H7646 — שָׂבַע (saba)¶

Core Data¶

Strong's: H7646
Original: שָׂבַע
Transliteration: saba
Pronunciation: saw-bah
Part of Speech: Verb (primitive root)
Root: שׂבע — to sate, fill to satisfaction
Occurrences: 93 unique verses (119 tokens) across 20 books
First Occurrence: Exo 16:8 — "when the LORD shall give you in the evening flesh to eat, and in the morning bread to the full"
Hapax Legomenon: No

Lexicon Definition¶

A primitive root; to sate, i.e. fill to satisfaction (literally or figuratively): have enough, fill (full, self, with), be (to the) full (of), have plenty of, be satiate, satisfy (with), suffice, be weary of.

Verb Stem Distribution¶

Stem	Count	Typical Meaning
Qal	70	be satisfied, be sated, be full, have enough
Hiphil	16	satisfy (causative — cause to be sated), fill
Piel	2	satisfy (intensive)

The Qal dominates (80%), expressing the state of being satisfied. The Hiphil (18%) is causative — God or a person causing satisfaction in another. Piel appears only twice (Psa 90:14, Eze 7:19).

Translation Distribution (KJV)¶

Translation	Count	%
satisfied / be satisfied / shall be satisfied	24	26%
filled / be filled / shall be filled	14	15%
full / is full / are full	10	11%
satisfy / satisfiest / satisfieth	7	8%
enough / have enough	3	3%
plenty / have plenty	3	3%
weary of	1	1%
satiate	1	1%
sufficed	1	1%
Other (misc. verbal forms)	29	31%

Distribution by Book¶

Book	Count	Per 100 Verses
Habakkuk	2	3.6
Joel	2	2.7
Lamentations	3	1.9
Ecclesiastes	4	1.8
Proverbs	15	1.6
Micah	1	1.0
Hosea	2	1.0
Psalms	23	0.9
Deuteronomy	7	0.7
Amos	1	0.7
Job	6	0.6
Isaiah	7	0.5
Ezekiel	6	0.5
Jeremiah	6	0.4
Exodus	2	0.2
2 Chronicles	2	0.2
Nehemiah	1	0.2
Leviticus	1	0.1
1 Chronicles	1	0.1
Ruth	1	0.1

Wisdom literature (Psalms, Proverbs, Job, Ecclesiastes) accounts for 48 of 93 verses (52%). The word is absent from the historical narratives of Samuel, Kings, Joshua, and Judges. Prophetic usage (Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Minor Prophets) accounts for 30 verses (32%).

Semantic Categories¶

1. Physical Satisfaction with Food¶

The most basic sense — eating and being full. - Exo 16:8 — "in the morning bread to the full" - Deu 8:10 — "When thou hast eaten and art full, then thou shalt bless the LORD" - Ruth 2:14 — "she did eat, and was sufficed, and left" - Psa 78:29 — "So they did eat, and were well filled: for he gave them their own desire"

2. God Satisfying His People¶

Divine provision — God as the one who fills and satisfies. - Psa 103:5 — "Who satisfieth thy mouth with good things; so that thy youth is renewed like the eagle's" - Psa 107:9 — "For he satisfieth the longing soul, and filleth the hungry soul with goodness" - Psa 132:15 — "I will abundantly bless her provision: I will satisfy her poor with bread" - Psa 145:16 — "Thou openest thine hand, and satisfiest the desire of every living thing"

3. Satisfaction of the Soul / Inner Person¶

Satisfaction extending beyond physical food to deep personal fulfillment. - Psa 17:15 — "I shall be satisfied, when I awake, with thy likeness" - Psa 63:5 — "My soul shall be satisfied as with marrow and fatness" - Isa 53:11 — "He shall see of the travail of his soul, and shall be satisfied" - Jer 31:14 — "my people shall be satisfied with my goodness, saith the LORD"

4. Insatiable Desire / Never Satisfied¶

The negative — things that can never be sated, used for judgment or moral observation. - Ecc 1:8 — "the eye is not satisfied with seeing, nor the ear filled with hearing" - Ecc 5:10 — "He that loveth silver shall not be satisfied with silver" - Pro 27:20 — "Hell and destruction are never full; so the eyes of man are never satisfied" - Pro 30:15-16 — "There are three things that are never satisfied... The grave; and the barren womb" - Hab 2:5 — "who enlargeth his desire as hell, and is as death, and cannot be satisfied"

