Semantics of Ancient Hebrew Database

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====== שְׁבִיל ======

===== Introduction =====

Grammatical Type: noun m.\\  
Occurrences: Total 2x OT, 1x Sir, 5x Qum, 0x inscr.\\  
- Sir: 5.8.\\  
- Qum: 1QH XV(=//formerly// VII).15; 4Q184 1 i 9; 4Q266 2 ii 3; 4Q275 3.1; Mur 47.4.

Text doubtful:

**A.1** MS A at Sir 5.9 reads <span hebrew>שׁבולת</span> in place of <span hebrew>שׁביל</span> in MS C. MS A may be influenced by <span hebrew>שׁבלת</span> in 4.26, although the whole bicolon seems to be a retroversion from the Syr. MS C, by contrast, is supported by the LXX and Vg.

**B.1** At Jr 18.15 in place of <span hebrew>שׁבילי</span>, many MSS read <span hebrew>שׁבולי</span>, a reading preferred by Dahood (1962:209). He reads the MS variant as <span hebrew>שְׁבוּלֵי</span>, ‘wanderers, nomads’, taking it to be a qal pass part in apposition with the subject of the verb <span hebrew>וַיַּכְשִׁלוּם</span>, whose root sense he says is ‘to twist, wander’. He compares this with the Phoenician <span translit>lpt šbl</span> (see Root and Comparative Material A.6), which could denote a wanderer, and suggests that other lexemes in Hebrew with a root <span translit>šbl</span> derive from the idea of twisting (e.g. ‘a twisting path, a trail’; ‘a meandering river or stream’). The text at Jr 18.15, however, is intelligible with the reading <span hebrew>שְׁבִיל</span> (so Holladay 1986:521) and we should not resort to unnecessary speculation. Nonetheless, the peculiar reading of the LXX <span greek><span greek>σχοῖνος</span> </span> may indicate that the Greek translators shared Dahood’s view (see Versions A.1, B.1).

**B.2** Dahood (1973:233) on Ps 77.20 reads <span hebrew>שְׁבִילְךָ</span> as <span hebrew>שְׁבָלֶךָ</span> ‘your train’, understanding it to be the plural of <span hebrew>שֹׁבֶל</span> from Is 47.2 and related to <span hebrew>שׁוּל</span> ‘hem’ (e.g. Is 6.1). He notes that in 1QIs<sup>a</sup> <span hebrew>שׁבלך</span> is changed to <span hebrew>שׁוליך</span> at Is 47.2. The train of the garment, therefore, explains why the ‘heels’ were not seen according to the next colon in Ps 77 (cf. Dt 33.3). Beeston (1979:176), by contrast, argues that <span hebrew>שֹׁבֶל</span> in Is 47.2 designates a ‘well’ (see also Root and Comparative Material B.1).

**B.3** There is an uncertain reading at 4Q405 20 ii-21-22 10, where the //waw// in <span hebrew>אשׁ שׁבולי</span> appears not to be clear. Strugnell says that the //waw// is the better material choice rather than the reading <span hebrew>שׁבילי</span>, but that the cst pl of <span hebrew>שִׁבֹּלֶת</span> is only attested in the OT with the meaning ‘grains’ (1960:340). Here it ought to mean ‘watercourses’ as a parallel to the <span hebrew>נהרי אור</span> ‎(4Q405 15 ii 2) later on in the text (cf. //1Enoch// 14.19; 71.2). Newsom does not comment on the //waw//, transcribing it as certain in her version (1985:303), but does provide further examples of the expression ‘streams of fire’ (1985:31516), noting especially the Aramaic to //1Enoch// 14.19 that had since come to light (<span hebrew>שׁבלין ד[י נור‎‎</span>, 4QEn<sup>c</sup> 1 vii 1) and the description of God’s throne in Dn 7.10 (<span hebrew>נהר די־נור</span>). 

Qere/Ketiv: Ps 77.20 Qere <span hebrew>וּשְׁבִילְךָ</span> (m s with 2p s suf), Ketiv <span hebrew>וּשְׁבִילֶיךָ</span> (m pl with 2p s suf ). The Qere is supported by a number of MSS, and preferred by BHS. The plural noun of the Ketiv is also found in the LXX and Peshitta, but the Versions often translate the nouns with a different number from that represented in the MT. The singular may, however, be a later correction in the light of the singular of <span hebrew>דֶּרֶךְ</span> immediately preceding in the verse. Alternatively, the one other occurrence of <span hebrew>שְׁבִיל</span> in the OT is in the singular and this may have affected the MS traditions.

