שׁוּבָה
𐤔𐤅𐤁𐤄
shûwbâh
H7729 noun
SILEX Entry
Definition
Feminine noun indicating the act or event of returning, turning back, or coming back to a former state, position, or place. Primarily denotes a physical or metaphorical return, whether of individuals, communities, or a collective, as well as the process or impulse to reverse direction or revert from a prior departure or straying.
Semantic Range
return (physical or metaphorical), act of turning back, restoration, event of coming back, move toward a previous state or relationship, impulse to reverse direction
Root / Etymology
Derived from the root שׁוּב (shuv), which fundamentally means 'to turn back, return.' שׁוּבָה is the feminine nominal form indicating the action or event of returning. The form is a noun denominalized from the verb and carries a more abstract sense of the root's action.
Historical & Contextual Notes
In the Hebrew Bible, שׁוּבָה is rare as a noun and primarily appears in poetic or prophetic contexts, most notably in calls for repentance or appeals to return to YHWH (e.g., Hosea 14:2). The noun can refer to both literal and metaphorical returns, including acts of repentance or restoration to previous spiritual, moral, or geographic states. While many English translations render it as 'return' or 'repentance,' the concept of 'repentance' is better captured by the verb שׁוּב, and the noun שׁוּבָה retains the nuance of the action or event itself, without theological interpretation. The term does not have significant presence outside poetic or prophetic books, and related nouns such as תְּשׁוּבָה (teshuvah, later word for 'repentance' in Rabbinic Hebrew) do not appear in the Hebrew Bible, making שׁוּבָה a distinctive biblical formation. Its meaning is contextually determined by the subject and object of the returning action (who is returning, to what, and from where). Later periods (Second Temple, Rabbinic) prefer תְּשׁוּבָה for 'repentance' rather than שׁוּבָה.
Original Strong's Gloss (1890)
from שׁוּב; a return; returning.
Bantu Hebrew
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שׁוּב (sh-w-b) — turn back, return, restore, bring back
| Strong's | Lemma | SIBI-P1 |
|---|---|---|
| H4878 | מְשׁוּבָה | to my turning-away |
| H7726 | שׁוֹבָב | turning-away ones |
| H7728 | שׁוֹבֵב | the turning-away woman |
| H8666 | תְּשׁוּבָה | for the return of |
Word Forms
1 distinct form
| SIDANCE | Surface | Transliteration | Morphology | Common | SIBI-P1 | Occurrences |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
H7729-01 |
בְּ/שׁוּבָ֤ה | beshuvah | HR/Ncfsa |
In returning | in returning | 1 |
Occurrences in Scripture
1 total occurrence
| SIDANCE | Reference | Word | Transliteration | Morphology | Common | SIBI-P1 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
H7729-01 |
Isaiah 30:15 | בְּ/שׁוּבָ֤ה | beshuvah | HR/Ncfsa |
In returning | in returning |