עָב
ʻâb · H5645 · Hebrew · 31 occurrences
Meanings
-
cloud
A mass of visible, condensed watery vapor floating in the air, producing rain, with God said to envelop himself with clouds
ExamplesExodus 19:9 Then the LORD said to Moses, “Behold, I will come to you in a thick cloud, so that the people may hear when I speak with you and may also trust in you forever.” Then Moses told the words of the people to the LORD.
Judges 5:4 “LORD, when You went out from Seir, When You marched from the field of Edom, The earth quaked, the heavens also dripped, The clouds also dripped water.
2 Samuel 22:12 “He made darkness canopies around Him, A mass of waters, thick clouds of the sky.
-
thicket
A group of shrubs and trees growing closely together, a possible hiding place for people who do not want to be seen
ExamplesJeremiah 4:29 At the sound of the horseman and archer every city flees; They go into the thickets and climb among the rocks; Every city is abandoned, And no one lives in them.
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
Whose, or of whatGenitive or possessive
7 occurrences in 5 groups
- שַׁחַקcloud 2
- הוּhis 2
- טַלdew 1
- מַלְקוֹשׁlatter rain 1
- עָנָןcloud 1
Words describing itAdjectives, demonstratives, participles
2 occurrences in 2 groups
- קָטָןsmall 1
- קַלlight 1
Named alongside itApposition
1 occurrences in 1 groups
- חֲשֵׁכָהdarkness 1
What it doesIt is the subject
6 occurrences in 6 groups
- זָרַםto pour out 1
- מָלֵאto be full, to fill 1
- נָטַףto drop 1
- עָבַרto pass 1
- עָלָהto go up 1
- שׁוּבto return, to turn back 1
What is done to itIt is the object
2 occurrences in 2 groups
- טָרַחload 1
- שׂוּםto put, to set, to place 1
What it is said to bePredicate
1 occurrences in 1 groups
- סֵתֶרsecret, hiding place 1
What is said to be itIt is the predicate
1 occurrences in 1 groups
- רָצוֹןfavor, acceptance, will 1
After prepositionsPrepositional phrases
14 occurrences in 4 groups
- בin/on/with 10
- כlike/as 8
- עַלon, upon, over, against 4
- לto/for 4
In phrases “… of it”It is the genitive
4 occurrences in 4 groups
- בָּמָהhigh place, heights 1
- מִפְלָשׂspreading 1
- מִפְרָשׂsail 1
- צֵלshadow, shade 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.
Near synonyms 4 words
- עָנָן ʻânân · H6051 · cloud, mist, smoke
- Both lexemes denote clouds and could plausibly substitute for each other in contexts referring to meteorological clouds.
- עֲנָנָה ʻănânâh · H6053 · cloud
- Both words denote clouds or cloud-related atmospheric phenomena, distinct Hebrew words referring to overlapping concepts of cloud.
- שַׁחַק shachaq · H7834 · cloud, skies
- Both lexemes denote clouds and are genuine Hebrew near-synonyms that could substitute in context, one potentially emphasizing thickness or mass and the other height or expanse.
- עֲרָפֶל ʻărâphel · H6205 · thick clouds, darkness
- עָב (ʻâb, H5645) (“thick cloud”) and עֲרָפֶל (“thick, dark cloud or darkness”) both denote a dense cloud phenomenon.
In the other Testament 2 words
- νεφέλη nephélē · G3507 · cloud
- Greek νεφέλη (nephele) serves as the standard LXX rendering of Hebrew עָב (av) in its primary 'cloud' sense, capturing the meteorological phenomenon across both literal weather contexts and theophanic cloud imagery.
- νέφος néphos · G3509 · large crowd
- Greek νέφος (néphos, G3509) is the standard Septuagint rendering of Hebrew עָב (ʻâb, H5645) when referring to clouds, particularly in contexts of divine theophany or meteorological phenomena.
Semantic domains 3 entries
- Clouds001002005004
- עָב denotes a thick, dense cloud or cloud-mass, illustrated at Judges 5:4 ("the clouds also dripped water") and 2 Samuel 22:12 ("He made darkness canopies around Him, a mass of waters, thick clouds of the sky"), where the term consistently pictures the heavy, water-laden clouds of a storm theophany.
- Buildings001003002001
- This entry carries no independent building sense of its own; every tagged occurrence is the noun for a cloud, as in “Then the LORD said to Moses, ‘Behold, I will come to you in a thick cloud, so that the people may hear when I speak with you’” (Exodus 19:9). The “Buildings” domain is bundle-shared with the related lexeme עָב (ʻâb, H5646) rather than independently attested here.
- Plants001002007001
- This entry carries no independent plant sense of its own; every tagged occurrence is the noun for a cloud, as in “Then the LORD said to Moses, ‘Behold, I will come to you in a thick cloud, so that the people may hear when I speak with you’” (Exodus 19:9). The “Plants” domain is bundle-shared with the related lexeme עָב (ʻâb, H5646) rather than independently attested here.
Word family 3 words
Words formed from the same root. They share a form, not always a meaning.
Brown-Driver-Briggs Hebrew Lexicon H5645. ab II. עָב33 noun masculineIsa 19:1 and (1Ki 18:44 KöSynt. 103) feminine dark…
II. עָב33 noun masculineIsa 19:1 and (1Ki 18:44 KöSynt. 103) feminine dark cloud, cloud-mass, thicket; — ׳ע absolute 1Ki 18:44 +, construct Isa 18:4; Pro 16:15; plural עָבִים Jdg 5:4 +, עָבוֺת 2Sa 23:4 + 2Sam 77:18; construct עָבֵי 2Sa 22:12; Psa 18:12; suffix עָבָיו Psa 18:13 (but probably strike out, see עבר
Qal near the end); —
1 dark cloud:
a. rain-cloud Jdg 5:4; Isa 5:6; 1Ki 18:44-45, 1Ki 18:9t.
b. as high Isa 14:14; Job 20:6, + Eze 19:11; Eze 31:3, Eze 31:10, Eze 31:14 (reading בְָוֺת, see עֲבֹת).
c. chariot of ׳י Isa 19:1; Psa 104:3; covering his eyes Job 22:14.
d. casting shadow Isa 25:5, compare 2Sa 23:4.
e. as swift Isa 60:8, and transient Isa 44:22; Job 30:15 (all simile).
f. disposed by God Job 36:29; Job 37:16.
g. ׳ע טַל Isa 18:4 cloud of dew, dew-mist (simile).
2 (cloud-) mass, ׳ע שְׁחָקִים 2Sa 22:12 masses of clouds (enwrapping ׳י) = Psa 18:12 (Psalm 13 see above).
3 thicket as refuge Jer 4:29 (perhaps under Aramaic influence). — עַב Exo 19:9 see עֲבִי below עבה. I. עָב see above
Brown, Driver and Briggs, A Hebrew and English Lexicon of the Old Testament (1906), public domain
Topical studies with this word 3 entries
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
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