Hebrew word · H7873

שִׂיג

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pursuing

Found only here, so its meaning has to be worked out from related roots. BDB and HALOT link it to a root meaning 'to move away, turn aside, withdraw', giving 'a going aside' or 'a withdrawal'. KJV's 'pursuing' comes from relating it to a different root (nasag, 'overtake').

Appears once in the Hebrew Old Testament. · Updated November 01, 2026

What it means

a moving away, dross

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 1 Kings 18:27

Range of meaning: Found only here, so its meaning has to be worked out from related roots. BDB and HALOT link it to a root meaning 'to move away, turn aside, withdraw', giving 'a going aside' or 'a withdrawal'. KJV's 'pursuing' comes from relating it to a different root (nasag, 'overtake').
Against the English: KJV 'pursuing'; NASB (1995) 'gone aside'; BSB 'occupied'; WEB 'gone somewhere'; NIV 'busy'; ESV and NLT 'relieving himself'. The spread itself shows the uncertainty.
How it drifted: 'Pursuing' (KJV) makes a modern reader picture Baal out hunting or chasing someone. That is a guess based on a different root, not the most likely meaning.
Used elsewhere in the period: There are no other biblical uses. Targum Jonathan (the Aramaic paraphrase) and medieval Jewish commentators such as Radak took the 'going aside' as a polite way of saying he had gone to relieve himself. The phrase 'to cover one's feet' works the same way elsewhere (Judg 3:24; 1 Sam 24:3). The Latin Vulgate has in diversorio, 'in a lodging' or 'off in a private place'.

Where it appears

1 Kings · 1

1 Kings 18:27 שִׂ֛יג a going away

At noon Elijah began to taunt them, saying, “Shout louder, for he is a god! Perhaps he is deep in thought, or occupied, or on a journey. Perhaps he is sleeping and must be awakened!”

Here: This word appears only here in the Bible. It most likely means 'a turning aside' or 'a stepping away': Baal has stepped out. Ancient and medieval readers often took it as a polite way of saying he went off to relieve himself.

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