H7615 H7615
Sabeans (gentilic: people from Sheba, in Arabia)
This gentilic plural refers to the Sabeans, people from Sheba in southwestern Arabia (modern Yemen), appearing in Joel 3:8 in an oracle of judgment: Israel's oppressors will be sold 'to the Sabeans, to a nation far away.' The Sabeans were known for trade, especially in spices and precious goods. The irony: those who enslaved Israel will themselves be sold to distant traders. The phrase 'far away' emphasizes exile and distance—the oppressors will experience the displacement they inflicted.
Senses
1. sense 1 — Joel 3:8 (English 4:8) declares that Judah and Jerusalem will sell their enemies 'to the Sabeans, to a nation far away'—the slave trade reversed. Spanish 'a sabeos' (to Sabeans), French 'Sabéen' preserve the gentilic designation. The Sabeans, from southwestern Arabia, were merchants and traders; being sold to them means entering the international slave trade, experiencing the commodity status Israel suffered. The geographic distance ('far away') compounds the judgment: total removal from homeland, ironic reversal of the scattering inflicted on God's people. 1×
AR["لِ-السَّبأيينَ"]·ben["শিবিয়দের-কাছে"]·DE["[לשבאים]"]·EN["to-Sabeans"]·FR["Sabéen"]·heb["ל-שבאים"]·HI["को-शबाइयों"]·ID["kepada-orang-Syeba,"]·IT["[לשבאים]"]·jav["dhateng-tiyang-Seba"]·KO["에게-스바-사람들"]·PT["aos-sabeus"]·RU["савеянам"]·ES["a-sabeos"]·SW["kwa-Waseba"]·TR["Sebalılara"]·urd["سبائیوں-کو"]
Related Senses
G3588 1. definite article (18298×)H0853 1. definite direct object marker (10915×)G2532 1. (8312×)H3068 1. YHWH (the divine name) (6522×)H0834a 1. relative pronoun (who/which/that) (4839×)H3588a 1. causal: because, for (3498×)G1161 1. and (2806×)H3478 1. Israel (proper name and nation) (2507×)G4771 1. you (plural address) (1853×)H1931 1. personal pronoun he/she/it (1431×)G3739 1. relative pronoun who/which/that (1149×)H1732 1. David (proper name) (1075×)H2088 1. this, this one (demonstrative) (1059×)G1063 1. (1047×)G3778 1. this thing, these things (1003×)H???? 2. (1002×)G2424 1. (924×)G3754 1. that (content clause) (881×)H2009 1. presentative particle: behold, look (881×)H0589 1. I (first person singular pronoun) (874×)
BDB / Lexicon Reference
† [שְׁבָאִי] adj.gent. only pl. as subst., לִשְׁבָאִים (Baer Ginsb שְׁבָא֯יִם Jo 4:8 (‖ אֶל־גּוֹי רָהוֹק, cf. Je 6:20 supr.), > 𝔊 Me Now לַשְּׁבִי into captivity.