5. Satisfaction Leading to Forgetting God¶

Fullness producing spiritual complacency — a Deuteronomic warning pattern. - Deu 8:12 — "Lest when thou hast eaten and art full, and hast built goodly houses" - Deu 31:20 — "when they shall have eaten and filled themselves... then will they turn unto other gods" - Hos 13:6 — "According to their pasture, so were they filled; they were filled, and their heart was exalted; therefore have they forgotten me" - Neh 9:25 — "they did eat, and were filled, and became fat, and delighted themselves in thy great goodness"

6. Filled with Negative Things (Judgment/Suffering)¶

Sated not with good but with bitterness, reproach, or wrath. - Job 7:4 — "I am full of tossings to and fro unto the dawning of the day" - Lam 3:15 — "He hath filled me with bitterness" - Lam 3:30 — "he is filled full with reproach" - Psa 88:3 — "my soul is full of troubles" - Psa 123:3-4 — "we are exceedingly filled with contempt... filled with the scorning"

7. Covenant-Blessing Satisfaction¶

Satisfaction as a promised blessing for obedience and faithfulness. - Deu 14:29 — "the stranger, and the fatherless, and the widow... shall come, and shall eat and be satisfied" - Joel 2:26 — "ye shall eat in plenty, and be satisfied, and praise the name of the LORD" - Isa 58:10-11 — "satisfy the afflicted soul... the LORD shall... satisfy thy soul in drought" - Psa 22:26 — "The meek shall eat and be satisfied"

Common Collocations¶

Word	Strong's	Co-occurrences	Typical Pattern
אָכַל (akal)	H398	25x	"eat and be satisfied" — paired action
יְהֹוָה (YHWH)	H3068	20x	God as source of satisfaction
לֶחֶם (lechem)	H3899	13x	"satisfied with bread" — concrete object
נֶפֶשׁ (nephesh)	H5315	13x	"satisfy the soul" — inner satisfaction
טוֹב (towb)	H2896	10x	"satisfied with good/goodness"
בַּיִת (bayith)	H1004	8x	domestic/household context
בָּשָׂר (basar)	H1320	6x	"satisfied with flesh/meat"
אֶרֶץ (erets)	H776	7x	land-blessing context

The dominant collocation "eat (akal) and be satisfied (saba)" occurs 25 times, forming a stereotyped pair especially in Deuteronomy and Psalms.

Word Family / Cognates¶

H7647 שָׂבָע (saba) — masculine noun: plenty, abundance (e.g., Gen 41:29-34 "seven years of plenty")
H7648 שֹׂבַע (soba) — masculine noun: satisfaction, fullness, satiety (e.g., Exo 16:3 "bread to the full")
H7649 שָׂבֵעַ (sabea) — adjective: sated, full, satisfied (e.g., Gen 25:8 Abraham "full of years")

Synonyms¶

H398 אָכַל (akal) — to eat (the action that produces saba; they collocate 25x)
H8130 שָׂנֵא (sane) — SDBH synonym (semantic domain overlap in "Ingest" domain)

Antonyms¶

H2654 חָפֵץ (chaphets) — to delight in, desire (SDBH antonym — desire vs. satiation)
H7456 רָעֵב (raeb) — to hunger, be hungry (conceptual opposite, implied by Isa 9:20, Mic 6:14)

Easily Confused Words¶

Word	Strong's	Shared Translation	Key Difference
מָלֵא (male)	H4390	"filled" (16v vs 5v)	male = fill a container/space; saba = satisfy appetite/desire
שָׂבֵעַ (sabea)	H7649	"satisfied" (2v)	sabea is the adjective form of this root; saba is the verb

LXX Mapping¶

Greek Equivalent	Co-occurrences	PMI Score	Notes
ἐμπίπλημι (empiplemi) G1705	52	27.04	Primary equivalent — "to fill up, satisfy"
πλήθω (pletho) G4130	22	18.20	Secondary — "to fill"
χορτάζω (chortazo) G5526	13	20.93	"to feed, satisfy" — NT feeding miracles
ἐσθίω (esthio) G2068	23	10.98	"to eat" — when saba is rendered as eating

The dominant LXX bridge is ἐμπίπλημι (G1705), used for saba in over half the LXX renderings. This word carries into the NT at Luke 1:53, John 6:12, Acts 14:17, and Romans 15:24.