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גָּעָה

𐤂𐤏𐤄

gâʻâh

H1600 verb

SILEX Entry

Root געה to bellow, to shout, to emit a loud sound

Definition

To bellow loudly, usually referring to the vocal sound made by large animals, especially cattle, but can also extend to loud, guttural cries or shouts by humans in figurative usage; conveys the sense of producing a deep, resonant, or forceful noise.

Semantic Range

to bellow (of cattle or oxen), to emit a loud cry (by animals), to shout or cry out (figurative or metaphorical use in reference to humans or leaders)

Root / Etymology

Root געה (g-'-h) meaning is 'to bellow, to shout,' with the verb form used for the sound made by cattle and occasionally humans. The word reflects the root meaning of emitting a loud or deep sound, but its attested use focuses on animal vocalization.

Historical & Contextual Notes

In biblical usage, גָּעָה is a relatively rare verb found mainly in poetic passages or vivid narrative description. Its primary reference is to the loud, bellowing call of oxen or cattle (e.g., Job 6:5), marking it as concrete and onomatopoetic in origin. On rare occasions, the term is used of human cries, often employing figurative or metaphorical language to evoke strength, distress, or resonance of the sound (cf. Zechariah 10:3, where leaders are described using the same verb, likened to rams bellowing). The root is distinct from other Hebrew terms for animal sounds, such as נהם (to growl, often of lions) or געש (to roar, often for tumultuous noise or inanimate natural phenomena). Standard English translations typically use 'bellow' or 'low' (the latter being older English for 'moo') but may obscure the onomatopoetic quality and the specificity of the term. The verb's usage does not reflect changes in meaning over Israelite history but remains consistent in its descriptive and sensory application across the corpus.

Original Strong's Gloss (1890)

a primitive root; to bellow (as cattle); low.

Bantu Hebrew

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Root Family

געה (g-ʿ-h) — to bellow, to shout, to emit a loud sound

Strong's Lemma SIBI-P1
H1601 גֹּעָה Bellowing-place

Word Forms

2 distinct forms

SIDANCE Surface Transliteration Morphology Common SIBI-P1 Occurrences
H1600-02 יִגְעֶה yigeeh HVqi3ms does the ox bellow he will bellow 1
H1600-01 וְ/גָע֔וֹ vegao HC/Vqa and lowing and bellowing 1

Occurrences in Scripture

2 total occurrences

SIDANCE Reference Word Transliteration Morphology Common SIBI-P1
H1600-01 1 Samuel 6:12 וְ/גָע֔וֹ vegao HC/Vqa and lowing and bellowing
H1600-02 Job 6:5 יִגְעֶה yigeeh HVqi3ms does the ox bellow he will bellow
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