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שָׁבַע

𐤔𐤁𐤏

shâbaʻ

H7650 verb

SILEX Entry

Definition

To swear, take an oath, or make a solemn declaration, especially invoking the sanctity of the act and often involving God as witness or guarantor. The verb carries the sense of making a binding promise or affirmation, frequently in legal, covenantal, diplomatic, or cultic contexts. In some usages, the action includes calling a curse upon oneself if the oath is violated.

Semantic Range

to swear (an oath), to make a solemn declaration, to cause to swear, to adjure, to bind by an oath; (reflexive) to swear oneself, to take an oath; (causative) to cause someone else to swear

Root / Etymology

The verb derives from the root שׁבע (sh-b-ʻ), which also gives rise to the numeral 'seven' (שֶׁבַע, shevaʻ). The relationship between 'seven' and oath-taking suggests a conceptual link in ancient Near Eastern culture, where seven represented completeness or fulfillment, and oaths may have included rituals involving the number seven (such as seven sacrifices, repetitions, or acts), though direct evidence for such practices is limited. Thus, while the root for 'seven' provides the basic stem, the verb's primary lexical meaning is 'to swear an oath,' not 'to seven oneself.'

Historical & Contextual Notes

In biblical usage, שָׁבַע functions as the primary Hebrew verb for swearing an oath. It appears throughout the Hebrew Bible in contexts involving formal agreements, covenant ratification, and judicial proceedings. The invoking of an oath could bind individuals, groups, or even nations. Oaths could be positive (to do something) or negative (not to do something), and were seen as religiously binding. The semantic link to the number seven is more etymological than practical by the biblical period; while some ancient treaties outside the Bible feature the number seven in swearing rituals, Hebrew narratives rarely describe such specifics. The Strong's gloss 'to seven oneself' is interpretive and not supported by the majority of actual biblical occurrences. English translations often reduce the richness of the term by rendering it simply as 'to swear' or 'to take an oath,' omitting the cultural weight of oaths in ancient Israelite society. The term is distinct from כָּרַת בְּרִית ('to cut a covenant'), though the two frequently appear together, as covenant-making commonly entailed a formal oath. The mistaken gloss 'feed to the full' is due to confusion with שָׂבַע (sava‘, 'to be satisfied, to be full'), which is a separate root.

Translation Consistency

primary "swear" 176 occurrences

Most occurrences are English forms of 'swear' (swore, sworn, swear), and this verb most naturally and directly conveys the primary SILEX sense — taking or making an oath, often invoking God. It covers reflexive and causative uses (e.g., ‘swear oneself’, ‘cause to swear’) in normal English constructions and preserves the covenantal/legal force of the Hebrew. Alternate renderings like ‘bound’ or ‘adjure’ are rarer or more formal, so ‘swear’ gives the most consistent, natural translation across contexts.

Alternatives (10 occurrences):
"oath-swearing ones" (4x) "oath-swearing one" (3x) "bound by oath" (2x) "oaths of" (1x)

Original Strong's Gloss (1890)

a primitive root; properly to be complete, but used only as a denominative from שֶׁבַע; to seven oneself, i.e. swear (as if by repeating a declaration seven times); adjure, charge (by an oath, with an oath), feed to the full (by mistake for שָׂבַע), take an oath, [idiom] straitly, (cause to, make to) swear.

Bantu Hebrew

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Root Family

שׁבע (sh-b-ʿ) — to swear, to take an oath, to bind oneself by oath

Root שׁבע to swear, to take an oath, to bind oneself by oath
Strong's Lemma SIBI-P1
H7621 שְׁבוּעָה in a sworn oath
H7637 שְׁבִיעִי in the seventh

Word Forms

47 distinct forms

SIDANCE Surface Transliteration Morphology Common SIBI-P1 SIBI-P2 Occurrences
H7650-19 נִֽשְׁבַּֽע nisheba HVNp3ms he swore he bound himself by oath he swore (bound himself by oath) 45
H7650-23 נִשְׁבַּ֖עְתִּי nishebaeti HVNp1cs I swore I swore an oath I swore an oath 27
H7650-36 וַ/יִּשָּׁ֣בַֽע vayishava HC/VNw3ms and swore and he swore himself by oath and he swore himself by oath 20
H7650-21 נִשְׁבַּ֣עְתָּ nishebaeta HVNp2ms you swore you bound yourself by oath you swore 8
H7650-06 הִשָּׁ֨בְעָ/ה hishaveah HVNv2ms/Sh swear Swear an oath! Swear an oath! 5
H7650-37 וַ/יִּשָּׁבְע֖וּ vayishaveu HC/VNw3mp and they swore and they swore themselves and they swore themselves 5
H7650-25 נִשְׁבְּע֖וּ nishebeu HVNp3cp had sworn they swore an oath they swore an oath 5
H7650-02 הַ/נִּ֨שְׁבָּ֔ע hanisheba HTd/VNrmsa of the one who swears the oath-swearing one the oath-swearing one 4
H7650-34 וַ/יַּשְׁבַּ֣ע vayasheba HC/Vhw3ms and Joshua swore and he caused to swear and he caused to swear 4
H7650-20 נִשְׁבַּ֣עְנוּ nishebaenu HVNp1cp have sworn we have sworn an oath we have sworn an oath 4

Occurrences in Scripture

186 occurrences

SIDANCE Reference Word Transliteration Morphology Common SIBI-P1 SIBI-P2
H7650-06 Genesis 21:23 הִשָּׁ֨בְעָ/ה hishaveah HVNv2ms/Sh swear Swear an oath! Swear an oath!
H7650-15 Genesis 21:24 אִשָּׁבֵֽעַ ishavea HVNi1cs will swear I will swear an oath I will swear an oath
H7650-25 Genesis 21:31 נִשְׁבְּע֖וּ nishebeu HVNp3cp they swore they swore an oath they swore an oath
H7650-23 Genesis 22:16 נִשְׁבַּ֖עְתִּי nishebaeti HVNp1cs I have sworn I swore an oath I swore an oath
H7650-38 Genesis 24:3 וְ/אַשְׁבִּ֣יעֲ/ךָ֔ veashebiakha HC/Vhi1cs/Sp2ms and I will make you swear I will cause you to swear I will cause you to swear
H7650-19 Genesis 24:7 נִֽשְׁבַּֽע nisheba HVNp3ms swore he bound himself by oath he swore (bound himself by oath)
H7650-36 Genesis 24:9 וַ/יִּשָּׁ֣בַֽע vayishava HC/VNw3ms and swore and he swore himself by oath and he swore himself by oath
H7650-35 Genesis 24:37 וַ/יַּשְׁבִּעֵ֥/נִי vayashebieni HC/Vhw3ms/Sp1cs made me swear he made me swear he made me swear
H7650-06 Genesis 25:33 הִשָּׁ֤בְעָ/ה hishaveah HVNv2ms/Sh swear Swear an oath! Swear an oath to me
H7650-36 Genesis 25:33 וַ/יִּשָּׁבַ֖ע vayishava HC/VNw3ms and he swore and he swore himself by oath and he swore himself by oath
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