What does גָּרַשׁ (gāraš) mean in the Bible?
גָּרַשׁ (gāraš): Forcible separation from a rightful place or relationship; used of expulsion, divorce, and dispossession alike.
Hebrew · H1644
גָּרַשׁ
To drive out from a possession; especially to expatriate or divorce
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גָּרַשׁ H1644
Pronunciation gāraš
What does גָּרַשׁ (gāraš) mean in the Bible?
גָּרַשׁ (gāraš): Forcible separation from a rightful place or relationship; used of expulsion, divorce, and dispossession alike.
Full entry for גָּרַשׁ (H1644) · Open the biblical lexicon
Questions this entry answers
How does the BSB render H1644?
The BSB source-word alignment has 47 aligned rows for this entry. Common renderings include . . . (1), a divorced woman (1), And [Moses and Aaron] were driven (1), and drive them away (1), and drive them out (1).
Where does גָּרַשׁ (gāraš) appear in Scripture?
The source-word alignment first shows this entry at Genesis 3:24. Its strongest book concentrations include Exodus (12), Judges (5), Genesis (3), Leviticus (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 . . . 1× Exodus 11:1
a divorced woman 1× Leviticus 21:14
And [Moses and Aaron] were driven 1× Exodus 10:11
and drive them away 1× Numbers 22:11
and drive them out 1× Numbers 22:6
and drove them away 1× Exodus 2:17
and expel me 1× Judges 11:7
and I will drive out 1× Exodus 33:2
and it drove out 1× Joshua 24:12
and you will drive them out 1× Exodus 23:31
are like the storm-tossed 1× Isaiah 57:20
banished 1× 1 Kings 2:27
by driving out 1× 1 Chronicles 17:21
churn up 1× Isaiah 57:20
divorced 1× Leviticus 21:7
Drive out 1× Proverbs 22:10
drive out [these people] 1× Judges 2:3
drive them out 1× Exodus 23:29
drove 1× Judges 9:41
drove out 1× Joshua 24:18
Expel 1× Genesis 21:10
He drives out 1× Deuteronomy 33:27
He drove out 1× Psalms 78:55
he will drive them out of 1× Exodus 6:1
he will drive you out 1× Exodus 11:1
I drove them out 1× Judges 6:9
I have banished it 1× Ezekiel 31:11
I have been banished 1× Jonah 2:4
I will drive out 1× Exodus 34:11
I will drive them 1× Hosea 9:15
I will drive them out 1× Exodus 23:30
it will surge 1× Amos 8:8
or a divorced woman 1× Ezekiel 44:22
or divorced 1× Leviticus 22:13
or divorced woman 1× Numbers 30:9
out 1× Judges 11:2
So He drove out 1× Genesis 3:24
so that [the king] drove him 1× Psalms 34:1
they have driven me away 1× 1 Samuel 26:19
They were banished 1× Job 30:5
to drive 1× Exodus 23:28
to drive us out 1× 2 Chronicles 20:11
when they had been driven out 1× Exodus 12:39
will be driven out 1× Zephaniah 2:4
You drive 1× Micah 2:9
You drove out 1× Psalms 80:8
You have driven me 1× Genesis 4:14
Show sample aligned rows
Genesis 3:24 וַיְגָ֖רֶשׁ to So He drove out Conjunctive waw | Verb - Piel - Consecutive imperfect - third person masculine singular Genesis 4:14 גֵּרַ֨שְׁתָּ to You have driven me Verb - Piel - Perfect - second person masculine singular Genesis 21:10 גָּרֵ֛שׁ to Expel Verb - Piel - Imperative - masculine singular Exodus 2:17 וַיְגָרְשׁ֑וּם to and drove them away Conjunctive waw | Verb - Piel - Consecutive imperfect - third person masculine plural | third person masculine plural Exodus 6:1 יְגָרְשֵׁ֖ם to he will drive them out of Verb - Piel - Imperfect - third person masculine singular | third person masculine plural Exodus 10:11 וַיְגָ֣רֶשׁ to And [Moses and Aaron] were driven Conjunctive waw | Verb - Piel - Consecutive imperfect - third person masculine singular Exodus 11:1 גָּרֵ֛שׁ to he will drive you out Verb - Piel - Infinitive absolute Exodus 11:1 יְגָרֵ֥שׁ to . . . Verb - Piel - Imperfect - third person masculine singular Exodus 12:39 גֹרְשׁ֣וּ to when they had been driven out Verb - Pual - Perfect - third person common plural Exodus 23:28 וְגֵרְשָׁ֗ה to to drive Conjunctive waw | Verb - Piel - Conjunctive perfect - third person feminine singular
Usage map
A compact distribution from source-word alignment before the full evidence tables.
