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return
At a glance
In short
Shuv is returning to a place or condition: return. Rabbi Klein explains that teshuvah is repentance precisely because it is a return, to man's natural, sin-free state, whether or not he was ever there before. Chazarah is the about-face itself, the act of turning back or reverting from where one now stands. Rabbi Klein sums up the pair: shuv looks to the destination, getting back to where one used to be, and chazarah to the U-turn. Chazarah is Mishnaic; it never appears in Tanach.
Distinctions
On Shabbos Shuvah we read Hoshea's words in the haftarah, "Return O Yisrael until Hashem your God" (Hoshea 14:2). Shuv / shuva is the basis of teshuvah, and cognates of shuva are used throughout Tanach for repentance (for example Devarim 30:2). But there is a second Hebrew word for returning, chazar, and a lapsed Jew who has come back to observance is colloquially one who chazar b'teshuvah, a phrase built from two different verbs both meaning to return. How, then, do shuv and chazar differ?
Shuv, teshuvah (שוב, תשובה)
Rabbi Shlomo Pappenheim of Breslau (1740-1814): the two-letter root ש-ב denotes returning to a prior place or situation. He groups with it hashavah, returning a lost object (Devarim 22:1) or stolen goods (Vayikra 5:23), since both address something earlier in time and set it right; lehashiv, "to answer," because the answer fills the hole the question opened; and shev/yeshivah, "dwelling," because settling in a place creates a home base one always comes back to.
- Pappenheim adds a second sense that carries the whole idea of teshuvah: ש-ב can mean reverting to one's natural state even where that was never one's prior state. So Shabbos is a return to man's natural condition of rest even for someone who has never rested; so too lasheves, to sit, and shevi / shevuyah, a captive whose freedom of movement has been curtailed by his captors, as if stuck in a position of rest.
- Rabbi Yaakov Tzvi Mecklenburg also traces Shabbos, together with shavua, week, to ש-ב, returning, along a different path: as a shevuyah, a captive, is stuck within a closed system that repeats itself and constantly returns to the beginning, so Shabbos and shavua are circular periods of time that restart when they reach seven.
Similarly, Avraham's servant, charged with finding a wife for Yitzchak in Avraham's homeland Charan, could ask what to do if the woman would not agree to leave, "Should I return (hehashev ashiv) your son to the land from which you left?" (Bereishis 24:5). Although Yitzchak had never been in Charan, he could still return there, since it was his father's homeland and so, by extension, could be considered his natural place.
Rabbi Klein grounds this in Yechezkel 33:18-19 (see also Yechezkel 18:21-27) read with Berachos 29a. The Gemara explains the righteous man who "returns" from his righteousness as one who had been a sinner, repented, and then returned to sinning, an actual prior state. It does not explain the wicked man who "returns" from his wickedness as one who was first righteous, then became evil, and then returned to his former righteousness. How, then, can the wicked man be called a returnee if he had never been righteous to begin with? The answer is that righteousness is man's natural state and sinfulness unnatural: teshuvah brings a man back to his innate righteousness, so the wicked man who repents is returning to that natural state. The converse does not hold. When a righteous man recants his righteousness and becomes a sinner, he cannot justifiably be said to be returning to anything, unless, as the Gemara explains, he had previously been a sinner.
This is Rabbi Klein's own account of what teshuvah means. Teshuvah denotes a man's journey to his natural sin-free state; he is returning to where he is supposed to be, whether or not he was ever there before, returning to his spiritual default position, his home base. It is the quest for peace and tranquility, the return to one's roots. Moreover, the process of teshuvah, in which one harnesses the power of his regret over past sins as fuel for personal growth, enables him to revisit the past and recast his former sins as merits: doing teshuvah, one goes back to his previous deeds to make amends, in the same way that hashavah and lehashiv fill holes previously created by thievery or by a question.
Rabbi Eliyahu Benamozegh (Eim LaMikra to Vayikra 16:4, 23:24; Bamidbar 36:4) reads yovel as a word of return. It means carrying, specifically carrying a thing back to its original place, as in the Yovel year fields that were sold go back to the families that are their rightful owners. He ties it to Yom Kippur in two ways: the Yovel is proclaimed on Yom Kippur, for land and slaves to go back to their former state, and it alludes to teshuvah, by which the sinner goes back to his pristine, innocent state. So too produce is yevul, the field's way of returning to the farmer many times over what he put into it.
Chazarah (חזרה)
Part of the teshuvah process entails making an about-face and figuratively turning oneself around in a circle to correct course, and the Hebrew word for that is chazarah. Neither chazarah nor its verbs chazar/chozer occur anywhere in Tanach; they are Rabbinic (Mishnaic) Hebrew, and they mean variously to regret, recant, retract, repeat, return, or repent. Rabbi Eliyahu HaBachur (1469-1549), known in Latin as Elias Levita, notes that the standard way the Targumim render Hebrew sivuv, "go around" or "circumnavigate," is with the Aramaic/Syriac chazar and its cognates. Rabbi Klein's own summary of the pair: shuva implies focusing on the goal of getting back to where one used to be, while chazarah focuses on the act of getting out of the rut one is currently stuck in and making a U-turn.
