H5038 H5038
Carcass, corpse — a dead body whether human (often in dishonor) or animal (especially in purity law)
Derived from a root suggesting inertness or collapse, nebelah denotes a lifeless body — human or animal — with connotations of dishonor, defilement, or abandonment. When applied to people, it often appears in contexts of judgment: an unburied corpse exposed to birds and beasts (Deut 28:26), the body of a disobedient prophet left on the road (1 Kgs 13:22-30), or the slain of Jerusalem given as food to the earth's creatures (Jer 7:33). In Levitical law, the same word governs the elaborate system of corpse-impurity for animals, where touching or carrying a nebelah renders a person unclean until evening.
Senses
1. corpse of a person — The dead body of a human being, frequently in contexts of violent death, exposure, or dishonorable burial. Appearing 25 times, this sense carries weight in narratives of divine judgment and battlefield aftermath. The prophet's corpse on the road (1 Kgs 13:22-30) and the curse of Deut 28:26 ('your corpse shall be food for every bird') use nebelah to convey the horror of death without proper burial. Translations converge on 'corpse/cadáver/cadavre/Leichnam,' each capturing the gravity of a lifeless human form. 25×
AR["الْجُثَّةَ","الْجُثَّةِ","جُثَثُهُمْ","جُثَّةَ","جُثَّةُ","جُثَّتَهُ","جُثَّتُكَ","جُثَّتُهُ","جُثَّتِهِ","جِيفَةُ","جِيَفُهُم"]·ben["তাদের-মৃতদেহ","তার-মৃতদেহ","তোমার-মৃতদেহ","মৃতদেহ","মৃতদেহের","শব","শব-তাদের","শব-তার"]·DE["Leichnam","corpse-von","dein-Kadaver","dein-corpse","der-corpse","sein-Leib","sein-Leichnam","sein-corpse"]·EN["corpse-of","his-body","his-corpse","the-carcass-of","the-carcasses-of","the-corpse","their-corpse","your-carcass","your-corpse"]·FR["cadavre","cadavre-de","le-cadavre","son-cadavre","son-corps","son-corpse","ton-cadavre"]·heb["ה-נבלה","נבלת","נבלתו","נבלתך","נבלתם"]·HI["उनकी-लाशें","उसकी-लाश","उसकी-लाश-को","तेरी-लाश","निव्लत","लाश","लाश-उनकी","लाश-उसकी","लाश-के","लाश-तेरी"]·ID["bangkai","bangkai-mereka","bangkaimu","mayat","mayatmu","mayatnya"]·IT["cadavere","cadavere-di","il-cadavere","suo-cadavere","suo-corpo","tuo-cadavere","tuo-carcassa"]·jav["bangkè","bangké-nipun","bangkénipun","bathang","bathang-nipun","jisim-panjenengan","jisimipun","layon","layonipun","layun-ipun"]·KO["그-시체","그-시체가","그-시체를","그들의-시체가","그들의-시체는","그의-시체가","그의-시체를","너의-시체가","네-주검이","시체가","시체를"]·PT["cadáver-de","cadáver-deles","cadáver-seu","o-cadáver","seu-cadáver","seu-corpo","teu-cadáver"]·RU["труп","труп-его","труп-их","труп-твой","трупом","трупы","трупы-их"]·ES["cadáver-de","cadáver-de-ellos","cadáver-su","cadáveres-de","el-cadáver","los-cadáveres-de","su-cadáver","sus-cadáveres","tu-cadáver"]·SW["maiti","maiti-yao","maiti-zao","mwili-wake","mwili-wako","mzoga","mzoga-wa","mzoga-wake","mzoga-wako"]·TR["cesedi","cesedin","cesedini","cesedinin","cesedleri","cesetleri","cesetleri-onların","leşin"]·urd["اس-کی-لاش","ال-لاش","ان-کی-لاشیں","اُس-کی-لاش","اُن-کی-لاشیں","تیری-لاش","لاش","لاش-اُس-کی","لاش-اُن-کی"]
Deut 21:23, Deut 28:26, Josh 8:29, 1 Kgs 13:22, 1 Kgs 13:24, 1 Kgs 13:24, 1 Kgs 13:25, 1 Kgs 13:25, 1 Kgs 13:28, 1 Kgs 13:28, 1 Kgs 13:28, 1 Kgs 13:29 (+13 more)
