Hebrew word · H827

אַשְׁפָּה

'ashpah

quiver

A quiver, the case or sheath that holds an archer's arrows. The word is rare (about six times) and always military or used as a picture of something held ready to shoot.

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

What it means

1) quiver (for arrows)

1a) of home, of God's instruments (fig.)

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 Jeremiah 5:16

Range of meaning

A quiver, the case or sheath that holds an archer's arrows. The word is rare (about six times) and always military or used as a picture of something held ready to shoot.

Against the English

"Quiver" is accurate. English versions differ only on number: KJV, ESV, NASB and YLT keep the Hebrew singular ("its/their quiver"), while BSB and NIV make it plural ("quivers").

Used elsewhere in the period

Job 39:23 (the quiver rattling on the warhorse); Isaiah 22:6 (Elam "took up the quiver" against Jerusalem); Isaiah 49:2 (the servant hidden as a polished arrow "in his quiver"); Psalm 127:5 (the man whose quiver is full of sons); Lamentations 3:13 (God shot "the sons of his quiver", that is, arrows, into the poet's insides). The Akkadian word for quiver, išpatu, is related. Mesopotamian palace reliefs regularly show massed archers as the core of the Assyrian and Babylonian armies.

Where it appears

Job · 1

  1. Job 39:23 אַשְׁפָּ֑ה a quiver

    A quiver rattles at his side, along with a flashing spear and lance.

Psalms · 1

  1. Psalm 127:5 אַשְׁפָּת֗וֹ quiver his

    Blessed is the man whose quiver is full of them. He will not be put to shame when he confronts the enemies at the gate.

Isaiah · 2

  1. Isaiah 22:6 אַשְׁפָּ֔ה a quiver

    Elam takes up a quiver, with chariots and horsemen, and Kir uncovers the shield.

  2. Isaiah 49:2 בְּאַשְׁפָּת֖וֹ in quiver his

    He made My mouth like a sharp sword; He hid Me in the shadow of His hand. He made Me like a polished arrow; He hid Me in His quiver.

    Here: "In his quiver." The archer's case for arrows, carried on his own body. The arrow is stored close to the archer and kept for the shot he chooses.

Jeremiah · 1

  1. Jeremiah 5:16 אַשְׁפָּת֖וֹ quiver its

    Their quivers are like open graves; they are all mighty men.

    Here: "Its quiver." The "its" points back to the "nation" of verse 15, which is pictured as a single archer. The quiver is the case of arrows on the archer's back, and here it stands for the invader's power to kill.

Lamentations · 1

  1. Lamentations 3:13 אַשְׁפָּתֽוֹ׃ quiver his

    He pierced my kidneys with His arrows.

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