===== 1. Root and Comparative Material =====

**A.1** The etymology of <span hebrew>שְׁבִיל</span> is obscure. Some relate it to the Arabic <span translit>sabala</span> (Wehr 1971:396) in the fourth conjugation, ‘to cause to hang down, to let fall’ (e.g. BDB:987; KB<sup>2</sup>:942). It is difficult to see how this relates to the meaning ‘road’, but there is no other verbal root <span translit>šbl</span> in the Semitic languages (Dorsey 1991:237). 

**A.2** Much of the debate surrounding the root of <span hebrew>שְׁבִיל</span> is whether or not it is cognate with <span hebrew>שִׁבֹּלֶת</span>, and if so, in what way. <span hebrew>שִׁבֹּלֶת</span> denotes an ‘ear of grain’ in at least 15 of its 19 occurrences in the OT (e.g. Gn 41.5) and elsewhere denotes, probably as a homonym, a ‘watercourse, torrent’ (e.g. Ps 69.3, 16). In deriving these lexemes from the same root <span translit>šbl</span> some scholars have proposed an etymology for <span hebrew>שְׁבִיל</span>, as recorded in A.3 and A.4 below. An alternative comparative semantic suggestion has been made by Beeston (see B.1 below). The debate is complicated by the account in Jdg 12.6 of the Ephraimite inability to pronounce <span hebrew>שִׁבֹּלֶת</span>, replying instead with the sound <span hebrew>סִבֹּלֶת</span>. It is, first, uncertain whether the lexeme they are asked to utter is the one with the meaning ‘ear of grain’ or with the meaning ‘watercourse, torrent’. Second, this account raises phonetic questions regarding the root of the lexeme, whichever of the two homonyms is the one used in Jdg 12.6. A summary of this debate, as far as it bears on the meaning of <span hebrew>שְׁבִיל</span>, is given in B.2 below, although it is probably an unresolvable question (Beeston 1988:261; Speiser 1967:150). It does, however, appear that we should distinguish between two roots (Faber 1992:48; Hendel 1996:69 70): a Proto-Semitic denoting *<span translit>šblt</span> ‘ear of grain’ (attested in many languages) and a root *<span translit>šbl</span> denoting ‘watercourse, path’ (attested in Heb, Syr, Arb, and [from Arb] Tge). This implies that caution should be exercised in connecting <span hebrew>שְׁבִיל</span> with the meaning ‘ear of grain’, but that it may well be cognate with <span hebrew>שִׁבֹּלֶת</span> ‘a flowing stream’ and the //hapax// <span hebrew>שֹׁבֶל</span> (Is 47.2).

**A.3** Nouns in BH commonly associated with <span hebrew>שְׁבִיל</span> are <span hebrew>שֹׁבֶל</span> (Is 47.2), possibly referring to the hanging folds of a robe, <span hebrew>שִׁבֹּלֶת</span> ‘an ear of corn’ (e.g. Gn 41.5), and <span hebrew>שִׁבֹּלֶת</span> ‘a flowing stream’ (e.g. Ps 69.16; cf. BDB:987; KB<sup>2</sup>:942). See on these B.1 below. Jastrow includes in this group the noun <span hebrew>שַׁבְּלוּל</span>, a ‘snail’ (Ps 58.9; 1903:1515). Jastrow in turn (1903:1514, 1557) connects these words with the Shaphel of <span hebrew>יבל</span>, ‘to bring, carry’, a verb appearing only in the causative stem in Heb, but in the causative and Peal (in Egyptian Aram; see Muraoka & Porten 1998:121, and n. 561) in Arm, and in the causative and G-stem in Akk. The derivatives from <span translit>lby</span> are similar in meaning to those from the stem <span translit>šbl</span>: <span hebrew>יָבָל</span>, ‘watercourse, stream’; <span hebrew>יְבוּל</span>, ‘produce’; <span hebrew>יוֹבֵל</span>, ‘ram’s horn’; <span hebrew>אוּבָל</span>, ‘stream’.

