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נְסִבָּה

𐤍𐤎𐤁𐤄

nᵉçibbâh

H5252 noun

SILEX Entry

Root סבב to turn, go around, surround

Definition

An event or circumstance; a happening or occurrence that brings about a change or is the cause of something. Specifically, it refers to an 'event' or 'occasion'—often as the cause or circumstance leading to a particular result, typically in poetic or reflective texts. The underlying sense is that of something encircling or encompassing a situation, thus producing a result or turning point.

Semantic Range

event, circumstance, cause, occasion, turn of affairs

Root / Etymology

נָסַב (סבב) is the root, meaning 'to turn, go around, surround.' נְסִבָּה (nᵉṣibbâh) is derived as a feminine passive participle, meaning that which occurs as a result of something turning or changing—i.e., a circumstance or event that brings about a particular result. The meaning evolves from the root sense of movement or encirclement to the more abstract sense of a cause, event, or circumstance.

Historical & Contextual Notes

The term appears infrequently, only in later biblical Hebrew, such as Ecclesiastes (e.g., Qoh 3:1, 3:17; 8:6), where it bears philosophical nuance: ‘event,’ ‘occasion,’ or ‘reason’ behind occurrences in the world. Unlike עֵת (ʿēt, 'time'), which denotes an appointed or opportune time, or דָּבָר (dābār, 'matter'), נְסִבָּה conveys a more causative or circumstantial aspect—what leads to or causes an event rather than the time or the matter itself. In these contexts, it does not refer to a spatial environment, but rather to the framework of causality or what occasions a result. The term never came to denote 'environment' in the modern sense. In later Jewish literature and postbiblical Hebrew, a similar sense of 'circumstance' or 'cause' persists but becomes more philosophical or legal in nature.

Original Strong's Gloss (1890)

feminine participle passive of סָבַב; properly, an environment, i.e. circumstance or turn of affairs; cause.

Bantu Hebrew

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Root Family

סבב (s-b-b) — to turn, go around, surround

Strong's Lemma SIBI-P1
H4036 מָגוֹר מִסָּבִיב from around
H4141 מוּסָב encircling structure of
H4142 מוּסַבָּה turned-around ones of
H4524 מֵסַב at his encircling couch
H5437 סָבַב cause yourself to turn

Word Forms

1 distinct form

SIDANCE Surface Transliteration Morphology Common SIBI-P1 Occurrences
H5252-01 נְסִבָּה֙ nesibah HNcfsa a turning turning circumstance 1

Occurrences in Scripture

1 total occurrence

SIDANCE Reference Word Transliteration Morphology Common SIBI-P1
H5252-01 2 Chronicles 10:15 נְסִבָּה֙ nesibah HNcfsa a turning turning circumstance
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