מַשְׁאָב

# מַשְׁאָב (mashav): A Rare Biblical Well The Hebrew word *mashav* refers to a well, appearing only once in the entire biblical text. This single occurrence limits our ability to trace how the word was used across different contexts or periods of biblical writing. The term belongs to a semantic field of water-extraction vocabulary in ancient Hebrew, which included several words for different types of water sources. Because *mashav* appears only one time in the surviving biblical corpus, we cannot determine whether it had a specialized meaning distinct from other Hebrew words for wells, or whether it was simply a variant term that fell out of common usage. Its rarity suggests it may have been either a regional term, a technical word with limited application, or a word that was being displaced by more frequently used alternatives in Hebrew speech and writing. Without multiple attestations showing the word used in different literary genres or historical periods, the full range of its significance remains unknown.