H7663a H7663a
inspect, examine; to scrutinize or investigate closely
A verb meaning to inspect or examine closely. Nehemiah 2:13 and 2:15 describe Nehemiah's nocturnal survey of Jerusalem's broken walls: 'I was inspecting the wall.' The participle form suggests careful, deliberate scrutiny. The verb's connection to Arabic 'probe a wound' or Aramaic 'think' is uncertain, but the context clearly indicates visual inspection and assessment.
Senses
1. sense 1 — Means to inspect or examine carefully, appearing exclusively in Nehemiah's account of surveying Jerusalem's ruins (Neh 2:13, 15). The participle שֹׂבֵר (Qal active) with the preposition בְּ indicates the object of inspection: 'I was inspecting (into) the wall.' Nehemiah's nighttime reconnaissance required close observation to assess the damage and plan reconstruction. The Masoretic tradition's שֹׂבֵר (śōḇēr, with sin) distinguishes it from שֹׁבֵר (šōḇēr, with shin, 'breaker'), avoiding confusion. The proposed Arabic cognate (probe, examine) fits the context, though the etymology remains debated. 2×
AR["أَتَفَحَّصُ"]·ben["পরীক্ষা-করছিলাম"]·DE["[שבר]"]·EN["inspecting"]·FR["[שבר]"]·heb["שבר"]·HI["देख-रहा-था"]·ID["memeriksa"]·IT["sperare"]·jav["nitipriksa"]·KO["살피는-자로"]·PT["examinando"]·RU["осматривающий"]·ES["examinando"]·SW["nikichunguza"]·TR["inceleyen"]·urd["جانچنے-والا"]
Related Senses
H7200 1. Qal: to see, perceive (1257×)G4771 2. you (singular address) (1077×)H8085 1. Qal: hear, perceive aurally (921×)H0859a 1. you (2nd person masculine singular pronoun) (743×)H0398 1. eat (consume food) (697×)H4191 1. die (Qal: natural/general death) (645×)G3708 1. see, perceive visually (419×)G0191 1. hear, perceive sound (360×)H???? 3. (352×)G3708 2. behold, look (exclamatory) (256×)H7272 1. foot (body part) (236×)H8354 1. drink, consume liquid (209×)H3205 1. Qal active: bear/give birth (female subject) (204×)H3205 2. Qal active: beget/father (male subject) (198×)H2421 1. Qal: live, be alive (177×)H8085 2. Qal: listen, heed, pay attention (172×)H2416a 1. alive, living (state/attribute) (146×)H2416e 1. life, lifespan, lifetime (145×)G2198 1. be alive, have life (133×)H8193 1. lip, lips (body part) (123×)
BDB / Lexicon Reference
† I. [שָׂבַר] vb. inspect, examine (van d. H. שֹׁבֵר [so 𝔊 συντρίβων], but Mas. שׂ׳ v. Norzi; hence connex. with Arabic سَبَرَ probe a wound, try, examine, improb., and this (according to Frä261) denom. from Aramaic loan-word; improb. also is connex. with Aramaic סְבַר think (cf. foll.), KauAram. im AT, 85);— Qal Pt. שֹׂבֵר, c. ב obj., Ne 2:13, 15 I examined into the wall, inspected it closely.