H5493 — סוּר (sur)¶

Core Data¶

Strong's: H5493
Original: סוּר
Transliteration: sur (çûwr)
Pronunciation: soor
Part of Speech: Verb (primitive root)
Occurrences: 283 unique verses (382 tokens) across 30 books
First Occurrence: Gen 8:13 — "the waters were dried up from off the earth"
Hapax Legomenon: No

Lexicon Definition¶

A primitive root; to turn off (literally or figuratively): — be(-head), bring, call back, decline, depart, eschew, get (you), go (aside), grievous, lay away (by), leave undone, be past, pluck away, put (away, down), rebel, remove (to and fro), revolt, be sour, take (away, off), turn (aside, away, in), withdraw, be without.

Verb Stem Distribution¶

Stem	Count	%	Typical Meaning
Qal	158	53%	Turn aside, depart, leave; intransitive physical or moral movement away
Hiphil	133	45%	Remove, take away, put away; causative — causing something to depart
Hophal	5	2%	Be removed, be taken away; passive of Hiphil
Piel	1	<1%	Turned aside (Lam 3:11); intensive

The Qal/Hiphil split reflects the word's two primary orientations: Qal is intransitive (the subject departs), Hiphil is transitive (the subject removes something else).

Translation Distribution (KJV)¶

The KJV renders sur across a wide range of English expressions. Grouping by semantic root:

Translation Group	Approx. Verses	%
depart/departed/departeth	~55	19%
turn (aside/away/in)	~30	11%
remove/removed	~20	7%
take/taken away	~45	16%
put away	~15	5%
aside	9	3%
away	7	2%
eschew/eschewed	3	1%
Other (rebel, revolt, sour, beheaded, off, etc.)	~99	35%

Distribution by Book¶

Book	Count	Per 100 Verses
2 Kings	31	4.3
Isaiah	23	1.8
1 Samuel	21	2.6
2 Chronicles	20	2.4
Proverbs	17	1.9
Job	17	1.6
Deuteronomy	15	1.6
Judges	14	2.3
Psalms	13	0.5
Exodus	13	1.1
Genesis	11	0.7
Leviticus	10	1.2
1 Kings	10	1.2
2 Samuel	10	1.4
Ezekiel	10	0.8
Jeremiah	10	0.7
Joshua	6	0.9
Hosea	5	2.5
Daniel	4	1.1
Numbers	4	0.3
Zechariah	3	1.4
Esther	3	1.8
Amos	2	1.4
Zephaniah	2	3.8
Malachi	2	3.6
Lamentations	2	1.3
1 Chronicles	2	0.2
Ecclesiastes	1	0.5
Nehemiah	1	0.2
Ruth	1	—

Patterns: Highest density in 2 Kings (4.3/100v), where the formulaic "he departed not from the sins of Jeroboam" recurs throughout the kings' evaluations. Heavy concentration in historical and prophetic books dealing with apostasy and reform. Proverbs uses it predominantly in the wisdom formula "depart from evil."

Semantic Categories¶

1. Physical Turning Aside / Changing Direction¶

The literal, spatial sense — a person physically turns off a path or toward a location. - Exo 3:3–4 — "I will now turn aside, and see this great sight... when the LORD saw that he turned aside to see" - Judg 4:18 — "Turn in, my lord, turn in to me; fear not. And when he had turned in unto her" - Judg 19:12 — "We will not turn aside hither into the city of a stranger" - Ruth 4:1 — "Ho, such a one! turn aside, sit down here. And he turned aside, and sat down."

2. Departing / Leaving a Place or Person¶

Movement away from a location or from someone's presence. - Gen 49:10 — "The sceptre shall not depart from Judah" - 1 Sam 16:14 — "But the Spirit of the LORD departed from Saul" - 1 Sam 28:15 — "God is departed from me, and answereth me no more" - Num 12:10 — "the cloud departed from off the tabernacle"

3. Removing / Taking Away (Hiphil — Causative)¶

The dominant Hiphil sense — actively removing objects, people, or conditions. - Exo 8:8 — "Intreat the LORD, that he may take away the frogs" - Isa 6:7 — "thine iniquity is taken away, and thy sin purged" - Ezek 36:26 — "I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh" - Zech 3:4 — "Take away the filthy garments from him"

4. Putting Away Idols and Foreign Worship¶

A specialized sub-category of removal, prominent in Deuteronomistic and reform contexts. - Gen 35:2 — "Put away the strange gods that are among you" - 1 Sam 7:3–4 — "put away the strange gods and Ashtaroth... the children of Israel did put away Baalim" - 2 Ki 18:4 — "He removed the high places, and brake the images, and cut down the groves" - 2 Chr 33:15 — "he took away the strange gods, and the idol out of the house of the LORD"