The closest word to chazarah in Tanach is chazir, "pig," whose root is also ח-ז-ר.
- Rabbi Menachem Ricanati (to Vayikra 11:2): the pig is called chazir because in the future Hashem will "return" to us the right to eat it, our relationship with the pig thus reversing course, after a fashion. (Rabbeinu Bachya and Rabbi David Ibn Zimra write that this should not be taken literally.)
- Ibn Kaspi also points out that the root of chazarah appears in Tanach only in the word chazir, which he explains gets that name because pigs commonly turn around backwards to walk aimlessly in circles.
Also discussed in
- Bookמחזור / machzor (ח-ז-ר)
- Sevenשבת / shabbos (ש-ב, returning)
- Spoils of warשבי / shevi, shevuyah
- Wordש-ו-ב / shuv, teivah (returning)
Radak on these roots
Sefer HaShorashim
ח-ז-ר
The חֲזִיר, the pig, which he calls known and does not explain; in the Mishnah the root is much used for חזרה, going back.
The whole entry
וְאֶֽת־ הַֽחֲזִיר (Vayikra 11:7), and the pig, which he marks ידוע, known, and nothing further. He adds that in the Mishnah they used this root much in the language of חזרה, going back.
וְאֶֽת־הַֽחֲזִיר (ויקרא יא, ז), ידוע. ובמשנה נשתמשו הרבה בזה השרש בלשון חזרה.
ש-ו-בhis headword שׁוב
Three senses: to return or turn back, as from sin; quieting and giving rest, as in שָׁב שְׁבוּת, following Rabbi Yehudah; and rebellion, as in מְשׁוּבָה.
Turning back
וָשָׁב וְרָפָא לֽוֹ (Yeshayahu 6:10), and he turns back and is healed, is שׁב מחטאו, he turns back from his sin. Likewise וּלְשָׁבֵי פֶשַׁע בְּיַֽעֲקֹב (Yeshayahu 59:20), to those in Yaakov who turn back from transgression, and כִּֽי־אַֽחֲרֵי שׁוּבִי נִחַמְתִּי (Yirmiyahu 31:19), for after my turning back I was sorry, that is, after I had turned back from my iniquities. Cities return too: at Yechezkel 35:9, your cities will not return means they will not return to their former state. וְאַתָּה בֵּֽאלֹהֶיךָ תָשׁוּב (Hoshea 12:7) can be read in this sense, with בֵּֽאלֹהֶיךָ standing for אל אלהיך: and you shall return to your God. In שָׁבוּ כְלֵיהֶם רֵיקָם (Yirmiyahu 14:3), they returned with their vessels empty, כְלֵיהֶם stands for עם כליהם, with their vessels. וְעוֹדֶנּוּ לֹא־יָשׁוּב (Yirmiyahu 40:5), and while he was not yet returning, and וְשֻׁבָה אֶל־גְּדַלְיָה, and return to Gedalyah, in the same pasuk, are of the first sense: Yirmiyahu had not yet said that he meant to return, but the chief of the guard understood that this was his mind and said to him, go and return.
The rain that does not return
וְשָׁמָּה לֹא יָשׁוּב כִּי אִם־הִרְוָה אֶת־הָאָרֶץ (Yeshayahu 55:10), and does not return there but waters the earth, he reads taking כִּי אִם as but rather: it does not go back there, and what does it do? It waters the earth. His father reads it as it stands: it does not return until it has watered the earth, but once it has watered it, it returns. On his father's reading, this is the return of the rain: the heat of the sun draws it up, and but for this the earth would have no need of rain.
Giving a thing back
In the heavy form it gives back: הֱשִׁיבֹנוּ אֵלֶיךָ (Bereishis 44:8), we brought back to you; וַיָּשֶׁב אֵת כָּל־הָֽרְכֻשׁ (Bereishis 14:16), and he brought back all the goods; וַיָּשִׁיבוּ אֹתָם דָּבָר (Bamidbar 13:26), and they brought back word to them. Reaching a third party: לָכֵן שְׂעִפַּי יְשִׁיבוּנִי (Iyov 20:2), therefore my thoughts make me answer, that is, they force me to return word to you. הֱשִׁיבוֹתָ מֵֽחֲרוֹן אַפֶּֽךָ (Tehillim 85:4) is not intransitive, he holds, but transitive in the regular way: מֵֽחֲרוֹן is an infinitive with a nun added, as though it said השיבות אפך מחרון, You turned Your anger back from burning. The verb is used of a gift and of a guilt offering, as מִנְחָה יָשִׁיבוּ (Tehillim 72:10), they will render a gift, and מָה הָֽאָשָׁם אֲשֶׁר נָשִׁיב לוֹ (Shmuel I 6:4), what is the guilt offering that we shall return to him. A gift is a returning because it repays a kindness, the one who gives it returning to his benefactor out of what he was granted; or it is given out of fear, repaying the other for not harming him. A guilt offering is a returning because the sinner who brings it is like a debtor returning his debt to its owner. What seems right to him further is that a gift is a returning because it comes time after time, as וְהֵשִׁיב לְמֶֽלֶךְ־יִשְׂרָאֵל (Melachim II 3:4), and he rendered to the king of Yisrael, which he did year by year.