2. animal carcass or carrion — The carcass of a dead animal, central to Levitical purity legislation governing what defiles by contact. With 23 occurrences concentrated in Lev 5:2, 7:24, 11:8-40, this sense anchors the Torah's taxonomy of clean and unclean: touching the nebelah of an unclean creature brings impurity, while even a clean animal that dies naturally becomes a source of defilement. Translations shift from the solemn 'corpse' to the more clinical 'carcass' (eng), 'Animal muerto' (spa), 'Kadaver' (deu), reflecting the different register of ritual law versus narrative. 23×
AR["بِ-جِيفَةِ","جِيفَةٍ","جِيفَتَهَا","جِيفَتَهُمْ","مَيْتَةً","مِنْ-جِيفَتِهَا","مِنْ-جِيفَتِهِمْ","وَ-جِيفَتَهَا"]·ben["এবং-তাদের-মৃতদেহে","তাদের-মৃতদেহ","তাদের-মৃতদেহ-থেকে","তাদের-মৃতদেহে","তার-মৃতদেহ","তার-মৃতদেহ-থেকে","তার-মৃতদেহে","মৃত-জন্তু","মৃত-পশুর","মৃতদেহ","মৃতদেহে"]·DE["Kadaver","ein-Kadaver","ihr-Kadaver","in-Kadaver-von","in-ihr-Kadaver","in-sein-Kadaver","sein-Kadaver","und-in-ihr-Kadaver","von-ihr-Kadaver","von-sein-Kadaver"]·EN["a-carcass","and-in-their-carcass","carcass","from-its-carcass","from-their-carcass","in-carcass-of","in-its-carcass","in-their-carcass","its-carcass","their-carcass"]·FR["cadavre","dans-cadavre-de","dans-leur-cadavre","dans-son-cadavre","de-leur-cadavre","de-son-cadavre","et-dans-leur-cadavre","leur-cadavre","son-cadavre","un-cadavre"]·heb["ב-נבלה","ב-נבלת","ו-נבלה","מ-נבלה","נבלה"]·HI["उनकी लोथ","और-में","को","मरा-हुआ","मरी-हुई-की","मृत-पशु","में","लाश","लाश-में","से"]·ID["Bangkai","bangkai","bangkainya","dan-bangkainya","dari-bangkainya","dengan-bangkai"]·IT["carcassa","da-loro-carcassa","da-suo-carcassa","e-in-loro-carcassa","in-carcassa-di","in-loro-carcassa","in-suo-carcassa","loro-carcassa","suo-carcassa","un-carcassa"]·jav["Bathang","bangke","bangkénipun","bathang","lan-bangkénipun","saking-bangkénipun","wonten-ing-bangke"]·KO["그녀-의-사체를","그녀-의-사체에","그녀-의-사체에서","그들-의-사체를","그들-의-사체에","그들-의-사체에서","그리고-그들-의-사체에","사체","사체를","주검을","죽은-것의"]·PT["Carcaça","animal-morto","cadáver-dele","cadáver-deles","carcaça","de-cadáver-dele","de-cadáver-deles","e-em-cadáver-deles","em-cadáver-de","em-cadáver-dele","em-cadáver-deles"]·RU["и-трупа-их","к-трупу","мертвечину","мертвечины","от-трупа-его","от-трупа-их","падали","падаль","труп-его","труп-их","трупа-его","трупа-их","трупов-их"]·ES["Animal-muerto","cadáver","cuerpo-muerto","de-su-cadáver","en-cadáver-de","en-su-cadáver","mortecina","su-cadáver","y-en-su-cadáver"]·SW["Mzoga","kutoka-mzoga-wake","kutoka-mzoga-wao","mzoga","mzoga-wa","mzoga-wake","mzoga-wao","na-mzoga-wao","ya-mzoga"]·TR["-da-leş","leş","leşinden","leşine","leşini","leşlerinden","leşlerinden-","leşlerine","leşlerini","ve-leşine"]·urd["اور-لاش-اُن-کی","سے-لاش-اُس-کی","سے-لاش-اُن-کی","لاش","لاش-اُس-کی","لاش-اُن-کی","مردار","مردار-کو","مردار-کی","کو-لاش-اُس-کی","کو-لاش-اُن-کی"]
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
† נְבֵלָה n.f. carcass, corpse (as inert, flabby);—נ׳ abs. 1 K 13:24 +; cstr. נִבְלַת v 29 +; sf. נְבֵלָתִי Is 26:19; נִבְלָֽתְךָ Dt 28:26 1 K 13:22; נִבְלָתוֹ Jos 8:29 + 6 times; נִבְלָתָהּ Lv 11:39, 40(×2); נִבְלָתָם Is 5:25 + 14 times;—carcass, corpse: 1. a. human (not in Ez P, (H), which use פֶּגֶר); Jos 8:29 (JE), 1 K 13:22, 24(×2), 25(×2), 28(×3), 29, 30 2 K 9:37 Je 26:23; 36:30 Dt 21:23;…