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עָזַב

𐤏𐤆𐤁

ʻâzab

H5800 verb

SILEX Entry

Definition

To leave, abandon, or forsake someone or something, often with a sense of withdrawal of association, support, or protection. Used both literally (leaving a place or object) and figuratively (abandoning a person, commitment, or responsibility). May also indicate neglect or ceasing to maintain something or someone.

Semantic Range

to leave, to abandon, to forsake (persons, places, objects, responsibilities), to neglect, to let go, to permit (by withdrawing restraint); to desert or withdraw support; to release or relinquish

Root / Etymology

From the root עזב, which at root level means 'to leave, abandon'. The verb עָזַב is the primary denominative form from this root and is a common verb in Hebrew with a consistent sense of removal, withdrawal, or relinquishment. There are no credible cognates with divergent meanings in Northwest Semitic languages.

Historical & Contextual Notes

עָזַב appears frequently in narratives and poetry throughout the Hebrew Bible, with its core application centered on departure or abandonment. In early Israelite texts, it often refers to leaving a location (e.g., land or city), forsaking an individual (e.g., spouse, kin), or abandoning covenantal obligations—especially in prophetic literature, which frequently uses the term for Israel's religious apostasy ('forsaking YHWH'). It contrasts with verbs like שָׁאַר (to remain) and שָׁב (to return, turn back). While standard English translations typically use 'forsake', 'abandon', or 'leave', the Hebrew nuance can be more forceful, conveying intentional and sometimes permanent severance. In some contexts (e.g., permitting or allowing something to happen), the meaning can shade into 'let go' or 'stop restraining', but always with the force of removing close attention or attachment. There is no inherent theological implication; any religious or ethical import derives from context, not from the lexical meaning itself. Usage remains stable across the canonical periods, though post-exilic speeches emphasize theological infidelity more heavily.

Translation Consistency

primary "abandon" 48 occurrences

Covers the full semantic range (leave, forsake, desert, relinquish, neglect) in natural modern English, matches the majority of existing renderings (most frequent corpus choices are "abandoned/abandon"), and will produce natural inflected forms for both literal and figurative uses.

Alternatives (2 occurrences):
"leave" (2x)

Original Strong's Gloss (1890)

a primitive root; to loosen, i.e. relinquish, permit, etc.; commit self, fail, forsake, fortify, help, leave (destitute, off), refuse, [idiom] surely.

Bantu Hebrew

No Bantu Hebrew comparisons have been recorded for this word yet.

Root Family

עזב (Azuvah) — to leave, abandon, forsake

Root עזב to leave, abandon, forsake
Strong's Lemma SIBI-P1
H5801 עִזָּבוֹן your relinquished goods
H5805 עֲזוּבָה the abandoned one
H5806 עֲזוּבָה Forsaken woman

Word Forms

94 distinct forms

SIDANCE Surface Transliteration Morphology Common SIBI-P1 SIBI-P2 Occurrences
H5800-21 עָזְב֜וּ azevu HVqp3cp they have forsaken they abandoned they abandoned 16
H5800-76 וַֽ/יַּעֲזֹ֛ב vayaazov HC/Vqw3ms and he left and he abandoned and he abandoned 14
H5800-73 וַ/יַּעַזְב֤וּ vayaazevu HC/Vqw3mp and they abandoned and they abandoned and they abandoned 12
H5800-01 עָזַ֖ב azav HVqp3ms has forsaken he abandoned he abandoned 11
H5800-58 תַּעֲזֹ֖ב taazov HVqi2ms forsake you will abandon you will abandon 8
H5800-10 עֲזַבְתֶּ֣ם azavetem HVqp2mp have-forsaken you have abandoned you have abandoned 7
H5800-17 עֲזָב֗וּ/נִי azavuni HVqp3cp/Sp1cs they have forsaken me they have abandoned me they have abandoned me 7
H5800-92 יַעֲזֹ֥ב yaazov HVqi3ms commits he will abandon he will abandon 7
H5800-24 עֲזוּבָ֛ה azuvah HVqsfsa forsaken Forsaken woman Abandoned woman 5
H5800-30 אֶעֶזְבֶ֑/ךָּ eezevekha HVqi1cs/Sp2ms I will leave you I will abandon you I will abandon you 5

