say. The Hebrew is about desisting or staying out.

Used elsewhere in the period

BDB and HALOT list a noun 'cessation' at this verse. Several commentators note that the vowels equally allow 'sitting (away) from strife'. The LXX paraphrases with apostrephesthai, 'to turn away from'.

From the study of Exodus 21:19

Range of meaning

The noun shevet appears in this sense only here and possibly in Isa 30:7 and Prov 20:3. It means sitting, staying idle, inactivity; here it is the time lost from work while incapacitated.

Against the English

KJV/WEB 'the loss of his time', BSB 'his lost work', YLT 'his cessation' (literal but opaque). The English versions agree on the meaning; they differ only in how literal they are.

Used elsewhere in the period

The Septuagint has tēs argias autou, 'his idleness'. Later Jewish law made shevet a technical term: it is one of the five heads of damages for personal injury (damage, pain, healing, loss of work, shame; Mishnah Bava Kamma 8:1), and this verse is the source text for both shevet and ripui (healing costs). Hittite Laws §10 provides a parallel: the injurer supplies a substitute worker for the injured man's household until he recovers.