1670. deabah
Lexical Summary
deabah: Sorrow, grief, languishing

Original Word: דְּאָבָה
Part of Speech: Noun Feminine
Transliteration: d'abah
Pronunciation: deh-aw-BAH
Phonetic Spelling: (deh-aw-baw')
KJV: sorrow
NASB: dismay
Word Origin: [from H1669 (דָּאַב - languish)]

1. (properly) pining
2. by analogy, fear

Strong's Exhaustive Concordance
sorrow

From da'ab; properly, pining; by analogy, fear -- sorrow.

see HEBREW da'ab

NAS Exhaustive Concordance
Word Origin
from daeb
Definition
faintness, dismay
NASB Translation
dismay (1).

Brown-Driver-Briggs
דְּאָבָה noun feminine faintness, failure of mental energy, dismay Job 41:14 וּלְפָנָיו תָּדוּץ דְּאָבָה and before him (i.e. the crocodile) danceth dismay.

Topical Lexicon
Hebrew Background and Literary Setting

The noun דְּאָבָה appears once in the Hebrew canon, in Job 41:22. The book of Job, written in elevated poetic style, uses vivid creature imagery to underscore God’s sovereign power. Within that framework, דְּאָבָה serves as a poetic keystone that expresses the psychological impact produced by Leviathan’s presence.

Occurrence and Immediate Context (Job 41:22)

“Strength resides in his neck, and dismay dances before him.”

The Spirit-inspired author presents Leviathan as unrivaled on earth (Job 41:33). Every physical attribute of the creature is matched by an emotional response in observers; where his neck exudes “strength,” דְּאָבָה—“dismay,” “dejection,” or “inner melting”—leaps ahead of him. Job’s earlier insistence on personal integrity (Job 27:6) is thus contrasted with humankind’s sheer powerlessness in the face of divine majesty revealed through creation.

Theological Significance

1. Fear of the LORD. In Scripture, terror before God’s unequaled power is wholesome (Proverbs 1:7). By locating דְּאָבָה within the spectacle of Leviathan, the text teaches that true wisdom begins when mortal self-confidence gives way to reverent awe.
2. Human Frailty. Job’s ordeal has exposed the boundaries of human reasoning. דְּאָבָה embodies the crippling realization that no earthly strength can deliver from ultimate vulnerability (cf. Psalm 39:4).
3. Divine Supremacy. The single occurrence heightens its force: one Hebrew word, one verse, one creature—yet it dissolves every pretension. The God who speaks of Leviathan controls even the emotions that he evokes; nothing lies outside his governance.

Historical and Cultural Insights

Ancient Near-Eastern epics portrayed sea monsters as primordial foes of the gods, symbolic of chaos. Job, however, reframes the motif: Leviathan is no rival deity but a created being (Job 41:11). דְּאָבָה thus functions apologetically, redirecting fear from mythic chaos to awe of the true Creator.

Related Biblical Themes

• “My flesh and my heart may fail” (Psalm 73:26) mirrors the internal collapse suggested by דְּאָבָה.
• In Isaiah 6:5, the prophet cries, “Woe to me, for I am ruined!”—another instance where encounter with God’s majesty produces inner disintegration that leads to consecration.
• New-Covenant fulfillment comes in Revelation 1:17, where John “fell at His feet as though dead,” yet is lifted by the reassuring hand of the risen Christ. Holy dread is met by gracious restoration.

Ministry and Pastoral Application

1. Confronting Idolatry of Self-Sufficiency. Modern disciples may trust technology, wealth, or intellect. Teaching Job 41:22 invites believers to recognize that every confidence outside God must crumble.
2. Encouraging Healthy Fear. The church benefits from recovering a theology of awe that discourages flippancy in worship yet leads to comfort in the gospel (Psalm 130:4).
3. Counseling Through Overwhelm. When counselees experience emotional “melting,” Job’s vision directs them to the unassailable strength of the Lord rather than to self-help strategies.

Christological Reflection

The gospel resolves the terror embodied in דְּאָבָה. At Calvary, Christ absorbed the ultimate dismay (“My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?” Matthew 27:46) so that all who trust Him might stand fearless before God (Hebrews 4:16). Leviathan’s might foreshadows the greater victory of Jesus, who “disarmed the powers and authorities” (Colossians 2:15), turning dread into triumph.

Summary

דְּאָבָה, though rare, crystallizes a profound biblical pattern: the collapse of human arrogance before the Creator’s unrivaled power, a collapse intended not for destruction but for redemptive dependence on the Lord. Through Job’s solitary usage, Scripture summons every generation to exchange self-reliance for worshipful trust, knowing that in Christ perfect love casts out fear.

Forms and Transliterations
דְּאָבָֽה׃ דאבה׃ də’āḇāh də·’ā·ḇāh deaVah
Links
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Englishman's Concordance
Job 41:22
HEB: וּ֝לְפָנָ֗יו תָּד֥וּץ דְּאָבָֽה׃
NAS: strength, And dismay leaps
KJV: strength, and sorrow is turned into joy
INT: before leaps and dismay

1 Occurrence

Strong's Hebrew 1670
1 Occurrence


də·’ā·ḇāh — 1 Occ.

1669
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