יָבֵשׁ
To be ashamed , confused or disappointed ; also (as failing) to dry up (as water) or wither (as herbage)
Reading a lexicon entry
What this page is: Each lexicon entry shows the original Hebrew or Greek word behind the English translation: its meaning, its range of use, and where it appears in Scripture.
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Canonical witness: The witness passages show where this word is used in context. Click any to open the study page for that passage.
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What does יָבֵשׁ (yāvēsh) mean in the Bible?
יָבֵשׁ (yāvēsh) is a Hebrew word meaning "to be ashamed , confused or disappointed ; also (as failing) to dry up (as water) or wither (as herbage)". to be ashamed, confused or disappointed; also (as failing) to dry up (as water) or wither (as herbage) BDB: be dry Usage: be ashamed, clean, be confounded, (make) dry (up), (do) shame(-fully), × utterly, wither (away). The verb underscores the total loss of sustaining life.
Meaning
Shame and drying converge: social humiliation mirrors physical withering, both mark failure and depletion
to be ashamed, confused or disappointed; also (as failing) to dry up (as water) or wither (as herbage) BDB: be dry Usage: be ashamed, clean, be confounded, (make) dry (up), (do) shame(-fully), × utterly, wither (away).
Why This Word Matters
The verb underscores the total loss of sustaining life. Isaiah 19:5-10
Grammatical Forms
How the stem changes the meaning of this verb across the biblical text.
Hiphil causative active — the subject causes someone else to perform the action 26×
Qal basic active stem — the word in its most common, direct sense 27×
Piel intensive active — emphasizes thoroughness or repeated action 2×
Biblical Occurrences
Each occurrence shows the passage reference, the original language term as it appears in that context, its transliteration, and the contextual sense.
Old Testament Witnesses
Showing 8 of 73 occurrences in the biblical text.
Appears In
Compound and idiomatic lexemes in which this word is a constituent. Follow a link to study the phrase and its other participating words.