Occurrences in Scripture

215 occurrences

SIDANCE Reference Word Transliteration Morphology Common SIBI-P1 SIBI-P2
H5800-86 Genesis 2:24 יַֽעֲזָב yaazav HVqi3ms shall leave he will abandon he will leave
H5800-01 Genesis 24:27 עָזַ֥ב azav HVqp3ms forsaken he abandoned he abandoned
H5800-28 Genesis 28:15 אֶֽעֱזָבְ/ךָ֔ eezavekha HVqi1cs/Sp2ms I will leave you I will abandon you I will abandon you
H5800-76 Genesis 39:6 וַ/יַּעֲזֹ֣ב vayaazov HC/Vqw3ms and he left and he abandoned and he abandoned
H5800-76 Genesis 39:12 וַ/יַּעֲזֹ֤ב vayaazov HC/Vqw3ms and he left and he abandoned and he abandoned
H5800-01 Genesis 39:13 עָזַ֥ב azav HVqp3ms he had left he abandoned he abandoned
H5800-76 Genesis 39:15 וַ/יַּעֲזֹ֤ב vayaazov HC/Vqw3ms that he left and he abandoned and he abandoned
H5800-76 Genesis 39:18 וַ/יַּעֲזֹ֥ב vayaazov HC/Vqw3ms that he left and he abandoned and he abandoned
H5800-41 Genesis 44:22 לַ/עֲזֹ֣ב laazov HR/Vqc leave to abandon to abandon
H5800-77 Genesis 44:22 וְ/עָזַ֥ב veazav HC/Vqq3ms if he should leave and he abandoned and he abandoned
H5800-21 Genesis 50:8 עָזְב֖וּ azevu HVqp3cp they left they abandoned they abandoned
H5800-11 Exodus 2:20 עֲזַבְתֶּ֣ן azaveten HVqp2fp you have left you women abandoned did you abandon
H5800-76 Exodus 9:21 וַֽ/יַּעֲזֹ֛ב vayaazov HC/Vqw3ms left and he abandoned and he abandoned
H5800-44 Exodus 23:5 מֵ/עֲזֹ֣ב meazov HR/Vqc from abandoning from abandoning from abandoning
H5800-22 Exodus 23:5 עָזֹ֥ב azov HVqa abandon to abandon to abandon
H5800-58 Exodus 23:5 תַּעֲזֹ֖ב taazov HVqi2ms you shall abandon you will abandon you will abandon
H5800-58 Leviticus 19:10 תַּעֲזֹ֣ב taazov HVqi2ms you shall leave you will abandon you will abandon
H5800-58 Leviticus 23:22 תַּעֲזֹ֣ב taazov HVqi2ms you-shall-leave you will abandon you will abandon
H5800-61 Leviticus 26:43 תֵּעָזֵ֨ב teazev HVNi3fs will-be-abandoned she will be abandoned it will be abandoned
H5800-58 Numbers 10:31 תַּעֲזֹ֣ב taazov HVqj2ms leave you will abandon leave
H5800-58 Deuteronomy 12:19 תַּעֲזֹ֖ב taazov HVqi2ms you forsake you will abandon you abandon
H5800-55 Deuteronomy 14:27 תַֽעַזְבֶ֑/נּוּ taazevenu HVqi2ms/Sp3ms you shall forsake him you will abandon him you will abandon him
H5800-09 Deuteronomy 28:20 עֲזַבְתָּֽ/נִי azavetani HVqp2ms/Sp1cs you have forsaken me you abandoned me you abandoned me
H5800-21 Deuteronomy 29:24 עָֽזְב֔וּ azevu HVqp3cp they forsook they abandoned they abandoned
H5800-87 Deuteronomy 31:6 יַעַזְבֶֽ/ךָּ yaazevekha HVqi3ms/Sp2ms forsake you he will abandon you he will abandon you
H5800-87 Deuteronomy 31:8 יַֽעַזְבֶ֑/ךָּ yaazevekha HVqi3ms/Sp2ms will-forsake-you he will abandon you he will abandon you
