יָע (ya)
ya
shovel
H:N-MQuick Reference
- Language
- Biblical Hebrew
- Testament
- Old Testament
- Occurrences
- 9 verses
- Root
- —
- Part of speech
- H:N-M
Definition
Definition
Brown-Driver-Briggs
Strong's Exhaustive Concordance
What This Word Means for Your Faith
The word for shovel appears in the detailed instructions for the Tabernacle and Solomon’s Temple. These were not decorative items but essential tools for maintaining the sacred space. The priests used them to remove ashes from the altar, ensuring that the fire remained clean and ready for sacrifice. This practical duty highlights how ordinary labor supports spiritual worship.
When you read about these bronze shovels, remember that God cares about the details of service. Your daily tasks, even the mundane ones, can be acts of devotion when done with a willing heart. Just as the priests tended to the altar’s cleanliness, you are invited to bring your everyday efforts into God’s presence, trusting that He values faithfulness in small things.
How it's translated
How this word is rendered word-by-word in the 9 verses where it appears, by frequency.
- the/ shovels8×
- and/ shovels/ its1×
Forms in the text
The inflected forms of this word as they appear in Scripture, by frequency.
- הַ/יָּעִ֜ים2×
- הַ/יָּעִ֖ים2×
- וְ/יָעָי/ו֙1×
- הַ/יָּעִים֙1×
- הַ/יָּעִ֨ים1×
- הַ/יָּעִ֤ים1×
- הַ/יָּעִ֣ים1×
Key Verses
-
Exodus 27:3
You shall make its pots to take away its ashes; and its shovels, its basins, its meat hooks, and its fire pans. You shall make all its vessels of bronze.
This verse establishes the shovel as a required vessel for removing ashes, linking it directly to the maintenance of the altar's holiness.
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Numbers 4:14
They shall put on it all its vessels with which they minister about it, the fire pans, the meat hooks, the shovels, and the basins—all the vessels of the altar; and they shall spread on it a covering of sealskin, and put in its poles.
Here the shovel is listed among the sacred utensils to be covered and carried by the Kohathites, showing its role in the journey of worship.
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I Kings 7:40
Hiram made the pots, the shovels, and the basins. So Hiram finished doing all the work that he worked for King Solomon in Yahweh’s house:
The text notes Hiram made these shovels for Solomon’s Temple, indicating their continued importance in the permanent place of worship.