First aligned row Genesis 3:24
Aligned rows 47
Books represented 21
Genesis 3 Exodus 12 Leviticus 3 Numbers 3 Deuteronomy 1 Joshua 2 Judges 5 1 Samuel 1 1 Kings 1 1 Chronicles 1 2 Chronicles 1 Job 1 Psalms 3 Proverbs 1 Isaiah 2 Ezekiel 2 Hosea 1 Amos 1 Jonah 1 Micah 1 Zephaniah 1
Source forms
גָּרֵ֛שׁ 2x gā·rêš Genesis 21:10, Exodus 11:1
וַיְגָ֧רֶשׁ 2x way·ḡā·reš Deuteronomy 33:27, Judges 9:41
וַיְגָ֤רֶשׁ 2x way·ḡā·reš 1 Kings 2:27, Psalms 78:55
אֲגָרֵ֥שׁ 1x ’ă·ḡā·rêš Judges 2:3
אֲגָרְשֵׁ֑ם 1x ’ă·ḡā·rə·šêm Hosea 9:15
אֲגָרְשֶׁ֛נּוּ 1x ’ă·ḡā·rə·šen·nū Exodus 23:29
אֲגָרְשֶׁ֖נּוּ 1x ’ă·ḡā·rə·šen·nū Exodus 23:30
גְּרוּשָׁ֥ה 1x gə·rū·šāh Leviticus 21:7
Parsing patterns
Conjunctive waw | Verb - Piel - Consecutive imperfect - third person masculine singular 7x Genesis 3:24, Exodus 10:11, Deuteronomy 33:27, Joshua 24:18
Conjunctive waw | Verb - Qal - QalPassParticiple - feminine singular 4x Leviticus 21:14, Leviticus 22:13, Numbers 30:9, Ezekiel 44:22
Verb - Piel - Imperative - masculine singular 2x Genesis 21:10, Proverbs 22:10
Verb - Piel - Imperfect - first person common singular | third person masculine singular 2x Exodus 23:29, Exodus 23:30
Conjunctive waw | Verb - Nifal - Conjunctive perfect - third person feminine singular 1x Amos 8:8
Conjunctive waw | Verb - Piel - Conjunctive imperfect - first person common singular | third person masculine singular 1x Numbers 22:6
Conjunctive waw | Verb - Piel - Conjunctive perfect - first person common singular 1x Exodus 33:2
Conjunctive waw | Verb - Piel - Conjunctive perfect - first person common singular | third person masculine singular 1x Numbers 22:11
Evidence Summary
Hebrew word. Forcible separation from a rightful place or relationship; used of expulsion, divorce, and dispossession alike.
Strong's H1644
Lexical occurrences 47 verses Word forms 4 forms 13 references Verse guides 0 guides
Study link Genesis 3:20-24 Source Gloss
to drive out from a possession; especially to expatriate or divorce
Extended definition Source: Open Scriptures Hebrew Lexicon + Brown-Driver-Briggs
Forcible separation from a rightful place or relationship; used of expulsion, divorce, and dispossession alike.
to drive out from a possession; especially to expatriate or divorce BDB: drive out Usage: cast up (out), divorced (woman), drive away (forth, out), expel, × surely put away, trouble, thrust out.
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 4 Aligned forms 13
Piel intensive active — emphasizes thoroughness or repeated action 7×
Imperfect Exod 11:1 · Judg 2:3 · Ps 80:9 3×
Sequential imperfect Gen 21:10 · Prov 22:10 2×
Infinitive absolute Exod 11:1 1×
Perfect Gen 4:14 1×
Pual intensive passive — intensive action received by the subject 2×
Perfect Exod 12:39 1×
Imperfect Job 30:5 1×
Qal basic active stem — the word in its most common, direct sense 2×
Participle active Exod 34:11 1×
Participle passive Lev 21:7 1×
Niphal passive or reflexive — the subject receives or experiences the action 2×
Participle active Isa 57:20 1×
Perfect Jonah 2:5 1×
Selected Scripture Witnesses
Selected passage-level study witnesses for this word. This section is not the full occurrence list.
Biblical Witnesses
God expels Adam and Eve from Eden after their disobedience
Shepherds forcibly expel Moses from the well where he helps water the flocks
Remove a mocker or scorner from community to prevent strife and contention
Showing 3 selected witnesses from 47 lexical occurrence verses.
Word Origins
גָּרַשׁ 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