Hebrew word · H7847

שָׂטָה

seteh

to turn aside

To turn aside, swerve, deviate from a set course. It occurs only six times: four times in Numbers 5 (verses 12, 19, 20, 29), for a wife who "goes aside" from her husband into unfaithfulness; in Proverbs 4:15 ("turn away from it and pass on", of the path of the wicked); and here.

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

What it means

1) to turn aside, go aside, turn, decline

1a) (Qal) to turn aside

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 Proverbs 7:25

Range of meaning

To turn aside, swerve, deviate from a set course. It occurs only six times: four times in Numbers 5 (verses 12, 19, 20, 29), for a wife who "goes aside" from her husband into unfaithfulness; in Proverbs 4:15 ("turn away from it and pass on", of the path of the wicked); and here.

Against the English

BSB, ESV and NASB say "turn aside", which is accurate. NIV and WEB say just "turn to", which loses the sense of leaving a proper road. KJV's "decline" meant "bend away" in 1611 but now sounds like "refuse" or "decrease".

How it drifted

No drift in modern versions. KJV "decline" has drifted in English (see drift list).

Used elsewhere in the period

In Numbers 5 the word is a technical term in the ritual for a wife suspected of adultery. Later Jewish tradition named that ritual and the Mishnah tractate about it Sotah, from this same root. In Proverbs 4:15 it is used for deliberately stepping off a bad road.

Where it appears

Numbers · 4

  1. Numbers 5:12 תִשְׂטֶ֣ה she will turn aside

    “Speak to the Israelites and tell them that if any man’s wife goes astray and is unfaithful to him

  2. Numbers 5:19 שָׂטִ֛ית you have turned aside

    And he is to put the woman under oath and say to her, ‘If no other man has slept with you and you have not gone astray and become defiled while under your husband’s authority, may you be immune to this bitter water that brings a curse.

  3. Numbers 5:20 שָׂטִ֛ית you have turned aside

    But if you have gone astray while under your husband’s authority and have defiled yourself and lain carnally with a man other than your husband’—

  4. Numbers 5:29 תִּשְׂטֶ֥ה she will turn aside

    This is the law of jealousy when a wife goes astray and defiles herself while under her husband’s authority,

Proverbs · 2

  1. Proverbs 4:15 שְׂטֵ֖ה turn aside

    Avoid it; do not travel on it. Turn from it and pass on by.

  2. Proverbs 7:25 יֵ֣שְׂטְ it turn aside

    Do not let your heart turn aside to her ways; do not stray into her paths.

    Here: A short wishing form ("may it not veer off"). It pictures someone drifting sideways off the proper road. This is a rare verb, and four of its six uses describe a wife who "goes aside" from her husband (Numbers 5). Here the son's heart is in danger of doing the same.

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