מַשְׁאָב
a trough for cattle to drink from
Definition
מַשְׁאָב refers specifically to a watering trough or place where animals, particularly cattle, drink. It denotes a man-made structure for providing water to livestock, likely carved from stone or constructed from wood. The word appears only once in the Old Testament in Judges 5:11, where it is poetically contrasted with the 'righteous acts of the LORD' at the 'places of drawing water.' There are no other biblical occurrences that suggest alternative meanings.
Biblical Usage
This noun is used only in Judges 5:11, within the Song of Deborah. The context is a poetic recounting of God's victories, where the 'sound of those who divide the spoil' is heard 'at the watering places (מַשְׁאַבִּים).' Its usage here is symbolic, linking the mundane, everyday location of animal husbandry with the celebration of divine deliverance, grounding the spiritual victory in the tangible reality of community life.
Etymology
מַשְׁאָב is a masculine noun derived from the root שָׁאַב (shāʼab, H7579), meaning 'to draw (water).' It is formed using the ma- prefix, common for nouns indicating a place or instrument. Thus, its core meaning is 'a place or vessel for drawing water.' Cognate words include שְׁאָב (sheʼāb, H7578), meaning 'a drawing (of water),' and the verb itself, which is used for drawing water from a well (e.g., Genesis 24:13, Exodus 2:16).
Semantic Range
While the word itself is a common object, its single biblical appearance in Judges 5:11 carries theological weight. It symbolizes how God's mighty acts of salvation (the 'righteous acts of the LORD') intersect with and transform ordinary, daily life. The celebration of victory happens not only in sacred spaces but at the communal watering holes, indicating that God's deliverance permeates all aspects of existence. Understanding this Hebrew term enriches the reading by highlighting the poet's intentional contrast between the divine and the domestic.
In ancient Israelite agrarian society, watering troughs were vital infrastructure for sustaining livestock and, by extension, the community's wealth and survival. They were communal gathering points, often located near wells or springs. The 'place of drawing water' was a hub of daily activity and social interaction. The modern reader might simply see a 'trough,' but the original audience would have immediately associated it with life, provision, and community.
רָהַט (rāḥaṭ, H7298) — a trough or watering place, but often specifically a stone trough or gutter; used in Genesis 30:38, 41 and Exodus 2:16.
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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