**A.4** Dorsey (1991:237) notes that what is common to Heb nouns with the stem <span translit>šbl</span> and to those from <span translit>ybl</span> is that each appears to be an object that grows out or extends from something else. It may be produced from the earth (<span hebrew>יְבוּל, בּוּל</span>), be an ear of grain (<span hebrew>שִׁבֹּלֶת</span>), a ram’s horn (<span hebrew>יוֹבֵל</span>), a snail (extending) out of its shell (<span hebrew>שַׁבְּלוּל</span>) or the folds of a robe dropping down from the upper part of the garment (<span hebrew>שֹׁבֶל</span>). A <span hebrew>שִׁבֹּלֶת</span> ‘a flowing stream’ could be so called because a stream flows from or extends from a particular source (so also <span hebrew>יָבָל</span> and <span hebrew>אוּבָל</span>). Dorsey, therefore, suggests that a <span hebrew>שְׁבִיל</span> was so called because it was a road //extending// from a main road (i.e. a branch road), although he admits that this is speculative . The doubtful connection between all these lexemes renders his suggestion all the more speculative (see A.2, B.1). Others have identified the root as denoting something that flows (BDB:987), and hence Carroll glosses <span hebrew>שְׁבִיל</span> as a ‘flowing course of life’ (1986:376). This is possible if there is a root *<span translit>šbl</span> behind certain of the lexemes, but uncertainty remains over the origins of the lexemes.

**A.5** In RH the substantive appears most often in the prepositional expression <span hebrew>בשׁביל</span> ‘for the sake of’ (Jastrow:1514). This use is also found in Mur 47.4, whose date and the context are unclear owing to the damaged state of the manuscript (Milik 1961:167). <span hebrew>שְׁבִיל</span> appears ten times in the Mishnah as an independent substantive and designates a ‘path’ in contrast to <span hebrew>דֶּרֶךְ</span>, which is used of roads in general (Dorsey 1991:23738). A <span hebrew>שְׁבִיל</span>, for example, may be traversable only in the summer months (m.Peah 2.1) or may designate a path that leads only to a well, cistern, pit, cave or winepress (m.Toharot 6.6), all denoting its small size. According to m.Toharot 5.1, 2, 3, 5 a <span hebrew>שְׁבִיל</span> is one of many paths on which a man walks, so numerous that he could easily forget on which one he had walked. Indeed in m.Peah 2.1 a <span hebrew>שְׁבִיל</span> is actually differentiated from a <span hebrew>דֶּרֶךְ</span> as being the smaller of the two. In the Talmud and Midrashim <span hebrew>שְׁבִיל</span> continues to be used of a ‘path’ (e.g. b.BQ 81a).

**A.6** The only occurrence of a possible cognate with the same meaning in North-West Semitic (apart from in Aramaic/Syriac) is the hapax legomenon <span translit>šbl</span> in Phoen (<cite>DNWSI</cite>:1101; //KAI// I:2), but its context is too unclear to permit any definite conclusion (Albright 1947:156, n. 27). It probably is a substantive (sing abs), perhaps indicating some type of erasing instrument (e.g. Gibson 1982:16) or, as some have suggested (e.g. Albright 1947:156, n. 27), a ‘road, way’. These are, however, only some of many suggestions for the reading of the lexeme in this text and for its interpretation. Torrey even sees it as a verb and not a substantive, and proposes that it is the Shafel of <span translit>bll</span> ‘to besmear’ (1925:274). A complete list of alternative suggestions and bibliographical details is provided in <cite>DNWSI</cite>:1101.

Ug preserves a form <span translit>šblt</span>, which means ‘ear of corn’, but no cognate lexeme with the meaning ‘path’. 

**A.7** In Aramaic the noun <span hebrew>שְׁבִילָא</span> denotes both a ‘path’ (e.g. Tg Jr 18.15) and a ‘way’ (LevR 17; Jastrow:1514), whilst <span hebrew>שׁוּבְּלָתָּא</span> is the noun denoting ‘ear of grain’. Faber (1992:5) even suggests that on the basis of the initial cluster <span translit>š</span>v- in <span hebrew>שְׁבִיל</span> the Hebrew lexeme is probably an Aramaism. In Syriac <span translit>šḇilāʾ</span> appears to denote a ‘path’ (//via// Brockelmann:752) and the more common lexeme <span translit>ʾurḥāʾ</span> is used for both a ‘road’ and a ‘way’ (Brockelmann:47). Also in Syriac one can find the lexeme <span translit>šebeltāʾ</span> ‘flow of a river’ and the homonym <span translit>šebeltāʾ</span> ‘ear of grain’.

**A.8** In Mandaic the noun <span translit>šḇilā</span> is attested with similar meanings to its Syriac counterpart (Drower and Macuch 1963:447b). There is also the Christian Palestinian <span translit>šwbjl</span> ‘<span translit>semita, via</span>’ (Schulthess 1903:200).

