עָבַר
a.var
to pass
Lexicon Entry
Lexicon data from STEPBible TIPNR, Tyndale House, Cambridge. Licensed under CC BY 4.0.
What Original Readers Understood
Supported# The Hebrew Word עָבַר (to pass) The Hebrew verb עָבַר appears 498 times throughout the Bible, making it one of the language's most frequently used words. Its fundamental meaning—"to pass"—carries both literal and figurative dimensions. In its most concrete sense, it describes physical movement: crossing a boundary, river, or threshold. This spatial meaning forms the foundation for understanding how ancient Hebrew speakers employed the word in diverse contexts. Beyond simple physical transit, the word's high frequency suggests it developed broader applications in biblical thought. The concept of "passing" extends naturally to temporal contexts (time passing), to transgressive actions (passing over laws or limits), and to the notion of things ceasing or ending. This semantic range—from the concrete image of someone crossing a river to the abstract idea of violating a command or boundary—reflects how biblical Hebrew often built complex meanings from basic physical concepts. The word's ubiquity across 498 biblical occurrences indicates it served as a versatile linguistic tool that could express motion, time, violation, and transformation depending on its context. The significance of this verb lies not in any single specialized meaning but in its foundational role in Hebrew expression. It represents how biblical writers communicated movement, change, and transgression through a single, adaptable term, demonstrating the economy and flexibility of biblical Hebrew vocabulary.
Source data & methodology
Occurrences in Scripture
498 total occurrences across the text — showing 50
Then Jehoram went there with his captains and all his chariots with him. He rose up by night and struck the Edomites who surrounded him, along with the captains of the chariots.
2 Chronicles 25:18Joash king of Israel sent to Amaziah king of Judah, saying, “The thistle that was in Lebanon sent to the cedar that was in Lebanon, saying, ‘Give your daughter to my son as his wife. Then a wild animal that was in Lebanon passed by, and trampled down the thistle.
2 Chronicles 30:5So they established a decree to make proclamation throughout all Israel, from Beersheba even to Dan, that they should come to keep the Passover to Yahweh, the God of Israel, at Jerusalem, for they had not kept it in great numbers in the way it is written.
2 Chronicles 30:10So the couriers passed from city to city through the country of Ephraim and Manasseh, even to Zebulun, but people ridiculed them and mocked them.
2 Chronicles 33:6He also made his children to pass through the fire in the valley of the son of Hinnom. He practiced sorcery, divination, and witchcraft, and dealt with those who had familiar spirits and with wizards. He did much evil in Yahweh’s sight, to provoke him to anger.
2 Chronicles 36:22Now in the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, that Yahweh’s word by the mouth of Jeremiah might be accomplished, Yahweh stirred up the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia, so that he made a proclamation throughout all his kingdom, and put it also in writing, saying,
Ezra 1:1Now in the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, that Yahweh’s word by Jeremiah’s mouth might be accomplished, Yahweh stirred up the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia, so that he made a proclamation throughout all his kingdom, and put it also in writing, saying,
Ezra 10:7They made a proclamation throughout Judah and Jerusalem to all the children of the captivity, that they should gather themselves together to Jerusalem;
Nehemiah 2:7Moreover I said to the king, “If it pleases the king, let letters be given me to the governors beyond the River, that they may let me pass through until I come to Judah;
Nehemiah 2:14Then I went on to the spring gate and to the king’s pool, but there was no place for the animal that was under me to pass.
Nehemiah 2:14Then I went on to the spring gate and to the king’s pool, but there was no place for the animal that was under me to pass.
Nehemiah 8:15and that they should publish and proclaim in all their cities, and in Jerusalem, saying, “Go out to the mountain, and get olive branches, branches of wild olive, myrtle branches, palm branches, and branches of thick trees, to make temporary shelters, as it is written.”
Nehemiah 9:11You divided the sea before them, so that they went through the middle of the sea on the dry land; and you cast their pursuers into the depths, as a stone into the mighty waters.
