H7639 H7639
Lattice-work: ornamental netting on Temple pillars; a window lattice or screen; a net or snare (figurative).
The Hebrew noun sevakhah names interwoven mesh — lattice-work in all its architectural, domestic, and metaphorical forms. Its dominant home is Solomon's Temple, where fourteen of its sixteen occurrences describe the elaborate checker-work netting adorning the bronze pillar capitals cast by Huram the craftsman (1 Kgs 7:17-42). The artisan vocabulary is dense and technical: sevakhot appear alongside pomegranates, chains, and lily-work in some of the Bible's most detailed architectural passages. A single domestic occurrence in 2 Kings 1:2 places Ahaziah falling through 'the lattice' in his upper chamber — a window screen of woven strips. Spanish enrejado and celosia capture the architectural and window senses respectively, while the lone figurative use in Job 18:8 — 'he is cast into a net by his own feet' — extends the mesh image into the realm of entrapment.
Senses
1. network on pillars — Ornamental lattice-work or checker-work netting fashioned as decoration on the capitals of the Temple pillars. Fourteen occurrences concentrate in the Temple construction accounts of 1 Kings 7, 2 Kings 25, 2 Chronicles 4, and Jeremiah 52, where the sevakhot are described alongside rows of pomegranates on the bronze pillars Jachin and Boaz. Spanish enrejado, French treillis, and German Gitterwerk all evoke ornamental metalwork. The technical density of these passages — where sevakhah appears alongside resheth ('network'), sharsherot ('chains'), and rimmonim ('pomegranates') — suggests specialized artisan vocabulary for interlocking mesh patterns cast in bronze. 14×
AR["الشَّبَكَةِ", "الشَّبَكَتَيْنِ", "الـ-شَّبَكَةِ", "الـ-شَّبَكَتَيْنِ", "شَبَكَةٍ", "لِ-الـ-شَّبَكَةِ", "لِلشَّبَكَةِ", "وَ-الشَّبَكَتَانِ", "وَ-الـ-شَّبَكَتَانِ", "وَشَبَكَةٌ"]·ben["(-জালির)", "-জালিকাজগুলির", "-জালির", "[কেতীব]", "আর-জালি", "এবং-জাল", "এবং-জালি", "এবং-জালিকাজগুলি", "জালি", "জালিকাজের-জন্য", "জালির", "জালির।", "জালের"]·DE["[lattice]", "[השבכה]", "[השבכות]", "[והשבכות]", "[ושבכה]", "[לשבכה]", "der-lattice", "der-lattices", "der-network", "fuer-der-lattice", "lattice", "und-der-lattices", "und-network"]·EN["[lattice]", "and-a-latticework", "and-network", "and-the-lattices", "and-the-networks", "for-the-lattice", "for-the-network", "lattice", "the-lattice", "the-lattices", "the-latticework", "the-network", "the-networks"]·FR["[lattice]", "[השבכה]", "[השבכות]", "[והשבכות]", "[ושבכה]", "[לשבכה]", "et-le-lattices", "et-network", "lattice", "le-lattice", "le-lattices", "le-network", "pour-le-lattice"]·heb["ה-שבכה", "ה-שבכות", "ו-ה-שבכות", "ו-שבכה", "ל-ה-שבכה", "שבכה"]·HI["और-जालियाँ", "और-जाली", "के-लिए-जाली", "जालियों", "जाली", "जाली-का", "जाली-के", "जाली-के-लिए", "ह-जाली"]·ID["(jaring)", "[jaring]", "dan-jala", "dan-jala-jala", "dan-jaring-jaring", "jala", "jala-jala", "jaring", "jaring-jaring", "untuk-jala", "untuk-jaring"]·IT["[lattice]", "[השבכה]", "[השבכות]", "[והשבכות]", "[ושבכה]", "[לשבכה]", "e-il-grate", "e-network", "grata", "il-grata", "il-grate", "il-network", "per-il-grata"]·jav["[jaring]", "jala", "jaring", "kagem-jaring", "kanggé-anyaman", "krawangan", "lan-anyaman", "lan-jala", "lan-jaring", "lan-krawangan", "para-anyaman"]·KO["[그물의]", "그-그물", "그-그물들", "그-그물의", "그리고-그-그물들", "그리고-그물과", "그리고-그물들을", "그리고-그물이", "그물들의", "그물에-대하여", "그물의", "에게-그-그물"]·PT["(a-rede)", "[rede]", "a-rede", "as-redes", "e-as-redes", "e-rede", "para-a-rede", "rede"]·RU["(сетки)", "[сетки]", "для-сетки", "и-сетка", "и-сетки", "сетке", "сеток", "сетчатая"]·ES["(el-enrejado)", "[el-enrejado]", "el-enrejado", "enrejado", "la-red", "los-enrejados", "para-el-enrejado", "para-la-red", "redes", "y-enrejado", "y-las-redes", "y-los-enrejados", "y-red"]·SW["kwa-wavu", "kwa-wavu-mmoja", "mbili", "mia-mbili", "mmoja", "na-nyavu", "na-wavu", "safu", "tundiko", "wavu", "zilizokuwa"]·TR["(ağın)", "[ağ]", "ağ", "ağa", "ağlara", "ağların", "ağın", "orgunun", "ve-ağ", "ve-ağlar", "ve-ağları", "ve-orgu"]·urd["(جالی-)", "-جالی", "-جالیوں-کے-لیے", "[جالی]", "اور-جالی", "اور-جالیاں", "اور-جالیاں-", "جالی-", "جالی-کے", "جالیدار-", "جالیوں-", "کے لیے-جالی", "ہر-جالی-کے-لیے"]
1 Kgs 7:17, 1 Kgs 7:18, 1 Kgs 7:20, 1 Kgs 7:20, 1 Kgs 7:41, 1 Kgs 7:42, 1 Kgs 7:42, 2 Kgs 25:17, 2 Kgs 25:17, 2 Chr 4:12, 2 Chr 4:13, 2 Chr 4:13 (+2 more)
2. window lattice — A latticed window screen or grating through which one looks or through which air passes — the domestic counterpart of the Temple ornament. Only one occurrence, in 2 Kings 1:2, where King Ahaziah 'fell through the lattice in his upper chamber in Samaria and was injured.' Spanish celosia and French treillage shift to domestic window vocabulary. The scene evokes ancient upper-story rooms with woven wood or reed screens rather than solid glass — a construction detail that explains why a fall 'through' a window was physically possible. 1×
AR["الشُّبَّاكِ"]·ben["জালি-জানালার"]·DE["der-lattice"]·EN["the-lattice"]·FR["le-lattice"]·heb["ה-שבכה"]·HI["जाली"]·ID["kisi-kisi"]·IT["il-grata"]·jav["kisi-kisi"]·KO["그-격자를"]·PT["a-grade"]·RU["-решётку"]·ES["la-celosía"]·SW["wavu"]·TR["kafes"]·urd["جالی-کے"]
3. snare or net — A net, mesh, or snare used figuratively for entrapment. In Job 18:8, Bildad warns that the wicked person 'is cast into a net (sevakhah) by his own feet,' paralleling resheth ('net'), pach ('trap'), and tsammim ('snares') in the surrounding verses. Spanish malla and the broader metaphorical context confirm a deliberate extension of the mesh image from architectural ornament to moral entrapment. The image is vivid: the same interlocking pattern that beautifies a Temple pillar becomes the web that ensnares the godless. 1×
AR["سِيَاجٍ"]·ben["ফাঁদে"]·DE["[שבכה]"]·EN["a-snare"]·FR["שבכה"]·heb["שבכה"]·HI["वह-चलता-है"]·ID["jerat"]·IT["un-snare"]·jav["kisi-kisi"]·KO["올가미"]·PT["trama"]·RU["плетении"]·ES["malla"]·SW["mtego"]·TR["örgü"]·urd["جالی-پر"]
Related Senses
H2719 1. sword, weapon of war (410×)H4196 1. altar (place of sacrifice) (403×)H1129 1. Qal: build, construct (316×)H2691a 1. court, courtyard, enclosure (142×)H7393 1. chariot, chariotry (117×)H7198 1. bow (weapon) (72×)H7979 1. table (71×)H7782 1. ram's horn trumpet (69×)H4294 2. staff, rod, scepter (63×)H4043 1. shield, defensive weapon (60×)G4864 1. synagogue, place of Jewish assembly (56×)H0646 1. ephod (priestly garment) (49×)H8504 1. blue (violet-blue yarn/fabric) (49×)H2595 1. spear, lance (48×)H2671 1. arrow, projectile weapon (46×)H4818 1. chariot, war-chariot (44×)H3658 1. lyre, harp (stringed instrument) (42×)G5438 1. prison, place of confinement (41×)H1537 1. Gilgal (place name) (41×)H0713 1. purple (fabric/dye) (38×)
BDB / Lexicon Reference
† שְׂבָכָה n.f. lattice-work, network;—abs. ר׳ 1 K 7:18 +, pl. שְׂבָכוֹת v 41 +, שְׂבָכִים v 17;— 1. prob. window-lattice 2 K 1:2. 2. net-ornament on pillars, 1 K 7:17(×2) (om. 𝔊 Kit Benz), v 18, 20 (crpt., (cf. Kit Benz), v 41, 42(×2) 2 Ch 4:12, 13(×2) 2 K 25:17(×2) ‖ Je 52:22, 23. 3. network, toils, for catching animals (fig.) Jb 18:8 (+ רֶשֶׁת, פַּח, צַמִּים).