**A.9** The Tge <span translit>sabil</span>, a ‘religious war’ is derived from the Arabic sense of a religious path or the right path of the Lord (Leslau 1958:53). In Eth there does not exist a cognate lexeme with the meaning ‘path’, but the form <span translit>sabel</span> and many variants on this denoting ‘ear of grain’, ‘<span translit>spica’</span> (Dillmann:35556) appear.

**A.10** There does not appear to be in Soqotri a cognate noun denoting ‘path’, but the root may exist in the noun <span translit>sebōleh</span> (dual: <span translit>seboliti</span>) ‘ear of grain’ (Leslau 1938:280).

**A.11** In Arabic the noun <span translit>sabīl</span> designates both a ‘road’ and a ‘path’ (Wehr 1971:396), and there exists the noun sabal ‘rain, flowing rain’.

**A.12** The Egyptian <span translit>šabaruti</span> ‘Weg’ is sometimes cited as a cognate (e.g. Ges.:802; <cite>HAL</cite>:1295). 

**B.1** Beeston (1979:177) has proposed that there is a semantic association between ‘way’ and ‘watering’ in the Hebrew <span translit>šbl</span> root, accounting for the existence of <span hebrew>שְׁבִיל</span>, a ‘way’, and <span hebrew>שִׁבֹּלֶת</span>, a ‘watercourse’. <span hebrew>שִׁבֹּלֶת</span> meaning an ‘ear of grain’ should, he suggests, be considered to derive from a different root. The modern South Arabian languages uniformly show an initial <span translit>s</span> in the word for ‘ear of corn’ (e.g. Soqotri: <span translit>sebōleh</span> [given by Beeston as <span translit>seblit</span>]), and this implies that an initial <span translit>s</span> was the original form of the word, portrayed in the Bible as an Ephraimite peculiarity (Jdg 12.6; although see B.2). In BH, confusion with the word for ‘watercourse’ , Beeston (1979:175) surmises, led to the creation of a homonym. Although Blau (1977:109) argues that in Ephraimite Hebrew the Proto-Semitic letters *<span translit>s</span> *<span translit>ś</span> *<span translit>š</span> had all merged into <span translit>s</span> (as in Eth), all that may be concluded from the Biblical account, if Beeston’s hypothesis is not correct, is that the Ephraimites had lost the phoneme <span translit>š</span>, but not necessarily <span translit>ś</span>. Beeston notes that in medieval and modern Arabic <span translit>sabīl</span> is a word both for ‘way’ and for a ‘public fountain’. The connection with BH must, however, remain tenuous since in early Arabic the meaning of <span translit>sabīl</span> as a ‘public fountain’ is not attested (Beeston 1979:176). Furthermore, Dozy (<sup>3</sup> 1967) gives a different account of the semantic development that led to <span translit>sabīl</span> meaning ‘public fountain’. Nevertheless, Beeston still finds Dozy’s explanation requiring a ‘semantic jump’ and feels that the development was facilitated by an association between ‘way’ and ‘watering’, as exists in the Arabic root //šrʿ//, giving both //šāriʿ// ‘street’ and //šarīʿah// ‘watering place’ (1979:177). In response, Faber indicates how, given that the lexeme denoting path only appears in Hebrew and Arabic, it is unlikely to have provided the analogical source for a change of *//s// to //š// in other languages (1992:5). She further suggests that on the basis of the initial cluster //š//v- in <span hebrew>שְׁבִיל</span> the lexeme is probably an Aramaism. 

**B.2** Swiggers (1981:205206; cf. Marquart 1888) has argued that in folk-tales the test-word used (as in Jdg 12.6) is related to the context, and in the case of the Gileadites a word ‘stream’ is relevant in the light of the banks of the river that they are occupying. Emerton has, however, questioned whether it is always the case that the test-word is relevant to the context (1985:153). Hence, even if <span hebrew>שִׁבֹּלֶת</span> at Jdg 12.6 is found to be from a different root than <span hebrew>שְׁבִיל</span>, it need not necessarily be the lexeme denoting ‘watercourse’. There is at present little agreement as to what the //Shin// //Samekh// interchange in the account of Jdg 12.6 tells us about the etymology of <span hebrew>שִׁבֹּלֶת</span> there. Many have argued for an historical *<span translit>ṯ</span> as the first consonant, and that this sound has been preserved by the Gileadites in Jdg (Speiser 1967; Swiggers 1981; Lemaire 1985; Rendsburg 1988a, 1988b). The cognate evidence, however, does not seem to support this (except for Arm <span hebrew>תּוּבְּלָא</span>: see B.3), and it has been doubted by Emerton (1985) and Faber (1992). Emerton (1985) argues that there has been no change from the root, but that the story represents two different pronunciations of the phoneme <span translit>š</span>, an argument supported by Hendel’s graphemic evidence (1996; cf. Tropper 1997). Blau posits an initial letter <span translit>š</span> that became an <span translit>s</span> in Ephraimite (1977), whilst Faber (1992) and Beeston (1979) prefer an inital letter <span translit>s</span>. Emerton’s and Faber’s suggestions appear to be the most likely, but there is as yet a lack of consensus.

