H1460a H1460a
gev -- the back (of a person); the body part that receives blows or burdens
The noun gev refers to the human back -- the dorsal part of the body. In Proverbs it appears three times in the proverbial formula 'a rod for the back of the fool' (Prov 10:13; 19:29; 26:3), where the back is the target of disciplinary beating. Isaiah 50:6 uses it in the Servant Song: 'I gave my back to the smiters,' depicting willing submission to suffering. A striking figurative use occurs in Isaiah 38:17, where Hezekiah says God has cast all his sins 'behind your back' -- out of sight and memory. Isaiah 51:23 describes conquerors making the backs of the subjugated into a road. The German rendering Volk ('people') appears to confuse this gev with goy, but Spanish espalda ('back') and English 'back' consistently capture the anatomical sense.
Senses
1. back (body part) — The back of a person's body, used both literally (as the part struck with a rod or lash) and figuratively (as the surface trodden upon, or as something hidden 'behind'). The three Proverbs passages (10:13; 19:29; 26:3) establish the concrete sense of the back as receiving corporal punishment. Isaiah 50:6 extends this to the Servant's willing suffering, while Isa 38:17 deploys the idiom of casting sins 'behind your back' to signify divine forgiveness. Spanish espalda confirms the consistent anatomical meaning across all six occurrences. 6×
AR["ظَهْرَكِ", "ظَهْرِكَ", "ظَهْرِي", "لِ-ظَهْرِ", "لِظَهْرِ"]·ben["-আমার-পিঠ", "-পিঠের-জন্য", "তোমার-পিঠ", "তোমার-পিঠের", "পিঠের-জন্য"]·DE["Volk", "[גוך]", "[לגו]"]·EN["My-back", "Your-back", "for-back-of", "is-for-the-back-of", "your-back"]·FR["[גוי]", "[גוך]", "à-corps"]·heb["גווי", "גווך", "גוך", "ל-גב", "ל-גו"]·HI["अपनी-पीठ", "अपनी-पीठ-के", "पीठ-के-लिए", "मेरी-पीठ"]·ID["Punggung-Ku", "bagi-punggung", "punggung-Mu", "punggungmu", "untuk-punggung"]·IT["dorso", "nazione", "per-per-back-di", "per-è-per-il-back-di"]·jav["Geger-Ingsun", "geger-Panjenengan", "geger-panjenengan", "kanggé-geger", "kanggé-geger-saking"]·KO["나의-등을", "네-등을", "등-에", "등-을-위하여", "등-을-위함이니라", "주의-등"]·PT["Minhas-costas", "costas-tuas", "para-costas-de", "tuas-costas"]·RU["для-спины", "спину-Мою", "спину-Твою", "спину-твою"]·ES["Mi-espalda", "para-espalda-de", "para-la-espalda-de", "tu-espalda"]·SW["Mgongo-wangu", "kwa-mgongo-wa", "kwa-migongo-ya", "mgongo-wako", "ni-kwa-mgongo-wa"]·TR["Sirtimi", "sirtini", "sirtinin", "sırtı-için"]·urd["اپنی-پیٹھ", "اپنی-پیٹھ-کے", "پیٹھ-کے-لیے", "کے-لیے-پیٹھ"]
Related Senses
H3808 1. simple negation (not) (4839×)G1722 1. locative: in, within (2442×)H1004b 1. house, dwelling, building (2015×)G3756 1. not (negation particle) (1635×)H4480a 1. source or separation (1198×)H5892b 1. city, town (1093×)G1519 1. direction: into, to, toward (1061×)H3427 1. Qal: to dwell, inhabit (937×)G1537 1. from, out of (source/origin) (886×)H8034 1. Name (designation / identifier) (856×)G3361 1. subjective negation (not) (834×)G1909 1. on, upon (spatial surface) (757×)H0369 1. existential negation: there is not (738×)H5869a 1. in the eyes/sight of (evaluative) (734×)H5650 1. Servant, attendant, subject (723×)H0408 1. prohibitive negation do-not (712×)G2443 1. so that, in order that (purpose/result) (665×)G0575 1. from (649×)G1223 1. through, by means of (582×)H3541 1. thus, so, in this manner (569×)
BDB / Lexicon Reference
† I. גֵּו n.[m.] back—גֵּו abs. not found, cstr. Pr 10:13 + 2 times, sf. גֵּוִי Is 50:6, גֵּוְךָ Is 38:17, גֵּוֵךְ 51:23;—back, as beaten, lashed Pr 10:13; 19:29; 26:3 cf. Is 50:6; in phr. הִשְׁלִיךְ אַחֲרֵי ג׳ (as גַּו) Is 38:17, of Yahweh’s casting sins of penitent behind his back, putting them out of mind; as trodden upon Is 51:23, fig. of extreme humiliation.