Hebrew word · H7689

שַׂגִּיא

sagi'

great

Great, vast or immense in size, amount or power. It comes from the root s-g-' / s-g-h, "to grow great, to increase" (compare the verb in Job 8:7, 11; 12:23; 36:24 nearby). It is about magnitude, something beyond normal measure, more than moral greatness.

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

What it means

great (of God)

Aramaic equivalent: sag.gi (שַׂגִּיא "greatly" H7690)

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 36:26

Range of meaning

Great, vast or immense in size, amount or power. It comes from the root s-g-' / s-g-h, "to grow great, to increase" (compare the verb in Job 8:7, 11; 12:23; 36:24 nearby). It is about magnitude, something beyond normal measure, more than moral greatness.

Against the English

"Great" (KJV, BSB, WEB, ESV) is accurate. YLT's "high" and NASB's "exalted" lean toward height and rank. That fits 36:22 but slightly loses the sense of sheer size. NLT's "greater than we can understand" merges the word with the next clause.

Used elsewhere in the period

In biblical Hebrew it occurs only in Job 36:26 and 37:23 ("Shaddai, we cannot find him; he is great in power"), both from Elihu. The matching Aramaic word (H7690, saggi') is common in Daniel and Ezra for "much, many, great" (e.g. Dan 2:6, 48; 4:10). Scholars often point to it as one of several Aramaic-flavoured words in Elihu's speeches.

Where it appears

Job · 2

  1. Job 36:26 שַׂ֭גִּיא [is] exalted

    Indeed, God is great—beyond our knowledge; the number of His years is unsearchable.

    Here: "Great" in the sense of vast or immense, too big to take in. A rare word with an Aramaic flavour; in the Hebrew Bible it occurs only here and in Job 37:23.

  2. Job 37:23 שַׂגִּיא־ exalted of

    The Almighty is beyond our reach; He is exalted in power! In His justice and great righteousness He does not oppress.

    Here: 'Great of…' or 'towering in…'. This is a rare word with an Aramaic flavour. Elihu has already used it in 36:26: 'God is great, and we do not know him.'

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