**B.3** The Arm form <span hebrew>תּוּבְּלָא</span>, which is used to translate <span hebrew>שִׁבֹּלֶת</span> in TgPsJ Gn 41.5, 6, 7 etc. (not FT as recorded in Emerton 1985:149) and brought as evidence by Speiser for the root of <span hebrew>שִׁבֹּלֶת</span> in Jdg 12.6 (1967:145 47), is most likely a hyper-correction in Aramaic, as argued by Kutscher (1967:17374) and affirmed by others (Emerton 1985:150; Blau 1977:109; Faber 1992:4, n. 3; Marcus 1992:98, n. 13; Hendel 1996:73, n. 6). The form with //taw// is lacking in TgNeo, probably one of the oldest Targumic texts (Kutscher 1967:174), although the observation that it is also lacking in FT (Marcus 1992:98, n. 13) is not helpful, since none of the FT records the relevant verses. Emerton (1985:151) observes that Fraenkel (1905:252) had already argued, before Speiser’s proposal, that <span hebrew>תּוּבְּלָא</span> was a learned back-formation in the Aramaic (see also Marcus 1942:39). Emerton (1985:151, n. 2) also notes that Speiser does not argue for a ProtoSemitic root beginning with <span translit>ṯ</span> (as Driver 1950:60 thinks), but that there were two Proto-Semitic roots, one beginning with <span translit>š</span> and one with <span translit>ṯ</span>. In that case <span hebrew>שְׁבִיל</span> may be cognate with a Proto-Semitic <span translit>šblt</span> without being cognate to the doublet <span translit>ṯblt</span>.

===== 2. Formal Characteristics =====

**A.1** The form <span translit>qtīl</span> may be the result of a reduction of the <span translit>a</span> vowel in <span translit>qatīl</span> (BL:470 n), as in Aramaic, or a reduction of <span translit>qitil</span> (BL:471 s). 

**B.1** [nil].

===== 3. Syntagmatics =====

**A.1** <span hebrew>שְׁבִיל</span> is in apposition to <span hebrew>דֶּרֶךְ</span>, which is in an adverbial phrase modifying <span hebrew>כשׁל</span> hif (Jr 18.15).

**A.2** The <span hebrew>שְׁבִיל</span> is the subject of a predicative <span hebrew>בְּמַיִם רַבִּים</span> ‘through mighty waters’ (Ps 77.20).

**A.3** <span hebrew>שְׁבִיל</span> is governed by the verb <span hebrew>הָלַךְ</span> + <span hebrew>ל</span> (Sir 5.9 [MS C]). 

**A.4 **<span hebrew>שְׁבִיל</span> in the plural is the nomen regens of <span hebrew>עוֹלָם</span> ‘eternity’ (Jr 18.15) <span hebrew>כבוד</span> ‘glory’ (1QH XV.15), <span hebrew>חטאת</span> ‘sin’ (4Q184 1 i 9), <span hebrew>חט[אים</span> ‘sinners’ (4Q266 2 ii 3).

**B.1** The syntax of 4Q266 2 ii 3 is disputed. The phrase containing <span hebrew>שׁבילי חט[אים</span> does not appear in the parallel text CD ii 3, where there is a small //vacat//. In 4Q266 the reading published by Baumgarten on the basis of Milik’s transcriptions has the expression <span hebrew>ומכול</span> before <span hebrew>שׁבילי‎</span> (1996:36), which requires the restoration of a verb. Baumgarten accordingly supplies <span hebrew>אזיר אתכם</span> ‘I will keep you apart’. If, however, a //beth// is read in place of the //mem// (<span hebrew>ובבול</span>), a confusion caused by the misreading of an ancient scribe or the possible reading of the unclear letter in the MS (so Hempel 1997:299, 301), there is no need for the addition of a verb, but the phrase would be in parallelism with <span hebrew>בדרכי רשׁעים</span> earlier in the sentence and be an adverbial phrase of <span hebrew>אגלה אזנכם</span> (‘I will uncover your ears ... concerning the paths of sinners’).


