H3051 H3051
To give, hand over; also to ascribe (glory), to exhort ('come!'), and rarely to set or place.
An ancient verb shared across the Semitic family — Arabic 'wahaba,' Ethiopic 'wahaba,' Aramaic 'yehab' — all meaning 'to give.' In Hebrew it survives almost exclusively as an imperative, lending it an urgency absent from the more common 'natan.' When Rachel cries 'Give me children!' (Gen 30:1), the verb pulses with desperation. In worship, it becomes the call to 'ascribe' glory to the LORD (Ps 29:1; 1 Chr 16:28). And in one of the Bible's most memorable scenes, the builders of Babel say 'habah!' — 'Come!' — let us build a tower (Gen 11:3-4), where the 'giving' sense has faded entirely into pure exhortation.
4. set, place — A rare sense meaning to set, place, or assign to a position, attested in 2 Samuel 11:15 where David writes to Joab: 'Set Uriah in the forefront of the fiercest battle.' Spanish 'poned' (place) and French 'plaça' (placed) confirm the spatial reading. The 'giving' metaphor extends here to placing someone into a role or location — giving them a position, fatally. 1×
AR["ضَعوا"]·ben["রাখ"]·DE["setzte"]·EN["set"]·FR["plaça"]·heb["הבו"]·HI["रख"]·ID["tempatkanlah"]·IT["pose"]·jav["Mapanaken"]·KO["두라"]·PT["Pônde"]·RU["поставьте"]·ES["poned"]·SW["mwekeni"]·TR["koyun"]·urd["رکھو"]
▼ 3 more senses below
Senses
1. give, hand over — The basic sense of giving, handing over, or providing something concrete. Rachel demands children (Gen 30:1), Egyptians beg for bread (Gen 47:15-16), and Ruth is told to hold out her shawl to receive barley (Ruth 3:15). Spanish 'da/dad' and French 'donne/donner' map directly. The imperative-only survival in Hebrew gives every occurrence an immediacy — this is always a demand or request, never a calm statement. 17×
AR["أَعطِنا","أَعطِنا-","أَعْطُوا","أَعْطُونِي","أَعْطِ","أَعْطِني-","أَعْطِنَا-","هاتوا","هاتوا-","هاتِ","هَاتُوا","هَاتِ","هَاتِي","هَبْ"]·ben["দাও","দাও-"]·DE["[הב]","der-in-ihm","der-in-mir","geben","geben-","gebt","gib","gib-"]·EN["give","give-"]·FR["donne","donner","donner-","le-donner","le-en-lui"]·heb["הב","הבה","הבה-","הבה-ה","הבו","הבי","תני"]·HI["दे","दे-","दे।","दो","लाओ"]·ID["Ambillah","Bawalah","Berikanlah","berikan","berikanlah","berikanlah-","berilah"]·IT["[הבו]","da","dare","dare-","il-in-lei"]·jav["Maringi","Mugi-paring","maringi","paring","paringana","sinten","sukakaken","sukana"]·KO["가져와라","내라","달라","주라","주소서","주소서-","주어라"]·PT["Dai","Dá-","Dá-nos","dai","dá","dá-","¶ Dai"]·RU["Дай-","Дайте","давайте","дай","дай-","дайте"]·ES["Da","Dad","Danos","Escogeos","da","dad","dadme","danos-","den"]·SW["Toeni","Tupe","kuambia","leta","lete","nipe","nipe-","nipeni","toa","toeni","tupe"]·TR["Ver","getir-","getirin","ver","ver-","verin"]·urd["دو","دے","دے-","لا"]
2. ascribe, attribute glory — To ascribe, attribute, or render honor and glory to God. Deuteronomy 32:3 calls hearers to 'ascribe greatness to our God,' and Psalm 29:1 repeats the summons: 'ascribe to the LORD glory and strength.' The underlying metaphor treats praise as something handed over, given to God as His due. Spanish 'dad' (give, plural imperative) retains the literal giving imagery even in worship contexts. 10×
AR["أَعْطُوا","قَدِّمُوا"]·ben["জাতিদের-এর","দাও"]·DE["[הבו]","ascribe"]·EN["ascribe"]·FR["[הבו]","ascribe","le-donner"]·heb["הבו"]·HI["दो"]·ID["Berikanlah","berikanlah"]·IT["[הבו]","ascribe","il-in-lui"]·jav["Paring","Paringna","Sami-unjukna","paring","paringna","sami-unjukna","saosna"]·KO["돌려라","드리라"]·PT["Dai","dai"]·RU["воздайте"]·ES["Dad","dad"]·SW["Mpeni","mpeni"]·TR["Verin","verin"]·urd["دو"]
3. come! (exhortation) — An exhortative interjection meaning 'come!' or 'come now!' — the giving sense has grammaticalized into a particle of urging. Genesis 11:3-4 uses it twice as Babel's builders rally each other: 'Come, let us make bricks... Come, let us build a city.' God echoes the same form back in Gen 11:7: 'Come, let us go down.' Spanish renders it 'vamos' (let's go), showing the complete semantic shift from transfer to motion. 5×
AR["هَلُمَّ"]·ben["আসো","এসো","দাও-"]·DE["kommen","wohlan"]·EN["come"]·FR["venir"]·heb["הבה","הבה ׀-ה","הבה-ה"]·HI["अओ","आओ","दे-"]·ID["Marilah","marilah"]·IT["venire"]·jav["Paring-","Sumangga","mangga"]·KO["자","허락하라"]·PT["Vinde","dá","vinde"]·RU["Давайте","давайте","дай-"]·ES["Vamos","dame-","venid"]·SW["Njooni","karibu","njooni"]·TR["Gelin","Ver-","gelin"]·urd["آؤ","آنے-دے"]
BDB / Lexicon Reference
† [יָהַב] vb. give (Aramaic יְהַב, ܝܰܗܒ; Arabic وَهَبَ; Ethiopic ወሀበ Sab. והב DHM:ZMG xxix. 1875, 614 f. ול יהב Id.ib. 603)—only Qal Imv. הַב Pr 30:15(×15); emph. הָ֫בָה Gn 11:3 + 10 times (6 times sq. monosyll.); הָבָ֫ה Gn 29:21 before gutt. (Di on Gn 28:2 Köi. 418), fs. הָבִ֫י Ru 3:15; mpl. הָב֫וּ Gn 47:16 + 16 times; הָ֫בוּ לִ֑י Jb 6:22 (on these forms v. also Sta§ 606 a Böi. 225 Ges§ 69. 2,…