azav · leave, forsake

What it means

azav (עָזַב) is a Hebrew word of the Bible that means “leave, forsake”.

Abandon; also let go, leave behind for someone.

How to say it

Approximate pronunciation. Vowels sound as in Spanish (a as in father, e as in bed, i as in machine, o as in note, u as in rule); the syllable in bold is stressed. The voice is your device's.

Its senses in the Bible

1. To not take something along, or put it in another's care.
2. To turn one's back on YHWH, someone or a place.

From Brown-Driver-Briggs (1906)

Word study

Leave, abandon. BDB notes that the proper sense is to loosen, and also to permit.

• To leave father and mother Genesis 2:24
• To leave something in another's hand Genesis 39:12
• To abandon YHWH Judges 2:12Judges 2:13
• God's promise that he will not “forsake” or “abandon” his own Deuteronomy 31:6Joshua 1:5
• “Why have you abandoned me?” Psalms 22:1
• To part from someone Ruth 1:16

How we translate it

“Abandoned” 66 times, “abandon” 40, “left” 29, “leave” 22, “forsaken” 20, “forsake” 14. This edition prefers “abandon” or “forsake” and uses “leave” where English calls for it (Genesis 2:24; 39:12).

How it is translated

The words this translation uses for it, most frequent first.

• abandoned ×66
• abandon ×40
• left ×29
• leave ×22
• forsaken ×20
• forsake ×14
• leaves ×3
• who abandons ×3
• forsaking ×2
• they forsook ×2
• others ×14

Related words

Words of the same family, by Strong’s numbering.

Where it appears

• Genesis×11
• Exodus×5
• Leviticus×3
• Numbers×1
• Deuteronomy×9
• Joshua×5
• Judges×6
• Ruth×4
• 1 Samuel×4
• 2 Samuel×2
• 1 Kings×12
• 2 Kings×11
• 1 Chronicles×5
• 2 Chronicles×23
• Ezra×3
• Nehemiah×9
• Job×8
• Psalms×22
• Proverbs×11
• Isaiah×22
• Jeremiah×25
• Lamentations×1
• Ezekiel×7
• Daniel×1
• Hosea×1
• Jonah×1
• Zephaniah×1
• Zechariah×1
• Malachi×1

• Genesis 2:24

  That is why a man leaves his father and his mother and clings to his wife, and they become one flesh.

• Genesis 24:27

  and said, “Blessed be YHWH, the Elohim of my lord Abraham, who has not abandoned his loyal love and his faithfulness toward my lord. As for me, YHWH has led me on the way to the house of my lord’s brothers.”

• Genesis 28:15

  Look, I am with you and will keep you wherever you go, and I will bring you back to this land, for I will not abandon you until I have done what I have spoken to you.”

• Genesis 39:6

  He left all that he had in the hand of Joseph, and with him there he did not concern himself with anything except the bread that he ate. Now Joseph was well-built and handsome.

• Genesis 39:12

  She caught him by his garment, saying, “Lie with me.” But he left his garment in her hand and fled and went outside.

• Genesis 39:13

  When she saw that he had left his garment in her hand and had fled outside,

• Genesis 39:15

  When he heard that I raised my voice and cried out, he left his garment beside me and fled and went outside.”

• Genesis 39:18

  But when I raised my voice and cried out, he left his garment beside me and fled outside.”

• Genesis 44:22

  We said to my lord, ‘The young man cannot leave his father; if he leaves his father, he would die.’

• Genesis 50:8

  and all the household of Joseph, his brothers, and his father’s household; only their little ones, their flocks, and their herds they left in the land of Goshen.

• Exodus 2:20

  He said to his daughters, “And where is he? Why is it that you left the man? Call him so that he may eat bread.”

• Exodus 9:21

  but whoever did not pay attention to the word of YHWH left his servants and his livestock in the field.

• Exodus 23:5

  When you see the donkey of one who hates you lying down under its load, you shall refrain from leaving it to him; you shall surely help with him.

• Leviticus 19:10

  And your vineyard you shall not strip bare, and the fallen grapes of your vineyard you shall not gather; for the poor and for the resident alien you shall leave them. I am YHWH your Elohim.