===== 4. Versions =====

==== a. LXX: ====

<span greek>τρίβος</span> (Ps 77.20 [pl as Ketiv]; Aquila on Jr 18.15); 

<span greek>σχοῖνος</span> (Jr 18.15); 

<span greek>ἀτραπός</span> (Sir 5.9); 

==== b. Peshitta: ====

<span translit>šḇilāʾ</span> (Ps 77.20 [pl as Ketiv], Jr 18.15, Sir 5.9);

==== c. Targum: ====

<span hebrew>כִּבְשָׁא</span> (Ps 77.20 [s as Qere]); 

<span hebrew>שְׁבִילָא</span> (Jr 18.15); 

==== d. Vulgate: ====

<span translit>semita</span> (Ps 77.20 [pl as Ketiv]; Jr 18.15); 

<span translit>via</span> (Sir 5.9). 

**A.1** In Ps 77.20 <span hebrew>שְׁבִיל</span> is translated by <span greek>τρίβος</span> , a word chosen for the translation of other lexemes in the semantic field, including <span hebrew>דֶּרֶךְ</span> ( Is 3.12, Pr 2.20, 30.19ba). Tidwell suggests that at Jr 18.15 we have the curious translation <span greek>σχοῖνος</span> since in the following colon <span greek>τρίβος</span> is used to render <span hebrew>נְתִיבָה</span> ‎(1980:6566). This does not, however, clarify the meaning of <span greek>σχοῖνος</span> (see B.1). Perhaps <span greek>σχοῖνος</span> denotes a translation of the Hebrew <span hebrew>חֶבֶל</span> (often rendered in the LXX by <span greek>σχοινίον</span>, e.g. 2Sm 8:2), arising from a misreading of <span hebrew>שְׁבִיל</span> (so BH). The choice of the lexeme <span greek>ἀτραπός</span> by the Greek translator of Sir 5.9 is apposite, since in Greek it denotes both a ‘(small) path’ and a metaphorical ‘way of life’ (LSJ:272). 

**A.2** On the two occasions that <span hebrew>דֶּרֶךְ</span> is paired with <span hebrew>שְׁבִיל</span>, <span hebrew>דֶּרֶךְ</span> is translated by <span greek>ὁδός</span> (Tidwell 1980:66). 

**A.3** The Targum to Jr 18.15 qualifies its rendering of <span hebrew>שְׁבִיל</span> as <span hebrew>שׁבילין תקנין</span> ‘straight paths’. 

**B.1** A problematic reading in the LXX is the translation of <span hebrew>שְׁבִיל</span> ‘path’ at Jr 18.15 by the Gr <span greek>σχοῖνος</span> (Aquila here renders the noun by <span greek>τρίβος</span> ). A <span greek>σχοῖνος</span> is a ‘rush’ or ‘reed’ and it is not easy to see how it came to be used of <span hebrew>שְׁבִיל</span>. <span greek>σχοῖνος</span> is also a land measure used in Egypt (e.g. Hdt II 6), a meaning that is possible, if stilted, in the context. Lust et al. glosses it as ‘//measure// (of length)’ (//Lexicon//&nbsp;:466) for its occurrence here. In Root and Comparative Material A.4, it was noted that Dorsey saw that the common meaning underlying words from the root <span translit>šbl</span> was the idea of sprouting. It may be that the LXX translator’s rendering <span greek>σχοῖνος</span> , a ‘reed’ was a recognition of this association between lexemes apparently from that root. One may compare the cognates of Eth <span translit>sabel</span>, Arm <span hebrew>שׁוּבַּלתָּא</span>, Syr <span translit>šeḇletāʾ</span>, all meaning ‘ear of grain’, and the Heb <span hebrew>שִׁבֹּלֶת</span>. <span greek>σχοῖνος</span> may also be used of something that is twisted (such as a rope), a meaning that could underlie the root <span hebrew>סָלַל</span> in <span hebrew>מְסִלָּה</span> and <span hebrew>מַסְלוּל</span>. The idea of twisting has also been proposed by Dahood for <span hebrew>שְׁבִיל</span> ‘a twisting path, trail’ (1962:209), for its possible cognates <span hebrew>שִׁבֹּלֶת</span> ‘a meandering river or stream’ and <span hebrew>שֹׁבֶל</span> ‘a garment that wraps around the body (Wickelkleid)’ (see Introduction, Text Doubtful B.1).