Restoring, and the year's turn
נַפְשִׁי יְשׁוֹבֵב (Tehillim 23:3), my soul He brings back, is that He brings it back to the good way; it can also be read as quieting, He gives it rest and quiets it. מְשׁוֹבֶבֶת מֵחֶרֶב (Yechezkel 38:8), brought back from the sword, is one that escaped the sword of the nations and came back to its land. On לְשׁוֹבֵב שָׂדֵינוּ יְחַלֵּֽק (Michah 2:4), to restore our fields, he divides: the enemy takes away the portion that was mine, and while we hope for our fields to be given back to us, they divide them among themselves. וְלִתְשׁוּבַת הַשָּׁנָה (Divrei HaYamim II 36:10), at the turn of the year, is the year's end, when the sun comes back to the point it set out from.
Quieting the exile, and a dispute
The second sense: וְשָׁב י"י אֱלֹהֶיךָ אֶת־שְׁבֽוּתְךָ (Devarim 30:3), Hashem your God will quiet your exile, and הִֽנְנִי־ שָׁב שְׁבוּת (Yirmiyahu 30:18), behold, I quiet the exile, are quieting and giving rest, as Rabbi Yehudah wrote. Rabbi Yonah objected: what sense is there in His quieting them in exile? Radak answers that this is no sound argument, for the navi says He will quiet the exile and give them rest from their trouble, and that cannot be except by returning them to their place, since one exiled from his land has no quiet even among great delights. What Rabbi Yehudah wrote is right, that every verb of the light form in the first sense is intransitive and not one of them transitive. Of this second sense and intransitive are וְאַתָּה בֵּֽאלֹהֶיךָ תָשׁוּב (Hoshea 12:7), and you, in your God you shall rest; יָשֻׁבוּ יֹֽשְׁבֵי בְצִלּוֹ (Hoshea 14:8), those who dwell in his shade shall rest; and בְּשִֽׁיבָתוֹ בְמַֽחֲנַיִם (Shmuel II 19:33), in his resting at Machanayim, though Radak records another explanation of it, his father's, under the root יָשׁב. The noun is בְּשׁוּבָה וָנַחַת תִּוָּשֵׁעוּן (Yeshayahu 30:15), in rest and quiet you will be saved. In אִם־ תָּשׁוּב יִשְׂרָאֵל נְאֻם־י"י אֵלַי תָּשׁוּב (Yirmiyahu 4:1), if you return, Yisrael, says Hashem, you shall rest with Me, the second תָּשׁוּב is of this sense. וְשַׁבְתִּי בְּבֵית־י"י (Tehillim 23:6), and I shall rest in the house of Hashem, can be read the same way, or in the first sense, of returning there time after time. So too וְשׁוּב מֹל אֶת־בְּנֵֽי־יִשְׂרָאֵל שֵׁנִֽית (Yehoshua 5:2), and circumcise the children of Yisrael again a second time, is time after time, until all of them were circumcised. Radak sets שׁוּבָה (Bamidbar 10:36) in this second sense; his father sets it in the first, as its Targum has it, תּוּב יְיָ שְׁרֵי בִיקָרָךְ, return, Hashem, dwell in Your glory. On that reading, through the three days the Aron went before them, taken out of the camp, Moshe said קוּמָה י"י, arise, Hashem; at their end, when it came back to its place in the middle of the camp, he said שׁוּבָה י"י רִֽבֲבוֹת אַלְפֵי יִשְׂרָאֵֽל, that is, return with the myriads of the thousands of Yisrael and go with them as at first.