H5800-64 Deuteronomy 31:16 וַ/עֲזָבַ֕/נִי vaazavani HC/Vqq3ms/Sp1cs and forsake me and he abandoned me and will abandon me
H5800-66 Deuteronomy 31:17 וַ/עֲזַבְתִּ֞י/ם vaazavetim HC/Vqq1cs/Sp3mp and-I-will-abandon-them and I abandoned them and I will abandon them
H5800-80 Deuteronomy 32:36 וְ/עָזֽוּב veazuv HC/Vqsmsa or free and abandoned one and abandoned one
H5800-30 Joshua 1:5 אֶעֶזְבֶֽ/ךָּ eezevekha HVqi1cs/Sp2ms forsake you I will abandon you I will abandon you
H5800-73 Joshua 8:17 וַ/יַּעַזְב֤וּ vayaazevu HC/Vqw3mp and-they-left and they abandoned and they abandoned
H5800-10 Joshua 22:3 עֲזַבְתֶּ֣ם azavetem HVqp2mp forsaken you have abandoned you have abandoned
H5800-44 Joshua 24:16 מֵ/עֲזֹ֖ב meazov HR/Vqc to forsake from abandoning from abandoning
H5800-56 Joshua 24:20 תַֽעַזְבוּ֙ taazevu HVqi2mp you-forsake you all will abandon you all will abandon
H5800-73 Judges 2:12 וַ/יַּעַזְב֞וּ vayaazevu HC/Vqw3mp and they forsook and they abandoned and they abandoned
H5800-73 Judges 2:13 וַ/יַּעַזְב֖וּ vayaazevu HC/Vqw3mp and they forsook and they abandoned and they abandoned
H5800-01 Judges 2:21 עָזַ֥ב azav HVqp3ms left he abandoned he abandoned
H5800-73 Judges 10:6 וַ/יַּעַזְב֥וּ vayaazevu HC/Vqw3mp and they forsook and they abandoned and they abandoned
H5800-05 Judges 10:10 עָזַ֨בְנוּ֙ azavenu HVqp1cp we-have-forsaken We have abandoned we have abandoned
H5800-10 Judges 10:13 עֲזַבְתֶּ֣ם azavetem HVqp2mp have-forsaken you have abandoned you have abandoned
H5800-75 1 Samuel 8:8 וַ/יַּ֣עַזְבֻ֔/נִי vayaazevuni HC/Vqw3mp/Sp1cs and they have forsaken me and they abandoned me and they abandoned me
H5800-05 1 Samuel 12:10 עָזַ֨בְנוּ֙ azavenu HVqp1cp we have forsaken We have abandoned we have abandoned
H5800-72 1 Samuel 30:13 וַ/יַּעַזְבֵ֧/נִי vayaazeveni HC/Vqw3ms/Sp1cs left me and he abandoned me and he abandoned me
H5800-73 1 Samuel 31:7 וַ/יַּעַזְב֤וּ vayaazevu HC/Vqw3mp they forsook and they abandoned and they abandoned
H5800-73 2 Samuel 5:21 וַ/יַּעַזְבוּ vayaazevu HC/Vqw3mp and they abandoned and they abandoned and they abandoned
H5800-76 2 Samuel 15:16 וַ/יַּעֲזֹ֣ב vayaazov HC/Vqw3ms and-left and he abandoned and he abandoned
H5800-32 1 Kings 6:13 אֶעֱזֹ֖ב eezov HVqi1cs I will forsake I will abandon I will abandon
H5800-89 1 Kings 8:57 יַעַזְבֵ֖/נוּ yaazevenu HVqj3ms/Sp1cp leave us may he abandon us may he abandon us
H5800-21 1 Kings 9:9 עָזְב֜וּ azevu HVqp3cp they forsook they abandoned they abandoned
H5800-17 1 Kings 11:33 עֲזָב֗וּ/נִי azavuni HVqp3cp/Sp1cs they have forsaken Me they have abandoned me they have abandoned me
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