What does תֵּבֵל (tēbēl) mean in the Bible?
תֵּבֵל (tēbēl): Earth conceived as habitable and sustaining life, emphasizing moisture and fertility rather than mere geography.
Hebrew · H8398
תֵּבֵל
The earth (as moist and therefore inhabited); by extension, the globe ; by implication, its inhabitants ; specifically, a particular land , as Babylonia, Palestine
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תֵּבֵל H8398
Pronunciation tēbēl
What does תֵּבֵל (tēbēl) mean in the Bible?
תֵּבֵל (tēbēl): Earth conceived as habitable and sustaining life, emphasizing moisture and fertility rather than mere geography.
Full entry for תֵּבֵל (H8398) · Open the biblical lexicon
Questions this entry answers
How does the BSB render H8398?
The BSB source-word alignment has 36 aligned rows for this entry. Common renderings include the world (19), of the world (7), The earth (2), . . . (1), and the world (1).
Where does תֵּבֵל (tēbēl) appear in Scripture?
The source-word alignment first shows this entry at 1 Samuel 2:8. Its strongest book concentrations include Psalms (15), Isaiah (9), Job (3), Jeremiah (2).
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 the world 19× 1 Samuel 2:8, 1 Chronicles 16:30, Psalms 9:8, Psalms 24:1
of the world 7× 2 Samuel 22:16, Psalms 18:15, Psalms 19:4, Psalms 33:8
The earth 2× Psalms 89:11, Isaiah 14:21
. . . 1× Isaiah 27:6
and the world 1× Psalms 90:2
from the inhabited world 1× Job 18:18
in His whole world 1× Proverbs 8:31
into the world 1× Isaiah 26:18
of all 1× Job 37:12
of the earth 1× Proverbs 8:26
world 1× Job 34:13
Show sample aligned rows
1 Samuel 2:8 תֵּבֵֽל׃ to the world Noun - feminine singular 2 Samuel 22:16 תֵּבֵ֑ל to of the world Noun - feminine singular 1 Chronicles 16:30 תֵּבֵ֖ל to The world Noun - feminine singular Job 18:18 וּֽמִתֵּבֵ֥ל to from the inhabited world Conjunctive waw, Preposition-m | Noun - feminine singular Job 34:13 תֵּבֵ֥ל to world Noun - feminine singular Job 37:12 תֵבֵ֣ל to of all Noun - feminine singular Psalms 9:8 תֵּבֵ֥ל to the world Noun - feminine singular Psalms 18:15 תֵּ֫בֵ֥ל to of the world Noun - feminine singular Psalms 19:4 תֵ֭בֵל to of the world Noun - feminine singular Psalms 24:1 תֵּ֝בֵ֗ל to the world Noun - feminine singular
Usage map
A compact distribution from source-word alignment before the full evidence tables.
First aligned row 1 Samuel 2:8
Aligned rows 36
Books represented 10
1 Samuel 1 2 Samuel 1 1 Chronicles 1 Job 3 Psalms 15 Proverbs 2 Isaiah 9 Jeremiah 2 Lamentations 1 Nahum 1
Source forms
תֵּבֵ֥ל 5x tê·ḇêl Job 34:13, Psalms 9:8, Psalms 89:11, Psalms 96:13
תֵּבֵ֑ל 4x tê·ḇêl 2 Samuel 22:16, Psalms 77:18, Psalms 97:4, Isaiah 24:4
תֵּבֵ֖ל 4x tê·ḇêl 1 Chronicles 16:30, Isaiah 34:1, Jeremiah 10:12, Jeremiah 51:15
תֵבֵ֖ל 3x ṯê·ḇêl Isaiah 14:21, Isaiah 18:3, Isaiah 27:6
תֵּ֝בֵ֗ל 3x tê·ḇêl Psalms 24:1, Psalms 93:1, Psalms 98:7
תֵבֵֽל׃ 3x ṯê·ḇêl Psalms 33:8, Isaiah 26:9, Isaiah 26:18
תֵּבֵֽל׃ 2x tê·ḇêl 1 Samuel 2:8, Proverbs 8:26
בְּתֵבֵ֣ל 1x bə·ṯê·ḇêl Proverbs 8:31
Parsing patterns
Noun - feminine singular 31x 1 Samuel 2:8, 2 Samuel 22:16, 1 Chronicles 16:30, Job 34:13
Conjunctive waw | Noun - feminine singular 2x Psalms 90:2, Nahum 1:5
Conjunctive waw, Preposition-m | Noun - feminine singular 1x Job 18:18
Noun - feminine singular construct 1x Psalms 98:7
Preposition-b | Noun - feminine singular construct 1x Proverbs 8:31
Evidence Summary
Hebrew word. Earth conceived as habitable and sustaining life, emphasizing moisture and fertility rather than mere geography.
Source Gloss
the earth (as moist and therefore inhabited); by extension, the globe ; by implication, its inhabitants ; specifically, a particular land , as Babylonia, Palestine
Extended definition Source: Open Scriptures Hebrew Lexicon + Brown-Driver-Briggs
Earth conceived as habitable and sustaining life, emphasizing moisture and fertility rather than mere geography.
the earth (as moist and therefore inhabited); by extension, the globe; by implication, its inhabitants; specifically, a particular land, as Babylonia, Palestine BDB: world Usage: habitable part, world.
Grammatical Forms
How this word appears across different grammatical cases and numbers.
Selected Scripture Witness
Selected passage-level study witnesses for this word. This section is not the full occurrence list.
Biblical Witnesses
The inhabited world and its peoples facing divine judgment and devastation
Showing 1 selected witness from 36 lexical occurrence verses.
Word Origins
תֵּבֵל is built from this root:
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