בֵּית לְבָאוֹת
𐤁𐤉𐤕 𐤋𐤁𐤀𐤅𐤕
Levaot
H1034 noun
SILEX Entry
Definition
A toponym meaning 'House of Lionesses,' referring to an Israelite settlement in the southern hill country of Judah, particularly among the territories allotted to the tribe of Simeon. The name potentially indicates a site associated with lions or, metaphorically, a place of strength or wildness.
Semantic Range
name of a settlement, house or abode of lionesses, symbolic place name; geographic site; possible administrative district
Root / Etymology
From the noun בַּיִת (bayit, 'house') and the plural noun לְבָאוֹת (lebaoth, 'lionesses'), itself a plural form of לָבִיא (lavi, 'lion'). The name is a compound forming a geographical toponym. Root of 'bayit' is ב-י-ת, meaning 'to house, to build'; root of 'lebaoth' is ל-ב-א, 'lion.'
Historical & Contextual Notes
בֵּית לְבָאוֹת appears in Joshua 19:6 and 1 Chronicles 4:31 as a town within the boundaries given to the tribe of Simeon, later considered within the wider territory of Judah. The LXX sometimes renders the name with slight variations, and some later versions attempt to equate it with later Judean settlements. This toponym is one among several in biblical onomastics that use 'house of' plus an animal name, possibly alluding to local fauna, administrative districts, or symbolic attributes. There are no explicit references in the biblical text that clarify whether literal lionesses were associated with this site, and the term may also convey qualities such as wildness or strength attributed to the place. The English rendering 'Beth-lebaoth' may obscure the specific sense of 'lionesses' for general readers. In post-biblical usage, the site is sometimes identified with Lebaoth (לְבָאוֹת), possibly due to editorial abbreviation or redactional changes in textual traditions.
Original Strong's Gloss (1890)
from בַּיִת and the plural of לָבִיא; house of lionesses; Beth-Lebaoth, a place in Palestine; Beth-lebaoth. Compare לְבָאוֹת.
Bantu Hebrew
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בית, לבא (b-y-t; l-b-ʾ) — house, dwelling, building; lion
Word Forms
2 distinct forms
| SIDANCE | Surface | Transliteration | Morphology | Common | SIBI-P1 | Occurrences |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
H1034-01 |
לְבָא֖וֹת | levaot | HNp |
Lebaoth | House of Lionesses | 1 |
H1034-02 |
וּ/בֵ֥ית | uveyt | HC/Np |
and Beth | and house-of | 1 |
Occurrences in Scripture
2 total occurrences
| SIDANCE | Reference | Word | Transliteration | Morphology | Common | SIBI-P1 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
H1034-02 |
Joshua 19:6 | וּ/בֵ֥ית | uveyt | HC/Np |
and Beth | and house-of |
H1034-01 |
Joshua 19:6 | לְבָא֖וֹת | levaot | HNp |
Lebaoth | House of Lionesses |