H2883 H2883
To sink, sink down, become submerged; of objects lodging in solid matter or persons engulfed in water or mire.
A verb of downward motion that carries a vivid physical weight: something or someone sinks into a substance and stays there. Goliath's forehead swallows the stone (1 Sam 17:49), Jeremiah descends into the muck of a cistern (Jer 38:6), and Jerusalem's gates sink into the ground as though the earth itself were consuming them (Lam 2:9). The Psalms extend the image to spiritual distress — the cry 'I have sunk in deep mire' (Ps 69:2) is echoed across languages, with Spanish hundirse and French s'enfoncer both capturing the sense of being swallowed from below. In Exodus 15:4 the Pual intensifies the picture: Pharaoh's chariots are thoroughly drowned, submerged beyond recovery.
Senses
1. sink into water or mire — The basic Qal sense of sinking down into a yielding substance — water, mud, or soft ground — whether literally (Jeremiah in the cistern, Jer 38:6) or as a metaphor for overwhelming distress (Ps 69:2–3, 14). Spanish hundirse and French s'enfoncer both preserve the intransitive, downward plunge. The subject is always helplessly drawn under, with the preposition bet marking the engulfing medium. Five of the ten occurrences cluster in the Psalms and Lamentations, showing how deeply this physical image fed Israel's poetry of suffering. 5×
AR["أغْرَقَنّ","غَاصَتْ","غَرِقَتْ","غَرِقْتُ-","فَ-غَرِقَ"]·ben["আমি-ডুবি","আমি-ডুবেছি","এবং-ডুবে-গেল","ডুবে-গেছে"]·DE["[ויטבע]","[טבעו]","haben-sunk","ich-haben-sunk","mich-sink"]·EN["Have-sunk","I-have-sunk","and-sank","have-sunk","me-sink"]·FR["[ויטבע]","[טבעו]","enfoncer"]·heb["אטבעה","ו-יטבע","טבעו","טבעתי"]·HI["और-धँसा","डूब-गईं","धंस-गए"]·ID["Aku-tenggelam","Tenggelam","biarlah-aku-tenggelam","dan-terbenam"]·IT["e-sprofondare","sprofondare","sprofondi'"]·jav["Kawula-sampun-kelem","Kelem","Sami-angslup","kawula-kelem","lan-kerem"]·KO["가라앉았네","그리고-빠졌다","빠졌도다","빠지게-하소서"]·PT["Afundaram","Afundaram-se","Afundei","afunde","e-afundou"]·RU["Погрузились","и-погрузился","погружусь","погрузились","погрузился-я"]·ES["Me-hundo","Se-han-hundido","Se-hundieron","me-hunda","y-se-hundió"]·SW["Nimezama","Wamezama","Zimezama","na-akazama","nisizame"]·TR["Battılar","batayım","battılar","battım","ve-battı"]·urd["اور-ڈوبا","دھنس-گئے","میں-دھنس-گیا","میں-ڈوبوں","ڈوب-گئیں"]
2. be sunk, be settled down — The Hofal (causative-passive) sense of being made to sink or be set firmly in place. In Job 38:6 God asks who sank the earth's foundations; in Proverbs 8:25 the mountains were settled before Wisdom's eyes. Jeremiah 38:22 warns that the king's own feet have been sunk in the mire — others have caused his downfall. The shift from natural sinking to divinely or externally imposed settling is reflected in the morphology: the Hofal marks an agent behind the descent. 3×
