H0962 H0962
To plunder, take spoil; as participle, a plunderer; in passive stems, to be plundered or despoiled.
A verb of violent seizure central to the vocabulary of warfare and divine judgment in the Hebrew Bible. From the earliest patriarchal narratives (Gen 34:27, the sack of Shechem) through prophetic oracles of doom (Isa 24:3; Jer 50:37), bāzaz describes the carrying off of goods, livestock, and possessions as spoil. Cognates in Arabic (bazz), Aramaic, and Ethiopic confirm the core meaning of forcible seizure. The word appears across all major verb forms — active plundering by armies, participial descriptions of habitual plunderers, and passive constructions where entire cities and nations are despoiled. German 'plündern' and Spanish 'saquear' track the meaning with striking consistency.
Senses
1. plunder, take as spoil — The primary active sense: to plunder, loot, or carry off possessions as spoil of war. This covers the full range of finite verb forms — perfect, imperfect, imperative, cohortative, and infinitive. It dominates the Pentateuchal war narratives (Num 31:9, 32, 53; Deut 2:35; 3:7) and the conquest accounts (Josh 8:2; 11:14), where victorious armies systematically strip defeated peoples of livestock, goods, and treasures. Spanish 'saqueamos' (we plundered) and German 'plünderte' reflect the straightforward military pillaging. Nahum 2:10's doubled imperative 'Plunder! Plunder!' captures the frenzied intensity the word can carry. 33×
AR["انْهَبُوا", "سَلَبُوا", "غَنِمْنَا", "لِ-لنَّهْبِ", "نَهَبوا", "نَهَبَ", "نَهَبُوا", "وَ-نَهَبُوا", "وَنَهَبوا", "وَنَهَبُوا", "وَيَنْهَبُونَ", "يَنْهَبُونَ"]·ben["-লুট-করতে", "আর-ডাকাতি-করবে", "আর-বাজেয়াপ্ত-করবে", "আর-লুট-করল", "আর-লুণ্ঠন-করলেন", "এবং-তারা-লুট-করল", "ও-লুট-করল", "তারা-লুট-করবে", "তারা-লুট-করে", "লুট-করতে", "লুট-করল", "লুট-করলাম", "লুট-করেছিল", "লুণ্ঠন-করো"]·DE["pluendern", "pluendert", "pluenderte", "sie-pluenderte", "und-pluendern", "und-plünderten", "und-sie-pluenderte", "wir-pluenderte"]·EN["and-plundered", "and-they-plundered", "and-they-shall-spoil", "and-they-will-spoil", "plunder", "plundered", "they-plundered", "they-prey-upon", "they-will-plunder", "to-plunder", "we-plundered"]·FR["[ויבזו]", "[לבוז]", "butin", "et-butin", "et-ils-pilla", "ils-pilla", "nous-pilla", "pilla", "piller"]·heb["בוזו", "בזונו", "בזזו", "בזזנו", "ו-בזזו", "ו-יבוזו", "ו-יבזו", "יבוזו", "ל-בוז"]·HI["उनकी-संपत्ति-को", "और-छीनेंगे", "और-लूटा", "और-लूटा-उन्होंने", "लूटने-को", "लूटा", "लूटो", "वय्यावोज्जू", "वे-लूटेंगे"]·ID["Jarahlah", "dan-menjarah", "dan-merampas", "dan-mereka-akan-menjarah", "dan-mereka-jarah", "dan-mereka-menjarah", "dijarah", "jarahlah", "kami-rampas", "menjarah", "merampas", "mereka-menjarah", "mereka-rampas", "untuk-dirampas"]·IT["disprezzare", "e-disprezzare", "e-essi-saccheggiò", "e-saccheggiare", "essi-saccheggio", "noi-saccheggio", "saccheggiare", "saccheggio", "saccheggiò"]·jav["Sami-ngrampas", "dipunjarah", "kanggé-rayahan", "kita-jarahi", "lan-njarah", "lan-piyambakipun-ngrayah", "lan-piyambakipun-sami-njarah", "lan-sami-njarah", "njarah", "piyambakipun-badhé-ngrampas", "piyambakipun-ngrampas", "sampun-njarah"]·KO["그리고-노략질할것이다", "그리고-노략할-것이다", "그리고-약탈하였다", "그리고-약탈했다", "그리고-탈취했다", "노략질하라", "레-약탈하기-위함이라", "맥탈했다", "빼앗도록", "약탈하였다", "우리가-약탈하였다", "우리가-탈취하였다", "탈취하는도다", "탈취하리라"]·PT["despojaram", "e-despojarão", "e-pilharão", "e-saquearam