5. Moral/Spiritual Departure — Turning from God's Way¶

Used for apostasy, rebellion, or departing from God's commands. Predominantly Qal. - Exo 32:8 — "They have turned aside quickly out of the way which I commanded them" - Deut 9:12 — "thy people... have turned aside quickly out of the way" - 2 Ki 10:29 — "from the sins of Jeroboam... Jehu departed not from after them" - Dan 9:5 — "We have sinned... even by departing from thy precepts"

6. Departing from Evil — Wisdom and Righteousness¶

A distinct positive usage where sur means avoiding or forsaking evil. Heavy in Proverbs and Job. - Job 1:1 — "that man was perfect and upright, and one that feared God, and eschewed evil" - Prov 3:7 — "fear the LORD, and depart from evil" - Prov 16:6 — "by the fear of the LORD men depart from evil" - Prov 16:17 — "The highway of the upright is to depart from evil"

7. Ritual/Sacrificial Removal¶

Technical priestly usage for removing fat, crop, or garments in sacrificial procedure. - Lev 1:16 — "he shall pluck away his crop with his feathers" - Lev 3:4 — "the caul above the liver, with the kidneys, it shall he take away" - Lev 4:31 — "he shall take away all the fat thereof" - 2 Chr 35:12 — "they removed the burnt offerings"

Common Collocations¶

Word	Strong's	Co-occurrences	Typical Pattern
רַע (raʻ)	H7451	31x	"depart from evil" — wisdom/ethical formula
דֶּרֶךְ (derek)	H1870	26x	"turn aside from the way" — apostasy formula
אַחַר (ʼachar)	H310	21x	"departed not from after [sins]" — 2 Kings evaluations
עָשָׂה (ʻâsâh)	H6213	51x	General narrative co-occurrence in reform/removal contexts
כֹּל (kôl)	H3605	61x	"take away all" — comprehensive removal
פָּנִים (pânîym)	H6440	32x	"from before" — removal from God's presence/sight
יִשְׂרָאֵל (Yisrâʼêl)	H3478	44x	National context of apostasy/reform narratives
אֱלֹהִים (ʼĕlôhîym)	H430	37x	Divine agent of removal or object of departure

Synonyms (from SDBH semantic domain)¶

H2015 הָפַךְ (haphak) — to turn, overturn (overlaps in "turn" domain; haphak implies reversal/overturning, sur implies turning aside/away)
H2342 חוּל (chuwl) — to whirl, dance, writhe (circular turning; sur is directional departure)
H1556 גָּלַל (galal) — to roll, roll away (physical rolling motion; sur is more general turning)

Antonyms¶

H7725 שׁוּב (shuwb) — to turn back, return (sur = departure; shuwb = return — the most direct antonym)

Easily Confused Words¶

Word	Strong's	Shared Translation	Key Difference
שׁוּב (shuwb)	H7725	"turn," "turned"	shuwb = turn back / return; sur = turn aside / depart
נָטָה (natah)	H5186	"turn aside," "turned"	natah = stretch out, incline, bend; sur = move away from a course
סָבַב (cabab)	H5437	"turn," "turn aside"	cabab = go around, surround, revolve; sur = deviate from a line
פָּנָה (panah)	H6437	"turn," "turned"	panah = face toward, look; sur = move away from
הָפַךְ (haphak)	H2015	"turned"	haphak = overturn, reverse; sur = turn off to the side
מוּשׁ (muwsh)	H4185	"depart," "remove"	muwsh = withdraw, cease (often with negation "shall not depart"); sur = actively turn aside
יָלַךְ (yalak)	H3212	"depart," "departed"	yalak = walk, go (general motion); sur = specifically turning away from
נָסַע (nasaʻ)	H5265	"removed"	nasaʻ = pull up (camp), journey; sur = remove from a position or state

LXX Mapping¶

Greek Equivalent	Co-occurrences	PMI Score	Notes
ἐκκλίνω (ekklínō) G1578	55	20.84	"to deviate, shun" — captures the Qal "turn aside" sense
ἀφίστημι (aphístēmi) G868	57	20.69	"to stand away from, depart" — captures departure and apostasy
περιαιρέω (periairéō) G4014	32	20.26	"to take away all around" — Hiphil removal sense
ἀφαιρέω (aphairéō) G851	38	16.76	"to take away" — Hiphil removal sense
μεθίστημι (methístēmi) G3179	12	14.22	"to transfer, remove" — exile/displacement sense

The LXX splits sur across multiple Greek words depending on stem/context: Qal intransitive → ἐκκλίνω or ἀφίστημι; Hiphil causative → περιαιρέω or ἀφαιρέω. No single Greek word covers the full semantic range.