4007. mabbat or mebbat
Lexical Summary
mabbat or mebbat: Look, gaze, regard, view

Original Word: מַבָּט
Part of Speech: Noun Masculine
Transliteration: mabbat
Pronunciation: mab-bat' or meb-bat'
Phonetic Spelling: (mab-bawt')
KJV: expectation
NASB: hope, expectation
Word Origin: [from H5027 (נָבַט - look)]

1. something expected, i.e. (abstractly) expectation

Strong's Exhaustive Concordance
expectation

Or mebbat {meb-bawt'}; from nabat; something expected, i.e. (abstractly) expectation -- expectation.

see HEBREW nabat

NAS Exhaustive Concordance
Word Origin
from nabat
Definition
expectation
NASB Translation
expectation (1), hope (2).

Brown-Driver-Briggs
[מַבָּט] noun masculineZechariah 9:5 expectation = object of hope or confidence (literally thing looked to); — suffix מַבָּטֵנוּ Isaiah 20:6, מַבָּטָם Isaiah 20:5, מֶבָּטָהּ Zechariah 9:5; — of Cush as ally of Judah Isaiah 20:5,6; of Tyre as ally of l'hilistia Zechariah 9:5.

Topical Lexicon
Overview

מַבָּט (mabbat) highlights what people fix their gaze upon as their ground of safety, prestige, or future security. By selecting this rare noun only three times, the Spirit alerts readers to the deadly seriousness of misplaced confidence and to the living alternative of trust in the Lord.

Scriptural Usage

Isaiah 20:5 – “Those who made Cush their hope and Egypt their boast will be dismayed and ashamed.”
Isaiah 20:6 – “See what has happened to our source of hope, to whom we fled for help and deliverance from the king of Assyria! Now, how can we escape?”
Zechariah 9:5 – “Ashkelon will see it and fear; Gaza will writhe in agony, and so will Ekron, for her hope will wither.”

In each passage mabbat is rendered “hope,” “source of hope,” or “object of hope”. The term appears in prophetic warnings where the nations’ confident gaze rests on political allies, fortified cities, or idolatrous deities rather than on the covenant God.

Historical Context

Isaiah addresses the early eighth-century B.C. crisis in which Judah eyed Egypt and Cush as potential saviors against Assyria. Zechariah speaks after the exile, foretelling the downfall of Philistine strongholds that trusted in their own strength. Both moments expose a recurring temptation: securing national or personal futures by human strategies divorced from faith.

Theological Emphasis

1. False hopes collapse. The prophecies envision shame, dismay, and withering—graphic outcomes that underline divine sovereignty over geopolitical realities (compare Psalm 118:8-9).
2. True security rests in the Lord alone. By allowing mabbat-hopes to fail, God disciplines His people toward exclusive reliance on Him (see Isaiah 31:1).
3. Judgment mingled with mercy. Isaiah 20 warns Judah but also invites repentance before Assyria’s advance, while Zechariah 9 sets the stage for the peaceful King who enters Jerusalem “righteous and victorious, humble and riding on a donkey” (Zechariah 9:9).

Ministry Significance

• Preaching: Mabbat supplies a concise biblical vocabulary for addressing modern idols—economics, technology, alliances—anything that claims ultimate trust.
• Pastoral counseling: By exposing false confidences, counselors can guide believers to relocate hope in Christ, the anchor of the soul (Hebrews 6:19).
• Missions: Isaiah 20 illustrates that God’s people must not mirror the surrounding culture’s securities; gospel proclamation models a countercultural dependence on the Lord.

Echoes in the New Testament

The warning against misplaced mabbat finds fulfillment in Jesus Christ, who embodies the “hope of glory” (Colossians 1:27). Paul contrasts earthly confidences with the surpassing worth of knowing Christ (Philippians 3:3-8), echoing Isaiah’s critique of reliance on Egypt. Peter urges believers to “set your hope fully on the grace to be given you at the revelation of Jesus Christ” (1 Peter 1:13), transferring the prophetic call into the eschatological horizon.

Contemporary Application

Believers confront subtle forms of Egypt and Philistia—careers, medical advances, governmental systems—which, though good, must not become ultimate hopes. Mabbat invites continual heart-examination: where do we instinctively turn when threatened? The antidote is deliberate fixation on God’s character and promises, cultivating habits of prayer, Scripture meditation, and corporate worship that redirect our gaze.

Summary

מַבָּט exposes the fragility of every human refuge and beckons all generations to anchor their expectation in the living God, whose covenant faithfulness never fails.

Forms and Transliterations
מֶבָּטָ֑הּ מַבָּטֵ֗נוּ מַבָּטָ֔ם מבטה מבטם מבטנו mab·bā·ṭām mab·bā·ṭê·nū mabbaTam mabbāṭām mabbaTenu mabbāṭênū meb·bā·ṭāh mebbaTah mebbāṭāh
Links
Interlinear GreekInterlinear HebrewStrong's NumbersEnglishman's Greek ConcordanceEnglishman's Hebrew ConcordanceParallel Texts
Englishman's Concordance
Isaiah 20:5
HEB: וָבֹ֑שׁוּ מִכּוּשׁ֙ מַבָּטָ֔ם וּמִן־ מִצְרַ֖יִם
NAS: of Cush their hope and Egypt
KJV: of Ethiopia their expectation, and of Egypt
INT: and ashamed of Cush their hope because and Egypt

Isaiah 20:6
HEB: הִנֵּה־ כֹ֣ה מַבָּטֵ֗נוּ אֲשֶׁר־ נַ֤סְנוּ
NAS: such is our hope, where
KJV: Behold, such [is] our expectation, whither we flee
INT: Behold such is our hope after fled

Zechariah 9:5
HEB: כִּֽי־ הֹבִ֣ישׁ מֶבָּטָ֑הּ וְאָ֤בַד מֶ֙לֶךְ֙
NAS: Also Ekron, for her expectation has been confounded.
KJV: and Ekron; for her expectation shall be ashamed;
INT: for has been her expectation will perish the king

3 Occurrences

Strong's Hebrew 4007
3 Occurrences


mab·bā·ṭām — 1 Occ.
mab·bā·ṭê·nū — 1 Occ.
meb·bā·ṭāh — 1 Occ.

4006
Top of Page
Top of Page