", "e-saqueou", "para-saquear", "saqueai", "saqueamos", "saquearam", "saquearão"]·RU["будут-грабить", "грабили", "захватил", "захватили", "захватили-мы", "и-нахватали", "и-разграбили", "и-разорят", "и-расхитят", "разграбили", "разграбить", "разграбляйте"]·ES["despojaron", "para-saquear", "saqueamos", "saquearon", "saquearán", "saqueen", "y-despojarán", "y-saquearon", "y-saquearán", "¡Saqueadl"]·SW["Tekeni-nyara", "kwa-kuteka", "na-wakaiteka", "na-wakapora", "na-wakateka", "na-watanyangʼanya", "tekeni-nyara", "tulitwaa", "wakaporea", "wakavunja", "walichukua", "walichukua-nyara", "waliporoa", "watapoka", "watawanyanganya", "wawanyanganyize"]·TR["Yağmalayın", "ve-ganimet-alacaklar", "ve-talan-edecekler", "ve-yagmaladi", "ve-yağmaladılar", "yagmalarlar", "yagmalayacaklar", "yağmaladık", "yağmaladılar", "yağmalamak-için-", "yağmalayın"]·urd["اور-تاراج-کریں-گے", "اور-لوٹا", "اور-لوٹیں-گے", "لوٹ-لیا", "لوٹا", "لوٹنا", "لوٹیں-گے", "لُوٹو", "ہم-نے-لوٹا"]
Gen 34:27, Gen 34:29, Num 31:9, Num 31:32, Num 31:53, Deut 2:35, Deut 3:7, Deut 20:14, Josh 8:2, Josh 8:27, Josh 11:14, 1 Sam 14:36 (+21 more)
2. plunderer, one who despoils — The active participle functioning as an agent noun: a plunderer, spoiler, or despoiler — one whose characteristic activity is taking plunder. At Isa 42:24 the prophet asks 'Who gave Jacob to the plunderers?'; at Jer 30:16 God promises that 'all who despoil you shall be despoiled.' Spanish 'los que te saquean' (those who plunder you) and English 'our despoilers' preserve the participial agent meaning. Ezek 39:10 uses this form in a dramatic reversal: Israel will 'despoil those who despoiled them,' a chiastic justice motif the participle enables. 5×
AR["سَالِبِيكِ", "سَالِبِينَا", "لِلنَّاهِبِينَ", "نَاهِبِيهِمْ", "يَنْهَبُونَ"]·ben["-আমাদের-অপহরণকারীদের", "তাদের-ডাকাতকারীদের", "লুট-করতে", "লুটকারীরা-তোমার", "লুন্ঠনকারীদের-জন্য"]·DE["pluendern"]·EN["our-despoilers", "pillaging-you", "plundering", "their-spoilers", "to-plunderers"]·FR["[בזזים]", "butin", "piller"]·heb["בוזזיהם", "בוזזייך", "בזזים", "ל-בוזזים", "ל-בוזזינו"]·HI["उनके-छीननेवालों", "को-लूटने-वालों", "तेरे-छीननेवालों", "लूटतेहुए", "हमारे-लूटेरों-का"]·ID["kepada-perampas", "menjarah", "para-perampas-kami", "penjarah-penjarah-mereka", "yang-menjarahmu"]·IT["disprezzare", "saccheggiare"]·jav["ingkang-ngrayang-panjenengan", "kanggé-para-perampog", "sami-ngrampas", "tiyang-ingkang-ngrayah-ipun", "tiyang-ingkang-njarah-kita"]·KO["너를-노략하는-자들을", "노략질한자들-그들의를", "맥벗기는-자들에게", "약탈하고-있었다", "우리를-노략하는-자들의"]·PT["despojadores-deles", "nossos-despojadores", "os-que-te-saqueiam", "para-saqueadores", "saqueando"]·RU["грабителям", "грабящими", "разорителей-своих", "расхитителей-наших", "расхищающих-тебя"]·ES["a-los-saqueadores", "los-que-te-saquean", "nuestros-saqueadores", "saqueando", "sus-saqueadores"]·SW["kwa-waporaji", "la-wanaotuteka", "wakiteka", "waliowapoka", "waporaji-wako"]·TR["ganimet-alanlarını", "talan-edenlerin", "talan-edenlerın-senin", "yagmacilara", "yağmalayanlar"]·urd["اپنے-تاراج-کرنے-والوں", "لوٹنے-والوں-کے-ہاتھ", "لُوٹتے-ہوئے", "چھیننے-والے-تیرے", "ہمیں-تاراج-کرنے-والوں-کی"]
