H3257 H3257
Shovels or ash-scoops used as cultic utensils for removing ashes from the altar of burnt offering in tabernacle and temple.
The noun ya'im (יָעִים) refers to the shovels or ash-removal scoops that were part of the standard inventory of altar utensils in Israelite worship. Every occurrence appears in equipment lists — never in narrative action — cataloguing the bronze implements of the tabernacle (Exod 27:3; 38:3; Num 4:14) or Solomon's temple (1 Kgs 7:40, 45). The same items are mentioned among the objects the Babylonians carried away (2 Kgs 25:14; Jer 52:18). Spanish consistently translates as palas ('shovels'), while German uses Schaufeln, confirming the basic sense of a flat scooping tool.
Senses
1. shovels (cultic utensils) — Plural masculine noun denoting shovels or ash-scoops specifically designed for cleaning the sacrificial altar. Always appears in inventory lists alongside other cultic implements such as pots (סִירוֹת), basins (מִזְרָקוֹת), and forks (מִזְלָגוֹת). The Priestly source lists them for the tabernacle altar (Exod 27:3; 38:3; Num 4:14), the Deuteronomistic historian for Solomon's temple (1 Kgs 7:40, 45), and the destruction accounts note their removal to Babylon (2 Kgs 25:14; Jer 52:18). The Targum form יָעֵי confirms the root. 9×
AR["الـ-مَجَارِفَ", "الْمَجَارِفَ", "وَ-مَجارِفَهُ"]·ben["-বেলচাগুলি", "এবং-তার-বেলচাগুলি", "খুরপিগুলি", "বেলচা", "বেলচাগুলো", "শাবল", "শাবলগুলি"]·DE["[היעים]", "der-Schaufeln", "der-shovels", "und-sein-Schaufeln"]·EN["and-its-shovels", "the-shovels"]·FR["[היעים]", "et-son-pelles", "le-pelles", "le-shovels"]·heb["ה-יעים", "ו-יעיו"]·HI["और-उसके-बेलचे", "फावड़ियाँ", "फावड़े", "फावड़ों", "ह-फावड़ों"]·ID["dan-sekop-sekopnya", "sekop-sekop"]·IT["[היעים]", "e-suo-shovels", "il-palette", "il-shovels"]·jav["cethok-awu", "lan-sèrok-sèrok-ipun", "para-sékop", "sekop-sekop", "serok", "serokan", "skop-skop"]·KO["그-부삽들", "그-부삽들을", "그리고-그-부삽들과", "부삽들을"]·PT["as-pás", "e-pás-dele"]·RU["и-лопаты-его", "лопатки"]·ES["las-palas", "las-paletas", "y-sus-palas"]·SW["koleo", "na-akamaliza", "na-koleo-zake", "na-vyombo-hivi-vyote", "sepetu"]·TR["-kürekleri", "kurekleri", "kürekleri", "kürekleri-", "ve-kürekleri"]·urd["-بیلچے", "اور-اُس-کے-بیلچے", "بیلچوں", "بیلچوں-", "بیلچے"]
Related Senses
H3548 1. priest, cultic officiant (750×)G5547 1. Christ, Messiah, Anointed One (540×)H5030 1. Prophet, divine spokesperson (317×)H5930a 1. burnt offering (sacrifice) (286×)H3881 1. Levites (priestly class) (283×)G4396 1. prophet, spokesperson of God (146×)H6944 1. sanctuary, holy place (129×)G0749 1. high priest, chief priest (123×)H6944 2. holiness, sacredness (abstract quality) (123×)G5330 1. Pharisee (99×)G4336 1. pray to God (86×)H6944 3. holy things, sacred offerings (plural) (86×)H3722a 1. make ritual atonement (Piel) (85×)H6912 1. bury (Qal active) (82×)H6419 1. pray (Hitpael) (80×)H6944 4. holiness (with possessive pronoun) (77×)H6942 1. sanctify, consecrate (Piel factitive) (76×)H2930a 1. Qal: be/become unclean (75×)H7819a 1. slaughter an animal (Qal active) (72×)H1486 1. lot (object cast for decisions) (71×)
BDB / Lexicon Reference
† [יָע] n.[m.] shovel (𝔗 Jer יָעֵי Ex 27:3)—pl. הַיָּעִים Ex 38:3 + 7 times; יָעָיו 27:3;—utensils for cleaning altar, shovels Ex 27:3; 38:3 Nu 4:14 (all P), 1 K 7:40, 45; 2 K 25:14; 2 Ch 4:11, 16; Je 52:18 (only in lists of utensils).