Esther 1:19“If it pleases the king, let a royal commandment go from him, and let it be written among the laws of the Persians and the Medes, so that it cannot be altered, that Vashti may never again come before King Ahasuerus; and let the king give her royal estate to another who is better than she.
Esther 4:17So Mordecai went his way, and did according to all that Esther had commanded him.
Esther 9:27the Jews established and imposed on themselves, and on their descendants, and on all those who joined themselves to them, so that it should not fail that they would keep these two days according to what was written, and according to its appointed time, every year;
Esther 9:28and that these days should be remembered and kept throughout every generation, every family, every province, and every city; and that these days of Purim should not fail from among the Jews, nor their memory perish from their offspring,
Job 6:15My brothers have dealt deceitfully as a brook, as the channel of brooks that pass away;
Job 9:11Behold, he goes by me, and I don’t see him. He passes on also, but I don’t perceive him.
Job 11:16for you will forget your misery. You will remember it like waters that have passed away.
Job 13:13“Be silent! Leave me alone, that I may speak. Let come on me what will.
Job 14:5Seeing his days are determined, the number of his months is with you, and you have appointed his bounds that he can’t pass;
Job 15:19to whom alone the land was given, and no stranger passed among them):
Job 17:11My days are past. My plans are broken off, as are the thoughts of my heart.
Job 19:8He has walled up my way so that I can’t pass, and has set darkness in my paths.
Job 21:10Their bulls breed without fail. Their cows calve, and don’t miscarry.
Job 21:29Haven’t you asked wayfaring men? Don’t you know their evidences,
Job 30:15Terrors have turned on me. They chase my honor as the wind. My welfare has passed away as a cloud.
Job 33:18He keeps back his soul from the pit, and his life from perishing by the sword.
Job 33:28He has redeemed my soul from going into the pit. My life will see the light.’
Job 34:20In a moment they die, even at midnight. The people are shaken and pass away. The mighty are taken away without a hand.
Job 36:12But if they don’t listen, they will perish by the sword; they will die without knowledge.
Job 37:21Now men don’t see the light which is bright in the skies, but the wind passes, and clears them.
Psalms 8:8the birds of the sky, the fish of the sea, and whatever passes through the paths of the seas.
Psalms 18:12At the brightness before him his thick clouds passed, hailstones and coals of fire.
Psalms 37:36But he passed away, and behold, he was not. Yes, I sought him, but he could not be found.
Psalms 38:4For my iniquities have gone over my head. As a heavy burden, they are too heavy for me.
Psalms 42:4These things I remember, and pour out my soul within me, how I used to go with the crowd, and led them to God’s house, with the voice of joy and praise, a multitude keeping a holy day.
Psalms 42:7Deep calls to deep at the noise of your waterfalls. All your waves and your billows have swept over me.
Psalms 48:4For, behold, the kings assembled themselves, they passed by together.
Psalms 57:1Be merciful to me, God, be merciful to me, for my soul takes refuge in you. Yes, in the shadow of your wings, I will take refuge, until disaster has passed.
Psalms 66:6He turned the sea into dry land. They went through the river on foot. There, we rejoiced in him.
Psalms 73:7Their eyes bulge with fat. Their minds pass the limits of conceit.
Psalms 80:12Why have you broken down its walls, so that all those who pass by the way pluck it?
Psalms 81:6“I removed his shoulder from the burden. His hands were freed from the basket.
Psalms 84:6Passing through the valley of Weeping, they make it a place of springs. Yes, the autumn rain covers it with blessings.
Psalms 88:16Your fierce wrath has gone over me. Your terrors have cut me off.
Psalms 89:41All who pass by the way rob him. He has become a reproach to his neighbors.
Psalms 90:4For a thousand years in your sight are just like yesterday when it is past, like a watch in the night.
Psalms 103:16For the wind passes over it, and it is gone. Its place remembers it no more.