Word

גָּנַב

gânab · H1589 · Hebrew · 40 occurrences

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Meanings

to steal

Action by which humans secretly take possession of objects belonging to someone else, and sometimes even of other humans, without permission or legal right and usually without intending to return it

Examples
Genesis 30:33 “So my honesty will answer for me later, when you come concerning my wages. Every one that is not speckled or spotted among the goats, or black among the lambs, if found with me, will be considered stolen.”
Genesis 31:19 Laban had gone to shear his flock, and Rachel stole the household idols that were her father’s.
Genesis 31:30 “Now you have indeed gone away because you longed greatly for your father’s house; but why did you steal my gods?”
Literally: to steal (someone's) heart; hence: action by which humans act in such a way that others are unaware (to keep (someone) uninformed)

Examples
Genesis 31:20 And Jacob deceived Laban the Aramean by not telling him that he was fleeing.
Genesis 31:26 Then Laban said to Jacob, “What have you done by deceiving me and carrying away my daughters like captives of the sword?
to go secretly, to steal

Action by which humans move somewhere quietly or surreptitiously, like a thief who does not want to be seen

Examples
Genesis 31:27 “Why did you flee secretly and deceive me, and did not tell me, so that I might have sent you away with joy and with songs, with tambourine and with lyre;
Job 4:12 “Now a word was brought to me secretly, And my ear received a whisper of it.
2 Samuel 19:3 And the people entered the city surreptitiously that day, just as people who are humiliated surreptitiously flee in battle.

How it’s used In 9 roles

Every occurrence, grouped by the words it is grammatically related to.

the word studied the word it goes with

Who or what does itSubject

33 occurrences in 17 groups

Not stated: you (one person) 5
Not stated: he, she or it 5
Not stated: they 3
Other words · 14 groups that occur once or twice (20) 20

What it acts on, or what is saidObject

18 occurrences in 15 groups

וֹhim 4
Other words · 14 groups that occur once or twice (16) 16

With prepositionsPrepositional phrases

12 occurrences in 12 groups

Other words · 12 groups that occur once or twice (14) 14

With adverbsAdverbs

5 occurrences in 2 groups

לֹאnot 4
מַדּוּעַwhy? 1

Whose, or of whatGenitive or possessive

3 occurrences in 3 groups

יוֹםday, time 1
אִישׁman, person, each 1
לַיִלnight 1

Named alongside itApposition

2 occurrences in 1 groups

הָher 2

What it doesIt is the subject

3 occurrences in 3 groups

מוּתto die 1
נָקָהto be innocent, to go unpunished 1
פָּרַץto burst 1

What is done to itIt is the object

2 occurrences in 2 groups

יָדַעto know 1
מָצָאto find 1

After prepositionsPrepositional phrases

1 occurrences in 1 groups

כlike/as 1

When two words share a role, as in “Paul and Barnabas said”, the verse appears under each, so a section’s counts can add up to more than the number of occurrences.

MACULA Greek Linguistic Datasets, available at https://github.com/Clear-Bible/macula-greek/, licensed CC BY 4.0; MACULA Hebrew Linguistic Datasets © 2022-2024 by Biblica, Inc., CC BY 4.0. Westminster Leningrad Codex (tanach.us). OpenScriptures Hebrew Bible morphology (hb.openscriptures.org), CC BY 4.0.

In the other Testament 3 words

κλέπτω kléptō · G2813 · to steal, theft: Greek κλέπτω renders Hebrew גָּנַב as the standard translation equivalent for 'to steal' across contexts, with both terms denoting the act of taking property secretly or unlawfully.
κλέμμα klémma · G2809 · to steal, theft: Greek κλέμμα (klémma, G2809) denotes the concrete result of stealing—the stolen object itself—whereas Hebrew גָּנַב (gânab, H1589) denotes the act of stealing; both share the theft semantic domain but divide along noun (object) versus verb (action) grammatical lines.
κλοπή klopḗ · G2829 · to steal, theft: Greek noun κλοπή denotes the act or instance of stealing, serving as the nominal form corresponding to Hebrew verb גָּנַב's core action of theft; the pair represents a standard verb-to-abstract-noun cross-linguistic equivalence pattern.

Semantic domains 3 entries

Possess002003002019: The verb describes taking another's property unlawfully, the core sense of stealing livestock, goods, or persons attested throughout the legal and narrative material.
Non-Know002004002008: The verb frequently carries a nuance of acting secretly or without another's knowledge, as Jacob "stole away" from Laban without telling him he was fleeing.
Move002002001012: The verb also describes carrying something away, the physical removal involved in the act of theft or secret flight.

Word family 3 words

Words formed from the same root. They share a form, not always a meaning.