**B.2** Wutz (1933:493) suggests that the LXX translation <span greek>σχοῖνος</span> at Jr 18.15 implies the reading <span hebrew>שׁכולי</span> and that <span hebrew>דֶּרֶךְ</span> should be read as <span hebrew>דרב</span>.

===== 5. Lexical/Semantic Field(s) =====

**A.1** [See <span hebrew>דֶּרֶךְ</span>]. 

**A.2** <span hebrew>שְׁבִיל</span> is paired in the MT only with <span hebrew>דֶּרֶךְ</span> among the road words (Tidwell 1980:56), <span hebrew>דֶּרֶךְ</span> taking the position of the A-word of the pair in both cases (ibid.:57). 

**B.1 **Koch says that <span hebrew>שְׁבִיל</span> stands in parallelism with <span hebrew>נְתִיבָה</span> at Jr 18.15 (1977:299), but it is in fact with <span hebrew>דֶּרֶךְ</span>.

===== 6. Exegesis =====

**A.1** The main disputes concerning the meaning of <span hebrew>שְׁבִיל</span> are whether it denotes a metaphorical or a physical path (or both) and whether it is of a particular size or importance. //HAL// (1295) merely glosses it as ‘Pfad’, which suggests that it may be of a smaller size than other lexemes in the field that are rendered by ‘Weg’ (e.g. <span hebrew>אֹרַח ,דֶּרֶךְ</span>), but that is dependent on whether it is considered to be a physical path or not. BDB (987) glosses it as ‘way, path’, but indicates that in Jr 18.15 it denotes a ‘course of life’ . It is not clear from this whether BDB takes Ps 77.20, therefore, as physical. Zorell indicates the variety of its meanings with the glosses ‘//semita//, //callis//, //iter//‘ (816), and Alonso Schökel (721) gives the two meanings ‘//senda//’ (for Jr 18.15) and ‘//vado//’ (Ps 77.20).** **

**A.2** <span hebrew>שְׁבִיל</span> in ancient Hebrew (including Qum and Sir) probably only denotes a ‘course’ (Ps 77.20, Sir 5.9) or a ‘way [of life]’ (1QH XV.15, 4Q184 1 i 9, 4Q266 2 ii 3), and it does not denote a physical path (except possibly at Jr 18.15; see B.2 below), a meaning for <span hebrew>שְׁבִיל</span> that is, however , attested in RH. Whether this sense existed in ancient Hebrew but is not attested or whether in RH it is a derivative from the ancient uses we cannot be sure, but it seems more likely that it already existed and is simply not attested in our sources. There is no ancient indication of its size or importance, but if the evidence of RH is to be taken as an indicator of its use earlier, it would seem to have been a path or other small route. In m.Peah 2.1 a <span hebrew>שְׁבִיל</span> is actually differentiated from a <span hebrew>דֶּרֶךְ</span> as being the smaller of the two (cf. m.Toharot 5.1; see Root and Comparative Material A.5). In its metaphorical uses (i.e. ‘way [of life]’ ), however, there would be no distinction in size.

**A.3 **Holladay (1986:521) interprets the <span hebrew>שְׁבִילֵי עוֹלָם</span> in Jr 18.15 as the ways walked in infidelity to the Lord, rather than the ways prescribed by the Lord. He understands verse 15 as part of the description of the terrible state of the land facing the unfaithful, the ‘endless tracks’ (<span hebrew>שְׁבִילֵי עוֹלָם</span>) being paralelled by the ‘endless hissing’ in verse 16. Part of the hissing may be implied in the assonance of <span hebrew>שְׁבִילֵי</span> and <span hebrew>סלוּלָה</span> (Dahood 1986:525). McKane likewise takes the paths to be the apostasy followed by Israel, and the stumbling to be caused by the influence of idols on their way (1986:433). Bright (1965:124), on the other hand, thinks that the <span hebrew>שְׁבִילֵי עוֹלָם</span> in Jr 18.15 are the paths prescribed by the Lord and translates the expression as ‘tracks of old’. He sees the diction of Jr 6.16, <span hebrew>נְתִיבוֹת עוֹלָם</span> (‘paths of old’), which refer to the paths laid out by the Lord for covenantal obedience, as the background for Jr 18.15. Holladay considers the immediate context of Jr 18 first and argues that 6.16 may only be relevant as an ironic contrast (1986:525). However, most commentators agree with Bright and take <span hebrew>שְׁבִיל</span> here to be the path prescribed by God for the ordering of the nation’s life (e.g. Nicholson 1973:157; Carroll 1986:376).

