עַכָּבִישׁ
a spider (as weaving a network)
Definition
The Hebrew word עַכָּבִישׁ (ʻakkâbîysh) refers specifically to a spider. This definition is consistent across its two biblical occurrences. The word evokes the image of a spider weaving its web, a fragile and intricate structure. In both Job 8:14 and Isaiah 59:5, the spider's web serves as a powerful metaphor for something insubstantial, flimsy, and ultimately unreliable when compared to the strength and truth of God.
Biblical Usage
This word is used only twice in the Old Testament, both times in poetic or prophetic literature to illustrate a point through metaphor. In Job 8:14, Bildad uses the spider's web to describe the fragile hope of the godless, which cannot provide real security. In Isaiah 59:5, the prophet compares the wicked plans and deeds of people to hatching spider eggs and weaving webs—actions that produce nothing of lasting substance and cannot cover or justify sin. In both contexts, the spider's work symbolizes human efforts that are ultimately futile.
Etymology
The word likely derives from an unused Hebrew root meaning 'to twist' or 'entangle,' which perfectly describes a spider's action in creating its web. This etymological sense directly informs its biblical usage, emphasizing the act of weaving a delicate, ensnaring network. Cognates in other Semitic languages, like Akkadian, also point to words for spiders or similar creeping insects.
Semantic Range
This word is theologically significant as it provides a vivid metaphor for the insufficiency of human effort apart from God. The spider's fragile web illustrates the themes of vanity, false security, and the inability of human works to achieve righteousness or lasting hope (Job 8:14, Isaiah 59:5). Understanding this Hebrew metaphor enriches reading by highlighting the biblical contrast between the flimsy 'houses' people build for themselves and the enduring refuge found only in God.
In the ancient Near East, spiders were likely observed as common creatures whose intricate webs were both admired for their craftsmanship and recognized as ephemeral, easily destroyed by a mere touch or breeze. This universal observation made the spider an ideal and immediately understandable symbol for fragility and impermanence, which the biblical authors employed without need for further cultural explanation.
There are no direct synonyms for 'spider' in Biblical Hebrew. The word is unique. Other words for insects or creeping things (e.g., רֶמֶשׂ, remes, H7431) are general categories and do not specify a spider.
Word Details
How this works
Hebrew definitions are from Brown-Driver-Briggs (1906) and Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (1890), both public domain. BDB was groundbreaking for its era but reflects 19th-century assumptions about Semitic etymology. Modern scholarship (HALOT, DCH) has revised many entries. Use these definitions as a starting point for exploration, not as the final word on a term's meaning in context.
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