---
title: אֹבֶן — wheel · The Tanakh dictionary
description: אֹבֶן (70), a word of Biblical Hebrew, used 2 times: wheel. BDB 1906: wheel, disc. With 2 verses in Hebrew, word for word and JPS 1917.
---

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# אֹבֶן

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«אֹבֶן» in the Tanakh dictionary: **wheel** — how often it is used, MACULA's glosses, its meanings in the printed dictionaries and why they were chosen, and 2 verses in layers.

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**Used:** 2 times · **Key:** 70 · **BDB:** אֹבֶן

### Glosses

stones (2)

### Meaning (OSHB)

wheel [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/tanakh/1488/70/#m1)

### Meaning (BDB 1906)

wheel, disc. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/tanakh/1488/70/#m2)

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**The whole BDB entry:** n.\[m.\] wheel, disc.—Du. הָאָבְנָ֑יִם— potter’s wheel Je 18:3 (two discs revolving one above the other; name from likeness to mill-stones; v. AW18). עַל־הָא׳ Ex 1:16 prob. = sella parturientis, = δίφροι λοχειαῖοι bearing-stool, midwife’s stool (fr. likeness to potter’s wheel; on custom of labor upon stool v. PlossDas Weib, 2nd ed. ii, 35, 179 etc. \& Cesnola Coll. fr. Cyprus, Metrop. Mus., N. York, No. 614, terra cotta fig. fr. 4th or 5th cent. b.c.; Descriptive Atlas of Cesn. Coll. I, pl. lxvi. No. 435; cf. W. H. W\[ard\]PESoc. 2nd Statement 1873, p. 76). SpiegelbergZA xiv (1900), 269 ff.; Randglossen 19 ff. expl. as the two stones \[read אַבְנַיִם\], i.e. bearing-stool of ‘stones’ = bricks, tiles.

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Why these entries: BDB: headword, part of speech agrees, 2 of its verses cited, 0 words shared with the glosses, lists its Strong's number (4 candidates); OSHB: headword, part of speech agrees, 1 words shared with the BDB entry, 0 with the glosses (3 candidates)

### Trees and pragmatics

[Every English meaning of «אֹבֶן» parsed by Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/tanakh/1488/70/), each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.

### In the verses

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[Jeremiah 18:3](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/neviim/JER.18.3/)

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וָאֵרֵ֖ד בֵּ֣ית הַיּוֹצֵ֑ר וְהִנֵּה־ה֛וּאעֹשֶׂ֥ה מְלָאכָ֖ה עַל־הָאָבְנָֽיִם׃

*Word for word:* and I.went.down the.house of the.potter and there he \[was\].doing work on the stones

*JPS 1917:* Then I went down to the potter's house, and, behold, he was at his work on the wheels.

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[Exodus 1:16](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/torah/EXO.1.16/)

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וַיֹּ֗אמֶר בְּיַלֶּדְכֶן֙ אֶת־הָֽעִבְרִיּ֔וֹת וּרְאִיתֶ֖ן עַל־הָאָבְנָ֑יִם אִם־בֵּ֥ן הוּא֙ וַהֲמִתֶּ֣ן אֹת֔וֹ וְאִם־בַּ֥ת הִ֖יא וָחָֽיָה׃

*Word for word:* and he.said when you assist.as.midwife (et) the.Hebrew \[women\] and you.will.look at the stones if \[is\].a.son he and you.will.kill him and if \[is\].a.daughter she and she.will.live

*JPS 1917:* and he said: 'When ye do the office of a midwife to the Hebrew women, ye shall look upon the birthstool: if it be a son, then ye shall kill him; but if it be a daughter, then she shall live.'

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- next →: [אֶבֶן־הָעֵזֶר](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/dictionaries/tanakh/w/lemma_3a_5d0_5b6_5d1_5b6_5df_5be_5d4_5b8_5e2_5b5_5d6_5b6_5e8.md)
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