**A.4** In the light of Holladay’s interpretation, <span hebrew>לֹא סְלוּלָה</span> should be understood as pejorative (1986:525), suggesting that the roads are overgrown. This need not mean that a <span hebrew>שְׁבִיל</span> is always something of a lesser status or quality.

**A.5** In Ps 77.20 God’s <span hebrew>שְׁבִיל</span> is said to be <span hebrew>בְּמַיִם רַבִּים</span> ‘through mighty waters’, and, as <span hebrew>דֶּרֶךְ</span> in that verse, probably designates a course of travel across the sea. This is also suggested by the statement later in the verse that his <span hebrew>עִקְּבוֹת</span> (‘footprints’ ) are not known (Dorsey 1991:236), implying that it is not a physical road.

**A.6** At Qum <span hebrew>שְׁבִיל</span> always appears in the construct plural (1QH 7.15, 4Q184 1 i 9, 4Q266; cf. Jr 18.15). The nouns following all denote that it is to be taken in a metaphorical sense. In 4Q184 1 i 9 it is part of a list of lexemes each denoting the ways of ‘Lady Folly’.

**A.7 **In Sir 5.9 (MS C) <span hebrew>שְׁבִיל</span> is found in the singular, but is preceded by <span hebrew>כל</span>, denoting ‘all’ or ‘every’. There too it does not denote a physical road, but a course of travel. It is in parallelism with <span hebrew>רוּחַ</span> ‘wind’, and although it appears to denote a physical course of direction, it is used in a simile for proper behaviour.

**A.8** The adverbial usage of <span hebrew>בשׁביל</span> ‘for the sake of’, known from RH (see Root and Comparative Material A.5) is already found in Mur 47.4, but the date and the context are unclear owing to the damaged state of the manuscript (Milik 1961:167). 

**B.1** Koch correctly notes that in the OT (he inaccurately says in Hebrew) <span hebrew>שְׁבִיל</span> never denotes a physical (he speaks of the foreground sense) stretch of road (1977:299), but only a course of travel or way of life. He adds that if one were to infer such a meaning then it would denote a prepared and well-known road, and not a path, in view of its contrast to <span hebrew>נְתִיבָה</span> in Jr 18.15. This seems unlikely for several reasons. In the first place he states that it never has the foreground sense in Hebrew, which indicates that he is thinking only of Biblical Hebrew, since such a sense occurs in RH, and in particular it seems to mean there a ‘path’. Second, he understands <span hebrew>נְתִיבָה</span> to denote a ‘path’ and not anything larger such as a ‘road’, an error found in many lexica (see <span hebrew>נְתִיבָה/נָתִיב</span>). Third, he infers in Jr 18.15 that the <span hebrew>שְׁבִיל</span> and the <span hebrew>נְתִיבָה</span> are contrasted, although the contrast seems to be between <span hebrew>עוֹלָם</span> and <span hebrew>לֹא סְלוּלָה</span>.

**B.2** Dorsey takes the various roads mentioned in Jr 18.15 to be physical, and from this infers that a <span hebrew>שְׁבִיל</span> was a ‘road or beaten track’ (1991:236). He adds that <span hebrew>עוֹלָם</span> probably indicates that the road was ancient, ‘and therefore well established’. Although the verse does speak of stumbling and walking in roads, it is an allusion to their choosing the wrong metaphorical paths, and hence it is unclear to what extent designations such as <span hebrew>עוֹלָם</span> and <span hebrew>לֹא סְלוּלָה</span> should be taken literally. Craigie et al. say that <span hebrew>סְלוּלָה</span> is a ‘highway’ and that there is a contrast drawn in the verse between a pathway and a built-up highway (1991:249). They seem to be influenced by the translation of the RSV (cf. LXX) in rendering the adjective as a noun, and place great emphasis on the verb <span hebrew>סָלַל</span> as denoting the preparation of a main road. The meaning of <span hebrew>סָלַל</span> and precisely what it denotes when applied to roads is a matter of dispute (see <span hebrew>מְסִלָּה</span> Root and Comparative Material). 


===== 7. Conclusion =====

In ancient Hebrew <span hebrew>שְׁבִיל</span> is only attested in poetry and probably only denotes a way of life. Its use in RH for a physical path of a small size may attest to a meaning that has not survived in our ancient sources, but was known in ancient Hebrew. The root of <span hebrew>שְׁבִיל</span> cannot be decided with any certainty. 


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^ //by//: James K. Aitken  ^
| University of Cambridge  |  
| Last updated: 15/02/1999 |
| Online: 08/08/2014       |
Semantics of Ancient Hebrew Database

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