גָּנַבgânab · H1589גַּנָּב gannâb · H1590 · thief · 17×גְּנֵבָה gᵉnêbâh · H1591 · theft, stolen object · 2×

Brown-Driver-Briggs Hebrew Lexicon H1589. ganab [גָּנַב] verb steal (Late Hebrew id., Aramaic גְּנַב, ; Arabic is hurt the…

H1589. ganab
[גָּנַב] verb steal (Late Hebrew id., Aramaic גְּנַב, ; Arabic is hurt the side, or put aside, denominative from side) —
Qal Perfect3feminine singular suffix גְּנָבַתּוּ Job 21:18; Job 27:20, גְּנָבָ֫תַם Gen 31:22; Gen 31:2masculine singular גָּנַבְתּ Gen 31:30; Gen 31:1singular וְגָנַ֑בְתִּי consecutive Pro 30:9; גָּנְָֽבוּ Jos 7:11; 2Sa 21:12; suffix גְּנָבוּךָ 2Sa 19:42; Imperfect יִגְנָֹֽבֿ Exodus 21:37, יִגְנוֺב Pro 6:30, וַיִּגְנֹב Gen 31:20; Gen 31:3feminine singular וַתִּגְנֹב Gen 31:19 Gen 31:2t.; 2 masculine singular תִּגְנֹב Exo 20:15; Deu 5:17, וַתִּגְנֹב Gen 31:26-27, יִגְנְבוּ Obadiah 5, תִּגְנֹ֑בוּ Lev 19:11, נִגְנֹב Gen 44:8; Infinitive absolute גָּנֹב Exo 22:11 Exo 22:2t.; Participle גֹּנֵב Exo 21:16 Exo 21:2t., גָּנוּב Gen 30:33; feminine construct גְּנֻבְתִי Gen 31:39 (twice in verse); plural גְּנוּבִים Pro 9:17; in Hexateuch always J E D, except Lev 19:11 (H); — steal with accusative of thing Gen 31:19, Gen 31:30, Gen 31:32; Gen 44:8; Exodus 21:37; 2Sa 21:12 compare passive Gen 30:33; Gen 31:39; Pro 9:17; with object person Exo 21:16; Deu 24:7; 2Sa 19:42; = take by stealth (for good purpose) 2Ki 11:2 2Ch 22:11; absolute Exo 20:15 = Deu 5:17; Lev 19:11; Jos 7:11; Pro 6:30; Pro 30:9; Obadiah 5; Zec 5:3, compareInfinitive absolute Hos 4:2; Jer 7:9 & (c. Niph`al) Exo 22:11; לֵב גנב = deceive Gen 31:20, Gen 31:26 cf Di; ׳ג אֹתִי Gen 31:27 id.; of sudden sweeping off by storm, in simile Job 21:18 figurative of destruction of wicked Job 27:20.
Niph`al be stolen, subject of thing יִגָּנֵב גָּנֹב Exo 22:11.
Pi`el steal away (transitive) אתלֵֿב אבשׁלום וַיְגַגֵּב 2Sa 15:6; דְּבָרַי מְגַנְּבֵי Jer 23:30.
Pu`al be stolen away subject person גֻּנַּבְתִּי גֻּנֹּב Gen 40:15; subject of thing וְגֻנַּב consecutive Exo 22:6; be brought by stealth Job 4:12. יְגֻנָּ֑ב.
Hithpa`el go by stealth, steal away יִתְגַּנֵּב 2Sa 19:4, וַיִּתְגַּנֵּב 2Sa 19:4. (Syriac steal oneself away; so Gen 31:27.)

Brown, Driver and Briggs, A Hebrew and English Lexicon of the Old Testament (1906), public domain

Topical studies with this word 3 entries

Move4 occurrences Possess33 occurrences Non-Know2 occurrences

Meanings adapted from the UBS Dictionary of the Greek New Testament, © United Bible Societies, CC BY-SA 4.0 and the UBS Dictionary of Biblical Hebrew (from the Semantic Dictionary of Biblical Hebrew), © United Bible Societies, CC BY-SA 4.0; MACULA Greek Linguistic Datasets, available at https://github.com/Clear-Bible/macula-greek/, licensed CC BY 4.0; MACULA Hebrew Linguistic Datasets © 2022-2024 by Biblica, Inc., CC BY 4.0. Westminster Leningrad Codex (tanach.us). OpenScriptures Hebrew Bible morphology (hb.openscriptures.org), CC BY 4.0.

Sources

eRhema lexical overview, based on the UBS Dictionary of Biblical Hebrew and the UBS Dictionary of the Greek New Testament (© United Bible Societies, CC BY-SA 4.0) and Macula Hebrew and Greek (Clear Bible, CC BY 4.0); released under CC BY-SA 4.0