Hebrew word · H961

בִּזָּה

bizah

plunder

Plunder, booty, spoil: the goods taken from the defeated. It is a feminine noun from the root בזז 'to plunder, despoil'. The noun belongs mainly to later biblical Hebrew (Esther 9:10, 15, 16; Ezra 9:7; Nehemiah 4:4 [3:36 Hebrew]; Daniel 11:24, 33; 2 Chronicles 14:14; 25:13; 28:14).

Appears 10 times in 10 verses of the Hebrew Old Testament. ·

What it means

spoil, booty

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 Esther 9:10

Range of meaning

Plunder, booty, spoil: the goods taken from the defeated. It is a feminine noun from the root בזז 'to plunder, despoil'. The noun belongs mainly to later biblical Hebrew (Esther 9:10, 15, 16; Ezra 9:7; Nehemiah 4:4 [3:36 Hebrew]; Daniel 11:24, 33; 2 Chronicles 14:14; 25:13; 28:14).

Against the English

'Plunder' (BSB, WEB, NIV), 'spoil' (KJV), 'prey' (YLT). These are all accurate. What English cannot show is that Hebrew readers would hear the root bzz from the decrees, so 'the plunder' means the plunder the decree had just authorized.

Used elsewhere in the period

Haman's decree: 'and their spoil to plunder' (ûšəlālām lābôz, 3:13). Mordecai's counter-decree repeats the exact phrase in the Jews' favor (8:11). Earlier stories of holding back from or mishandling spoil: Abram refuses the king of Sodom's goods (Genesis 14:22–23); Achan takes devoted spoil (Joshua 7); Saul 'swooped on the spoil' (šālāl) at the defeat of Agag of Amalek (1 Samuel 15:9, 19).

Where it appears

2 Chronicles · 3
  1. 2 Chronicles 14:14 בִזָּ֥ה plunder

    and attacked all the cities around Gerar, because the terror of the LORD had fallen upon them. They plundered all the cities, since there was much plunder there.

    Here: 'Plunder': the noun from the same root as 'they plundered', a sound-echo along the lines of 'they looted, for loot was plentiful'. It is a word found almost only in late books (Ezra, Nehemiah, Esther, Daniel, Chronicles).

  2. 2 Chronicles 25:13 בִּזָּ֥ה plunder

    Meanwhile the troops that Amaziah had dismissed from battle raided the cities of Judah, from Samaria to Beth-horon. They struck down 3,000 people and carried off a great deal of plunder.

    Here: The noun from the same root as the verb: literally 'they plundered plunder'. The doubling stresses how complete the looting was.

  3. 2 Chronicles 28:14 הַבִּזָּ֔ה the plunder

    So the armed men left the captives and the plunder before the leaders and all the assembly.

Ezra · 1
  1. Ezra 9:7 וּבַבִּזָּ֛ה and by <the> plunder

    From the days of our fathers to this day, our guilt has been great. Because of our iniquities, we and our kings and priests have been delivered into the hands of the kings of the earth and subjected to the sword and to captivity, to pillage and humiliation, as we are this day.

    Here: Plunder or spoil. The word is rare and mostly late (Esth 9:10, 15, 16; Neh 4:4[3:36]; Dan 11:24, 33). It covers the looting of property and of the temple treasures.

Nehemiah · 1
  1. Nehemiah 4:4 לְבִזָּ֖ה to plunder

    Hear us, O God, for we are despised. Turn their scorn back upon their own heads, and let them be taken as plunder to a land of captivity.

Esther · 3
  1. Esther 9:10 וּבַ֨בִּזָּ֔ה and on the plunder

    They killed these ten sons of Haman son of Hammedatha, the enemy of the Jews, but they did not lay a hand on the plunder.

    Here: 'But on the plunder'. The 'and' works as 'but' here. The noun comes from the same root as the verb 'to plunder' in both decrees (3:13; 8:11), so it points straight to the plunder the law allowed.

  2. Esther 9:15 וּבַ֨בִּזָּ֔ה and on the plunder

    On the fourteenth day of the month of Adar, the Jews in Susa came together again and put to death three hundred men there, but they did not lay a hand on the plunder.

  3. Esther 9:16 וּבַ֨בִּזָּ֔ה and on the plunder

    The rest of the Jews in the royal provinces also assembled to defend themselves and rid themselves of their enemies. They killed 75,000 who hated them, but they did not lay a hand on the plunder.

Daniel · 2
  1. Daniel 11:24 בִּזָּ֧ה plunder

    In a time of peace, he will invade the richest provinces and do what his fathers and forefathers never did. He will lavish plunder, loot, and wealth on his followers, and he will plot against the strongholds—but only for a time.

  2. Daniel 11:33 וּבְבִזָּ֖ה and by plunder

    Those with insight will instruct many, though for a time they will fall by sword or flame, or be captured or plundered.

    Here: Having one's goods seized as spoil. This is a late-biblical word, paired with "captivity" in Ezra 9:7 and elsewhere as a stock phrase for national catastrophe.

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