3. be plundered, be despoiled — The passive sense (Niphal and related stems): to be plundered, looted, or despoiled. At Isa 24:3 the doubling 'the land shall be utterly plundered' (hibbōz tibbōz) intensifies the devastation through the infinitive absolute construction. Jer 50:37 prophesies that Babylon's treasures 'shall be plundered,' and Amos 3:11 warns that Samaria's strongholds 'shall be despoiled.' The multilingual glosses — Spanish 'será saqueada,' German 'und geplündert' — consistently render the passive voice, marking the semantic shift from agent to victim of pillaging. 4×
AR["تُنْهَبُ", "فَتُنْهَبُ", "وَ-تُنْهَبُ", "وَتُنْهَبُ"]·ben["আর-লুঠ-হবে", "এবং-লুঠিত-হবে", "ও-লুন্ঠন", "লুন্ঠিত-হবে"]·DE["pluendern", "und-pluendern", "und-pluendert"]·EN["and-plundered", "and-shall-be-plundered", "and-they-will-be-plundered", "shall-be-plundered"]·FR["et-butin", "et-piller", "piller"]·heb["ו-בוזזו", "ו-להיבזז", "ו-נבוזוּ", "תיבזז"]·HI["और-लुटेंगे", "और-लूट-लिए-जाएंगे", "और-लूटकर", "लूटी-जाएगी"]·ID["akan-dijarah", "dan-akan-dijarah", "dan-dijarah", "dan-mereka-akan-dijarah"]·IT["e-saccheggiare", "saccheggiare"]·jav["dipun-jarah", "lan-dipun-jarah-blas", "lan-dipun-rayah", "lan-sami-dijarah"]·KO["그리고-약탈당하리라-그것들이", "그리고-약탈당할-것이다", "그리고-완전히-", "약탈당하리니"]·PT["e-saqueando ¦", "e-serão-saqueados", "será-saqueada"]·RU["и-будут-разграблены", "и-разграблением", "разграбится"]·ES["será-saqueada", "y-saqueando", "y-serán-saqueados"]·SW["itatekwa-nyara", "na-kutekwa-nyara", "na-zitaporwa"]·TR["ve-yagmalanacak", "ve-yağmalanacak", "yagmalanacak"]·urd["اور-لوٹے-جائیں", "اور-لوٹے-جائیں-گے", "اور-لوٹے-جانے-سے", "لوٹی-جائے-گی"]
4. sense 4 — An occurrence at Isa 42:22 where the form 'plundered' describes the state of a people who have been thoroughly despoiled — 'a people plundered and looted.' The glosses (English 'plundered,' Spanish 'despojado,' French 'pillé') all point to a stative or resultative reading: not the act of being plundered but the condition of having been plundered. In context this pairs with the participial sense of sense 2 in the same chapter (Isa 42:24), creating a deliberate echo between the plunderers and the plundered state of God's people. 1×
AR["مَنْهُوبٌ"]·ben["লুন্ঠিত"]·DE["pluendern"]·EN["plundered"]·FR["piller"]·heb["בזוז"]·HI["लूटे-हुए"]·ID["yang-dirampok"]·IT["saccheggiare"]·jav["ingkang-dipun-rampog"]·KO["약탈당한"]·PT["saqueado"]·RU["ограбленный"]·ES["despojado"]·SW["walioporwa"]·TR["yagmalanan"]·urd["لٹی-ہوئی"]
Related Senses
H5414 1. give, bestow (1855×)H3947 1. take, seize, grasp (Qal) (940×)G2192 1. possess / have (680×)G1325 1. give, bestow (336×)H5159 1. inherited land or property (170×)G2983 1. receive, obtain (134×)H3423 1. Qal: take possession of land (130×)G2983 2. take, take up (113×)G2398 1. one's own, belonging to oneself (91×)G3860 1. hand over, deliver to custody (78×)H7998 1. spoil, plunder, booty (74×)G1325 2. be given, be granted (70×)H5414 2. put, place, set (68×)H7999a 1. pay, repay, recompense (63×)H7069 1. Buy, purchase (59×)H1892 1. vanity, futility, absurdity (58×)H5159 2. heritage as covenant portion (52×)H6299 1. redeem or ransom (Qal active) (49×)H4376 1. Sell (Qal active) (47×)H1350a 1. Redeem, buy back (46×)
BDB / Lexicon Reference
† בָּזַז vb. spoil, plunder (Arabic بَزّ, Aramaic ܒܰܙ; Amhar. በዘበዘ: also Ethiopic ቤዘወ: rescue PräBAS i. 33)— Qal Pf. 3 ms. וּבָזַז (consec.) Ez 29:19; 3 pl. בָּֽזֲזוּ Nu 31:53 + 7 times; בָּזָ֑זוּ Nu 31:9; sf. וּבְזָזוּם consec. Je 20:5; 1 pl. בָּזַזְנוּ Dt 2:35; בַּזּוֹנוּ 3:7; Impf. 2 ms. תָּבֹז Dt 20:14, pl. יָבֹ֫זּוּ Is 10:2 + 2 times; וַיָּבֹ֫זּוּ Gn 34:27 + 4 times; sf. יְבָזּוּם Zp 2:9; 2…