AR["غَرِقَتْ","غُرِسَتْ","غُرِسَتْ؟"]·ben["ডুবিয়ে-দিয়েছে","দৃঢ়-হল","বসানো-হল"]·DE["[הטבעו]"]·EN["sank","were-settled","were-sunk"]·FR["[הטבעו]","הטבעו"]·heb["הוטבעו","הטבעו"]·HI["उन्होंने-डुबोया","गाड़ी-गईं","डूबने-के"]·ID["didirikan","ditenggelamkan","menenggelamkan"]·IT["erano-settled","erano-sunk","sprofondare"]·jav["dipun-celupaken","kalelebekaken","nglebokaken"]·KO["가라앉았다","묻혔느냐","빠졌다"]·PT["Afundaram","foram-afundadas?","fossem-firmados"]·RU["погружены","увязли","углублённых,"]·ES["fueran-hundidos","fueron-hundidas","hundieron"]·SW["ulizamishwa","walizamisha","yalikuwa-yamewekwa"]·TR["Batırdılar","batırıldı","yerleştirildi"]·urd["جمائے-گئے","ڈبوئے","گاڑے گئے"]
3. be drowned, be submerged — The Pual (intensive passive) at Exodus 15:4, where Pharaoh's chosen officers 'were drowned' in the Red Sea. The intensive stem underscores totality — not merely sinking but being completely submerged and destroyed. Spanish fueron hundidos and the broader cross-linguistic pattern of passive drowning vocabulary confirm that translators consistently read this as emphatic, irrecoverable submersion rather than ordinary sinking. 1×
AR["غَرِقُوا"]·ben["ডুবে-গেল"]·DE["waren-drowned"]·EN["were-drowned"]·FR["étaient-drowned"]·heb["טבעו"]·HI["डूब-गए"]·ID["tenggelam"]·IT["furono-drowned"]·jav["klelep"]·KO["잠겼다"]·PT["foram-afogados"]·RU["потоплены"]·ES["fueron-hundidos"]·SW["wamezama"]·TR["boğuldu"]·urd["ڈوبے"]
4. sink into, become embedded — A specialized Qal use in 1 Samuel 17:49 where the sling-stone sinks into Goliath's forehead — embedding itself in solid bone rather than in liquid or mud. The verb's basic 'sink-into' semantics extend naturally to penetration of a hard surface, and translators handle it with terms like Spanish hundirse and French s'enfoncer, the same roots used for sinking into water, signaling that Hebrew taba' treats all downward lodging as one conceptual motion. 1×
AR["وَ-غَرَزَ"]·ben["এবং-ডুবে-গেল"]·DE["und-sank"]·EN["and-sank"]·FR["et-sank"]·heb["ו-נטבעה"]·HI["और-धसअ"]·ID["dan-tertancap"]·IT["e-sank"]·jav["lan-ngelebaké"]·KO["그리고-박혔다"]·PT["e-afundou"]·RU["и-вонзился"]·ES["y-se-hundió"]·SW["na-ikazama"]·TR["ve-saplandı"]·urd["اور-دھنس-گیا"]
Related Senses
G0846 1. third-person pronoun reference (5552×)H???? 1. (4670×)H0935 1. come, arrive (Qal) (2413×)H6213a 1. do, perform, act (2383×)G1473 1. first person singular pronoun (2084×)H3318 1. Qal: go out, depart, come forth (891×)H7725 1. to return, come/go back (Qal) (874×)H5927 1. go up, ascend (Qal) (779×)H7971 1. to send, dispatch (Qal) (701×)G2064 1. come / arrive (physical movement toward) (588×)G4160 1. do, act, perform (473×)H5221 1. Hifil: to strike in battle, smite enemies (362×)H5307 1. Qal: fall down physically (339×)H5375 1. Qal: to lift up, raise (330×)H5975 1. to stand, stand up (310×)H5674a 1. Qal: pass by, pass through (256×)H3381 1. Qal: to go down, descend (physical movement) (242×)H0899b 1. garment, article of clothing (216×)G1831 1. go/come out physically (193×)H5337 1. deliver, rescue, save (Hifil) (188×)
BDB / Lexicon Reference
† טָבַע vb. sink, sink down (NH id.; Aramaic ܛܒܰܥ, טְבַע; Ph. טבע coin; Assyrian ṭebû, sink in, ṭabbîʾu, diver (water-fowl) etc., v. Muss-ArnoltJBL xi, 1892, 170 DlHWB; Arabic طَبَعَ seal, stamp, imprint; Ethiopic ጠምዐ dip)— Qal Pf. טָבַעְתִּי ψ 69:3; טָֽבְעוּ ψ 9:16 La 2:9; Impf. וַיִּטְבַּע Je 38:6; וַתִּטְבַּע 1 S 17:49; אֶטְבָּ֑עָה ψ 69:15;—sink, sink down, intrans., c. בְּ; 1 S 17:49 (stone…