What does גָּנַב (gānab) mean in the Bible?
גָּנַב (gānab): Theft that conceals and removes—whether property or truth—carrying away what belongs to another through stealth.
Hebrew · H1589
גָּנַב
To thieve (literally or figuratively); by implication, to deceive
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גָּנַב H1589
Pronunciation gānab
What does גָּנַב (gānab) mean in the Bible?
גָּנַב (gānab): Theft that conceals and removes—whether property or truth—carrying away what belongs to another through stealth.
Full entry for גָּנַב (H1589) · Open the biblical lexicon
Questions this entry answers
How does the BSB render H1589?
The BSB source-word alignment has 40 aligned rows for this entry. Common renderings include steal (4), . . . (2), and stole him away (2), stole (2), stolen (2).
Where does גָּנַב (gānab) appear in Scripture?
The source-word alignment first shows this entry at Genesis 30:33. Its strongest book concentrations include Genesis (12), Exodus (6), 2 Samuel (5), Job (3).
Source Word Evidence
BSB source-word alignment connects this entry to exact verse rows, English rendering, source form, transliteration, and parsing.
How English Renders It steal 4× Exodus 20:15, Leviticus 19:11, Deuteronomy 5:19, Obadiah 1:5
. . . 2× Genesis 31:39, Genesis 40:15
and stole him away 2× 2 Kings 11:2, 2 Chronicles 22:11
stole 2× Genesis 31:19, 2 Samuel 15:6
stolen 2× Exodus 22:12, Proverbs 9:17
[the animal] was actually 1× Exodus 22:12
and deceive 1× Genesis 31:27
and steal 1× Proverbs 30:9
and stealing 1× Hosea 4:2
and they are stolen 1× Exodus 22:7
deceived 1× Genesis 31:20
for what was stolen 1× Genesis 31:39
had stolen 1× 2 Samuel 21:12
had stolen [the idols] 1× Genesis 31:32
have you stolen 1× Genesis 31:30
he steals 1× Proverbs 6:30
I was kidnapped 1× Genesis 40:15
kidnapping 1× Deuteronomy 24:7
quietly 1× 2 Samuel 19:3
secretly 1× Job 4:12
steal away 1× 2 Samuel 19:3
steals 1× Exodus 22:1
sweeps him away 1× Job 27:20
swept away 1× Job 21:18
take you away secretly 1× 2 Samuel 19:41
they have stolen 1× Joshua 7:11
thief 1× Zechariah 5:3
who steal 1× Jeremiah 23:30
Whoever kidnaps 1× Exodus 21:16
will be considered stolen 1× Genesis 30:33
Will you steal 1× Jeremiah 7:9
would we steal 1× Genesis 44:8
You have deceived 1× Genesis 31:26
Show sample aligned rows
Genesis 30:33 גָּנ֥וּב to will be considered stolen Verb - Qal - QalPassParticiple - masculine singular Genesis 31:19 וַתִּגְנֹ֣ב to stole Conjunctive waw | Verb - Qal - Consecutive imperfect - third person feminine singular Genesis 31:20 וַיִּגְנֹ֣ב to deceived Conjunctive waw | Verb - Qal - Consecutive imperfect - third person masculine singular Genesis 31:26 וַתִּגְנֹ֖ב to You have deceived Conjunctive waw | Verb - Qal - Consecutive imperfect - second person masculine singular Genesis 31:27 וַתִּגְנֹ֖ב to and deceive Conjunctive waw | Verb - Qal - Consecutive imperfect - second person masculine singular Genesis 31:30 גָנַ֖בְתָּ to have you stolen Verb - Qal - Perfect - second person masculine singular Genesis 31:32 גְּנָבָֽתַם׃ to had stolen [the idols] Verb - Qal - Perfect - third person feminine singular | third person masculine plural Genesis 31:39 גְּנֻֽבְתִ֣י to for what was stolen Verb - Qal - QalPassParticiple - feminine singular construct Genesis 31:39 וּגְנֻֽבְתִ֖י to . . . Conjunctive waw | Verb - Qal - QalPassParticiple - feminine singular construct Genesis 40:15 גֻנֹּ֣ב to I was kidnapped Verb - Pual - Infinitive absolute
Usage map
A compact distribution from source-word alignment before the full evidence tables.