• Leviticus 23:22

  And when you reap the harvest of your land, you shall not finish reaping the edge of your field, and the gleanings of your harvest you shall not gather; for the poor and for the resident alien you shall leave them. I am YHWH your Elohim.”

• Leviticus 26:43

  But the land will be abandoned by them and will enjoy its Sabbaths while it lies desolate without them; and they will accept the payment for their iniquity, because, yes, because they rejected my rules and their soul loathed my statutes.

• Numbers 10:31

  And he said, “Please do not leave us, for you know where we should camp in the wilderness, and you will be eyes for us.

• Deuteronomy 12:19

  Guard yourself so that you do not abandon the Levite all your days on your land.

• Deuteronomy 14:27

  And the Levite who is within your gates, you shall not abandon him, for he has no portion or inheritance with you.

• Deuteronomy 28:20

  YHWH will send on you the curse, the confusion, and the rebuke in all that you undertake with your hand that you do, until you are destroyed and until you perish quickly, because of the evil of your deeds, in that you have forsaken me.

• Deuteronomy 29:25

  And they will say, “Because they forsook the covenant of YHWH, the Elohim of their fathers, which he made with them when he brought them out of the land of Egypt.

• Deuteronomy 31:6

  Be strong and firm; do not fear and do not be terrified before them, for YHWH your Elohim, he is the one who goes with you; he will not let go of you or forsake you.”

• Deuteronomy 31:8

  And YHWH, he is the one who goes before you; he will be with you; he will not let go of you or forsake you. Do not fear and do not be dismayed.”

• Deuteronomy 31:16

  And YHWH said to Moses, “Look, you are about to lie down with your fathers, and this people will rise and prostitute themselves after the foreign gods of the land where they are going, in its midst, and they will forsake me and break my covenant that I made with them.

• Deuteronomy 31:17

  And my anger will burn against them on that day, and I will forsake them and hide my face from them, and they will be devoured, and many evils and troubles will find them; and they will say on that day, ‘Is it not because my Elohim is not in my midst that these evils have found me?’

• Deuteronomy 32:36

  For YHWH will judge his people and have compassion on his servants, when he sees that their strength is gone and there is no one restrained or left.

• Joshua 1:5

  No man shall stand before you all the days of your life. Just as I was with Moses, I will be with you; I will not let you go or abandon you.

• Joshua 8:17

  Not a man was left in Ai or Bethel who did not go out after Israel; and they abandoned the city open and pursued Israel.

• Joshua 22:3

  You have not abandoned your brothers these many days up to this day, and you have kept the charge of the commandment of YHWH your Elohim.

• Joshua 24:16

  And the people answered and said, “Far be it from us to abandon YHWH to serve other gods!

• Joshua 24:20

  If you abandon YHWH and serve foreign gods, then he will turn and do harm to you, and consume you, after having done good to you.”

• Judges 2:12

  They abandoned YHWH, the Elohim of their fathers, who brought them out of the land of Egypt, and they went after other gods, from the gods of the peoples who were around them, and they bowed down to them and provoked YHWH to anger.

• Judges 2:13

  They abandoned YHWH and served Baal and the Astartes.

• Judges 2:21

  I also will no longer dispossess before them any man of the nations that Joshua left when he died,

• Judges 10:6

  The sons of Israel again did what was evil in the eyes of YHWH, and served the Baals and the Astartes, the gods of Aram, the gods of Sidon, the gods of Moab, the gods of the sons of Ammon, and the gods of the Philistines; they abandoned YHWH and did not serve him.

• Judges 10:10

  The sons of Israel cried out to YHWH, saying, “We have sinned against you, because we have abandoned our Elohim and served the Baals.”

• Judges 10:13

  Yet you have abandoned me and served other gods; therefore I will not again save you.

• Ruth 1:16

  But Ruth said, “Do not press me to abandon you, to turn back from following you; for where you go, I will go, and where you spend the night, I will spend the night. Your people is my people, and your Elohim is my Elohim.

• Ruth 2:11

  Boaz answered and said to her, “It has been fully told to me, all that you have done for your mother-in-law after the death of your husband, and how you abandoned your father and your mother and the land of your birth, and came to a people that you did not know before.

• Ruth 2:16

  And also pull out for her some from the bundles and leave them and let her glean them, and do not rebuke her.”

And 175 more times.