What does מְשׁוּבָה (mĕšûbāh) mean in the Bible?
מְשׁוּבָה (mĕšûbāh): Deliberate turning away from covenant loyalty; abandonment of allegiance to God and His law
Hebrew · H4878
מְשׁוּבָה
Apostasy
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מְשׁוּבָהH4878
Pronunciationmĕšûbāh
What does מְשׁוּבָה (mĕšûbāh) mean in the Bible?
מְשׁוּבָה (mĕšûbāh): Deliberate turning away from covenant loyalty; abandonment of allegiance to God and His law
Full entry for מְשׁוּבָה (H4878) · Open the biblical lexicon
Questions this entry answers
How does the BSB render H4878?
The BSB source-word alignment has 12 aligned rows for this entry. Common renderings include faithless (3), [and] their unfaithful deeds (1), always turn away (1), O faithless (1), on turning from Me (1).
Where does מְשׁוּבָה (mĕšûbāh) appear in Scripture?
The source-word alignment first shows this entry at Proverbs 1:32. Its strongest book concentrations include Jeremiah (9), Hosea (2), Proverbs (1).
Source Word Evidence
BSB source-word alignment connects this entry to exact verse rows, English rendering, source form, transliteration, and parsing.
How English Renders Itfaithless3×Jeremiah 3:6, Jeremiah 3:8, Jeremiah 3:11
[and] their unfaithful deeds1×Jeremiah 5:6
always turn away1×Jeremiah 8:5
O faithless1×Jeremiah 3:12
on turning from Me1×Hosea 11:7
our rebellions1×Jeremiah 14:7
the waywardness1×Proverbs 1:32
their apostasy1×Hosea 14:4
your faithlessness1×Jeremiah 3:22
your own apostasies1×Jeremiah 2:19
Show sample aligned rows
Proverbs 1:32מְשׁוּבַ֣תtothe waywardnessNoun - feminine singular constructJeremiah 2:19וּמְשֻֽׁבוֹתַ֙יִךְ֙toyour own apostasiesConjunctive waw | Noun - feminine plural construct | second person feminine singularJeremiah 3:6מְשֻׁבָ֣הtofaithlessNoun - feminine singularJeremiah 3:8מְשֻׁבָ֣הtofaithlessNoun - feminine singularJeremiah 3:11מְשֻׁבָ֣הtoFaithlessNoun - feminine singularJeremiah 3:12מְשֻׁבָ֤הtoO faithlessNoun - feminine singularJeremiah 3:22מְשׁוּבֹֽתֵיכֶ֑םtoyour faithlessnessNoun - feminine plural construct | second person masculine pluralJeremiah 5:6מְשֻׁבוֹתֵיהֶם׃to[and] their unfaithful deedsNoun - feminine plural construct | third person masculine pluralJeremiah 8:5מְשֻׁבָ֣הtoalways turn awayNoun - feminine singularJeremiah 14:7מְשׁוּבֹתֵ֖ינוּtoour rebellionsNoun - feminine plural construct | first person common plural
Usage map
A compact distribution from source-word alignment before the full evidence tables.
First aligned rowProverbs 1:32
Aligned rows12
Books represented3
Proverbs1Jeremiah9Hosea2
Source forms
מְשֻׁבָ֣ה4xmə·šu·ḇāhJeremiah 3:6, Jeremiah 3:8, Jeremiah 3:11, Jeremiah 8:5
וּמְשֻֽׁבוֹתַ֙יִךְ֙1xū·mə·šu·ḇō·w·ṯa·yiḵJeremiah 2:19
לִמְשֽׁוּבָתִ֑י1xlim·šū·ḇā·ṯîHosea 11:7
מְשֻׁבָ֤ה1xmə·šu·ḇāhJeremiah 3:12
מְשֻׁבוֹתֵיהֶם׃1xmə·šu·ḇō·ṯē·hɛmJeremiah 5:6
מְשׁוּבַ֣ת1xmə·šū·ḇaṯProverbs 1:32
מְשׁוּבֹֽתֵיכֶ֑ם1xmə·šū·ḇō·ṯê·ḵemJeremiah 3:22
מְשׁוּבֹתֵ֖ינוּ1xmə·šū·ḇō·ṯê·nūJeremiah 14:7
Parsing patterns
Noun - feminine singular5xJeremiah 3:6, Jeremiah 3:8, Jeremiah 3:11, Jeremiah 3:12
Conjunctive waw | Noun - feminine plural construct | second person feminine singular1xJeremiah 2:19
Noun - feminine plural construct | first person common plural1xJeremiah 14:7
Noun - feminine plural construct | second person masculine plural1xJeremiah 3:22
Noun - feminine plural construct | third person masculine plural1xJeremiah 5:6
Noun - feminine singular construct1xProverbs 1:32
Noun - feminine singular construct | third person masculine plural1xHosea 14:4
Preposition-l | Noun - feminine singular construct | first person common singular1xHosea 11:7
Evidence Summary
Hebrew word. Deliberate turning away from covenant loyalty; abandonment of allegiance to God and His law
Source Gloss
apostasy
Extended definitionSource: Open Scriptures Hebrew Lexicon + Brown-Driver-Briggs
Deliberate turning away from covenant loyalty; abandonment of allegiance to God and His law
apostasy BDB: turning back Usage: backsliding, turning away.
Grammatical Forms
How this word appears across different grammatical cases and numbers.
Selected Scripture Witnesses
Selected passage-level study witnesses for this word. This section is not the full occurrence list.
Biblical Witnesses
Israel's turning away from God, characterized as self-inflicted punishment
Judah's apostasy and unfaithfulness compared to Israel's earlier apostasy
Showing 2 selected witnesses from 13 lexical occurrence verses.
Word Origins
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.