First aligned row Genesis 30:33
Aligned rows 40
Books represented 14
Genesis 12 Exodus 6 Leviticus 1 Deuteronomy 2 Joshua 1 2 Samuel 5 2 Kings 1 2 Chronicles 1 Job 3 Proverbs 3 Jeremiah 2 Hosea 1 Obadiah 1 Zechariah 1
Source forms
גְּנָבַ֥תּוּ 2x gə·nā·ḇat·tū Job 21:18, Job 27:20
וַתִּגְנֹ֖ב 2x wat·tiḡ·nōḇ Genesis 31:26, Genesis 31:27
וַתִּגְנֹ֤ב 2x wat·tiḡ·nōḇ 2 Kings 11:2, 2 Chronicles 22:11
תִּֿגְנֹֽ֔ב׃ס 2x tiḡ·nōḇ Exodus 20:15, Deuteronomy 5:19
גָּנֹ֥ב 1x gā·nōḇ Exodus 22:12
גֹּנֵ֨ב 1x gō·nêḇ Deuteronomy 24:7
גֻנֹּ֣ב 1x ḡun·nōḇ Genesis 40:15
גָּֽנְבוּ֙ 1x gā·nə·ḇū Joshua 7:11
Parsing patterns
Conjunctive waw | Verb - Qal - Consecutive imperfect - third person feminine singular 3x Genesis 31:19, 2 Kings 11:2, 2 Chronicles 22:11
Conjunctive waw | Verb - Qal - Consecutive imperfect - second person masculine singular 2x Genesis 31:26, Genesis 31:27
Verb - Qal - Imperfect - second person masculine singular 2x Exodus 20:15, Deuteronomy 5:19
Verb - Qal - Imperfect - third person masculine singular 2x Exodus 22:1, Proverbs 6:30
Verb - Qal - Infinitive absolute 2x Exodus 22:12, Jeremiah 7:9
Verb - Qal - Perfect - third person common plural 2x Joshua 7:11, 2 Samuel 21:12
Verb - Qal - Perfect - third person feminine singular | third person masculine singular 2x Job 21:18, Job 27:20
Article | Verb - Qal - Participle - masculine singular 1x Zechariah 5:3
Evidence Summary
Hebrew word. Theft that conceals and removes—whether property or truth—carrying away what belongs to another through stealth.
Strong's H1589
Lexical occurrences 40 verses Word forms 5 forms 21 references Verse guides 0 guides
Study link Genesis 31:1-21 Source Gloss
to thieve (literally or figuratively); by implication, to deceive
Extended definition Source: Open Scriptures Hebrew Lexicon + Brown-Driver-Briggs
Theft that conceals and removes—whether property or truth—carrying away what belongs to another through stealth.
to thieve (literally or figuratively); by implication, to deceive BDB: steal Usage: carry away, × indeed, secretly bring, steal (away), get by stealth.
Grammatical Forms
How the stem changes the meaning of this verb across the biblical text.
This verb appears through different tense, voice, mood, or stem patterns. Those forms help readers see how the action is presented in context.
Form groups 5 Aligned forms 21
Qal basic active stem — the word in its most common, direct sense 15×
Imperfect Deut 5:19 · Exod 20:15 · Exod 21:37 · Prov 6:30 · Gen 44:8 · Lev 19:11 · Obad 1:5 7×
Participle passive Gen 30:33 · Gen 31:39 · Prov 9:17 3×
Perfect 2Sam 21:12 · Josh 7:11 · Gen 31:30 3×
Participle active Deut 24:7 1×
Infinitive absolute Exod 22:11 1×
Hithpael reflexive or reciprocal — the subject acts on itself or mutually with others 1×
Imperfect 2Sam 19:4 1×
Niphal passive or reflexive — the subject receives or experiences the action 1×
Imperfect Exod 22:11 1×
Pual intensive passive — intensive action received by the subject 3×
Infinitive absolute Gen 40:15 1×
Perfect Gen 40:15 1×
Imperfect Job 4:12 1×
Piel intensive active — emphasizes thoroughness or repeated action 1×
Participle active Jer 23:30 1×
Selected Scripture Witnesses
Selected passage-level study witnesses for this word. This section is not the full occurrence list.
Biblical Witnesses
Jacob secretly departs with family and livestock, taking property away by stealth
Legal prohibition against theft as a commandment within Israel's moral law code
Figurative use of stealing to describe seduction and deception by a foolish woman
Showing 3 selected witnesses from 40 lexical occurrence verses.
Word Origins
גָּנַב is a primitive root - no further derivation.
Part of These Phrases
Compound and idiomatic phrases that include this word. Follow a link to study the phrase and how its parts work together.
Sources
MorphGNT Strong's Dictionary XML — CC0 1.0 Public Domain
Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible (morphhb/OSHB) — CC BY 4.0
Open Scriptures Hebrew Lexicon — CC BY 4.0
Berean Standard Bible (BSB) source-word alignment - CC0 Public Domain