לִ/גְוֺֽעַ
𐤋/𐤂𐤅𐤏
gâvaʻ
in perishing
To expire, to cease breathing, or to die (often in the sense of a peaceful or natural death). In the Hebrew Bible, גָּוַע is used to describe the end of life, typically indicating a natural or nonviolent death, and is often reserved for describing the death of notable personages such as patriarchs or monarchs. Unlike other terms for death, it emphasizes the physical act of expiring rather than violent loss of life or judicial execution.
kufwa "to die" (Lingala) · fwá "die" (Kimbundu) · fwã "die" (Umbundu) +17 moreNumbers 17:28 · Word #10
Lexicon H1478
| Lemma | גָּוַע |
| Lemma (Paleo) | 𐤂𐤅𐤏 |
| Transliteration | gâvaʻ |
| Strong's | H1478 |
| Definition | To expire, to cease breathing, or to die (often in the sense of a peaceful or natural death). In the Hebrew Bible, גָּוַע is used to describe the end of life, typically indicating a natural or nonviolent death, and is often reserved for describing the death of notable personages such as patriarchs or monarchs. Unlike other terms for death, it emphasizes the physical act of expiring rather than violent loss of life or judicial execution. |
Morphology HR/Vqc
All morphology codes
| Part of Speech | V — Verb — An action or state |
| Binyan | q — Qal — Simple active |
| Conjugation | c — Infinitive Construct — The verbal noun ("to ...") |
Common Translation
| Phrase | in perishing |
SIBI-P1 Translation H1478-06
to expire
| Morphological Notes | Verb, Qal stem, infinitive construct with prefixed ל preposition. |
| Rendering Rationale | The Qal infinitive construct with prefixed ל expresses the verbal idea in its simple active sense, "to expire." This rendering preserves the root’s focus on the physical act of breathing out and the natural cessation of life. |
View full lexicon entry for H1478 →
SILEX v2
SIBI-P2 (Context-Aware)
by expiring
| Same as P1 | No — adjusted for context |
| Rationale | Modified from 'to expire' to 'by expiring' since the Hebrew infinitive here has a causal nuance, indicating the means by which they expect to die. This connects better to the inquiry being made in the verse. |
Bantu Hebrew
לִ/גְוֺֽעַ (gâvaʻ) — To expire, to cease breathing, or to die (often in the sense of a peaceful or natural death). In the Hebrew Bible, גָּוַע is used to describe the end of life, typically indicating a natural or nonviolent death, and is often reserved for describing the death of notable personages such as patriarchs or monarchs. Unlike other terms for death, it emphasizes the physical act of expiring rather than violent loss of life or judicial execution.
| Word | Meaning | Language |
|---|---|---|
| kufwa | to die | Lingala |
| fwá | die | Kimbundu |
| fwã | die | Umbundu |
| fa | die (archaic/less common, often kufwa) | Kikongo |
| fwá | die | Luvale |
| fwá | die | Lunda |
| fa | die | Tonga (Zambia) |
| fwa | die | Bemba |
| fa | die | Chichewa |
| fa | die | Kirundi |
| fa | die | Kinyarwanda |
| fa | die | Luganda |
| fa | die | Lozi |
| shoa | die | Sotho |
| fa | die | Ndebele |
| fa | die | Xhosa |
| fa | die | Shona |
| fa | die (archaic/poetic); now often kufa | Swahili |
| fa | die | Zulu |
| kufa | to die | Chichewa |