שׁוֹבֵב (sho.vev)
sho.vev
backsliding
H:AQuick Reference
- Language
- Biblical Hebrew
- Testament
- Old Testament
- Occurrences
- 3 verses
- Root
- —
- Part of speech
- H:A
Word Overview
The Hebrew adjective shoḇeb describes a person who is "backturning" or "apostate," capturing the active refusal to remain faithful to a covenant relationship. Rather than implying simple human error, it denotes a persistent, habitual turning away from God after having known Him. The word appears only three times in the Old Testament, with two of those occurrences found in the book of Jeremiah (Jeremiah 3:22; 8:5), highlighting its use as a serious charge against Israel’s spiritual infidelity.
Its root verb, shuv, means "to turn," but the participle form here suggests someone who is constantly or repeatedly turning back to their former ways. This distinguishes it from a one-time mistake; it characterizes a lifestyle of rebellion. In Jeremiah 8:5, the prophet asks why Judah continually turns away, using this term to describe a stubborn refusal to return to God despite His lovingkindness. The imagery is vivid: just as a person might physically turn their back on someone, shoḇeb depicts a spiritual posture of rejection.
Translators typically render it as "backsliding" or "apostate," though these English terms can sometimes sound mild. The Hebrew carries the weight of intentional betrayal. While Micah 7:18 uses a related noun to describe God’s willingness to pardon such rebellion, the adjective itself remains a stark description of unfaithfulness. It serves as a theological label for those who break covenant loyalty through repeated action.
Based on public-domain lexicons (Strong's, Thayer, Gesenius, Brown-Driver-Briggs and others).
What This Word Means for Your Faith
The word shoḇeb captures a specific kind of spiritual fatigue where we repeatedly turn away from God after having known His faithfulness. It is not merely a momentary stumble but a habitual posture of turning one’s back on the covenant relationship. This imagery reminds us that our distance from God is often an active choice, born of trust in our own resources rather than His provision.
Yet Scripture does not leave us in this state of rebellion. In Jeremiah 31:22, God addresses this 'backsliding daughter' with a promise of a new thing He will create. The diagnosis is severe, but the remedy is divine intervention. We are invited to see our tendency to wander not as a final verdict, but as a condition met by His creative grace.
This word calls us to examine where we might be relying on 'treasures' or valleys of our own making instead of trusting in God’s steadfast love. It invites a return that is not based on our ability to fix ourselves, but on the new reality God offers. We can rest in the knowledge that He sees our wandering and still seeks to encompass us with His mercy.
How it's translated
How this word is rendered word-by-word in the 3 verses where it appears, by frequency.
- <the>/ apostate2×
- to/ an apostate1×
Forms in the text
The inflected forms of this word as they appear in Scripture, by frequency.
- הַ/שּֽׁוֹבֵבָ֑ה2×
- לְ/שׁוֹבֵ֥ב1×
Key Verses
-
Jeremiah 31:22
How long will you go here and there, you backsliding daughter? For Yahweh has created a new thing in the earth: a woman will encompass a man.”
This verse pairs the charge of backsliding with God's promise to create a new thing, showing that divine restoration follows the recognition of our wandering.
-
Jeremiah 49:4
Why do you boast in the valleys, your flowing valley, backsliding daughter? You trusted in her treasures, saying, ‘Who will come to me?’
Here the term highlights how trust in material security or geographical advantage leads to a spiritual posture of turning away from reliance on God.