H5666 H5666
To be thick, stout, or gross; used of physical thickness and metaphorically of spiritual insensitivity
This verb captures both physical and metaphorical thickness. In the famous comparison of 1 Kings 12:10, Rehoboam's advisors boast that his little finger is thicker than his father's waist—a vivid image of power and intimidation. In Deuteronomy 32:15, the same root describes Israel becoming 'thick' or 'gross' from prosperity, like an overfed beast growing sleek and rebellious. The cognates in Aramaic and Arabic suggest swelling, density, and even stupidity, showing how physical thickness shades into moral dullness across Semitic languages.
Senses
1. sense 1 — The verb appears in contexts of comparison (Rehoboam's finger vs. Solomon's waist) and spiritual diagnosis (Israel's prosperity-induced rebellion). The multilingual glosses reveal the challenge: Spanish and English capture the physical dimension ('grueso,' 'thick'), while the metaphorical sense of spiritual insensitivity requires additional glossing. The Deuteronomy passage is particularly striking, where three parallel verbs—'you grew fat, thick, sleek'—pile up to depict Israel's dangerous prosperity. 3×
AR["أَغلَظُ", "أَغْلَظُ", "غَلُظْتَ"]·ben["মোটা", "স্থূল-হলে"]·DE["[עבה]", "du-wuchs-dick", "ist-thicker"]·EN["is-thicker", "you-grew-thick"]·FR["[עבה]", "est-thicker", "tu-grew-thick"]·heb["עָבָה", "עבה", "עבית"]·HI["मोटा-हो-गया", "मोटी-है"]·ID["engkau-menjadi-tebal", "lebih-tebal", "tebal"]·IT["[עבה]", "tu-crebbe-thick", "è-thicker"]·jav["kandel", "panjenengan-kandel"]·KO["네가-두꺿다", "더-굵다", "두꺼우니라"]·PT["engrossaste", "é-mais-grosso"]·RU["растолстел", "толще"]·ES["es-grueso", "es-más-grueso", "te-pusiste-grueso"]·SW["ni-kinene", "ni-nene", "umeenea"]·TR["kalın", "kalınlaştın"]·urd["موٹاپا-ہوگیا", "موٹی-ہے"]
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
† עָבָה vb. be thick, fat, gross (NH Pi. עִבָּה make thick, and deriv.; Syriac ܥܒܳܐ swell up, pt. pass. swollen, thick, dense, stupid, and many deriv.; Arabic غَبِىَ be dense, stupid, أَغُبَى dense foliage; Ethiopic ዐብየ: be great Di985);— Qal Pf. 3 ms. קָֽטֳנִּי ע׳ מִמָּתְנֵי אָבִי 1 K 12:10 my little finger is thicker (stouter) than, etc., = 2 Ch 10:10; be thick, gross, of rebell. Isr. under fig. of highly fed beast, 2 ms. שָׁמַנְתָּ עָבִּיתָ כָּשִׂיתָ Dt 32:15.