Rebellion
The third sense is ענין המרד, rebellion: תְּיַסְּרֵךְ רָֽעָתֵךְ וּמְשֻֽׁבוֹתַיִךְ תּֽוֹכִחֻךְ (Yirmiyahu 2:19), your evil will chasten you and your rebellions will reprove you; the nouns כִּי מְשׁוּבַת פְּתָיִם תַּֽהַרְגֵם (Mishlei 1:32), for the rebelliousness of the simple will kill them, and מְשֻׁבָה נִצַּחַת (Yirmiyahu 8:5), a perpetual rebellion; the adjective שׁוּבָה מְשֻׁבָה יִשְׂרָאֵל (Yirmiyahu 3:12), return, rebellious Yisrael, and שׁוּבוּ בָנִים שֽׁוֹבָבִים (Yirmiyahu 3:14), return, rebellious children. וְעַמִּי תְלוּאִים לִמְשֽׁוּבָתִי (Hoshea 11:7), and My people hang on their rebellion against Me: for the rebellion they commit against Me they hang in their trouble, not knowing where to turn for help; the yud of לִמְשֽׁוּבָתִי does not make it rebellion of Mine. Some explain כִּי מְשׁוּבַת פְּתָיִם as quiet, the ease of the simple, as the pasuk goes on וְשַׁלְוַת כְּסִילִים תְּאַבְּדֵֽם, and the complacency of fools will destroy them; and some explain כִּֽי־אַֽחֲרֵי שׁוּבִי נִחַמְתִּי as rebellion.
Radak’s root שׁוב
וָשָׁב וְרָפָא לֽוֹ (ישעיה ז, י), פירוש שׁב מחטאו. וּלְשָׁבֵי פֶשַׁע בְּיַֽעֲקֹב (ישעיה נט, כ), שַׁבְתִּי וְרָאֹה תַֽחַת־הַשֶּׁמֶשׁ (קהלת ט, יא), וְשָׁבַת לַנָּשִׂיא (יחזקאל מו, יח), כמו ושבה התי"ו במקום ה"א. וכבר כתבנו הדומים לו בחלק הדקדוק. וְשָׁמָּה לֹא יָשׁוּב כִּי אִם־הִרְוָה אֶת־הָאָרֶץ (ישעיה נה, י), ופירוש ושמה לא ישוב אלא מה יעשה הרוה את הארץ. ואדוני אבי ז"ל פירשו כמשמעו לא ישוב כי אם הרוה אבל לאחר שהרוה ישוב. וזהו שוב הגשם, כי חום השמש שואף אותו, ולולי זה לא היתה צריכה הארץ לגשם. יָשׁוּבוּ לֹא עָל (הושע ז, טז), אִם־יָשׁוּב עֶשֶׂר מַֽעֲלֽוֹת (מלכים ב' כ, ט). כִּֽי־אַֽחֲרֵי שׁוּבִי נִחַמְתִּי (ירמיה לא, יט), פירוש אחרי ששבתי מעונותי. וְעָרֶיךָ לֹא תָישֹׁבְנָה [תָשֹׁבְנָה] (יחזקאל לה, ט), רוצה לומר לא תשובנה לקדמתן. וְשֹֽׁמְרוֹן וּבְנוֹתֶיהָ תָּשֹׁבְן ָ לְקַדְמָתָן (יחזקאל טז, נה), וְאַתְּ וּבְנוֹתַיִךְ תְּשֻׁבֶינָה לְקַדְמַתְכֶֽן (שם). ויש לפרש מזה וְאַתָּה בֵּֽאלֹהֶיךָ תָשׁוּב (הושע יב, ו), ויהיה באלהיך תשוב כמו אל אלהיך. והפעל הכבד [הִפְעִיל] הֱשִׁיבֹנוּ אֵלֶיךָ (בראשית מד, ח), וַיָּשֶׁב אֵת כָּל־הָֽרְכֻשׁ (בראשית יד, טז), וְהֵשִׁיב לְמֶֽלֶךְ־יִשְׂרָאֵל מֵֽאָה־אֶלֶף כָּרִים (מלכים ב' ג, ד), הֵשִׁיבוּ אֶשְׁכָּרֵֽךְ (יחזקאל כז, טו), מָֽה־אָשִׁיב לַי"י (תהלים קטז, יב), מִנְחָה יָשִׁיבוּ (תהלים עב, י), פֶּן־תָּשִׁיב אֶת־בְּנִי שָֽׁמָּה (בראשית כד, ו), עַתָּה אָשִׁיב אֶת־שְׁביּת [שְׁבוּת] יַֽעֲקֹב (יחזקאל לט, כה), אֲשֶׁר אָשִׁוב [אָשִׁיב] אֶת־שְׁבוּת יְהוּדָה וִירוּשָׁלָֽם (יואל ד, א), וַיָּשִׁיבוּ אֹתָם דָּבָר (במדבר יג, כו). והיוצא לשלישי לָכֵן שְׂעִפַּי יְשִׁיבוּנִי (איוב כ, ב), פירוש יכריחוני להשיב דבר אליך. וּלְכָל־אֲשָׁמָם אֲשֶׁר יָשִׁיבוּ לִי (במדבר יח, ט), מָה הָֽאָשָׁם אֲשֶׁר נָשִׁיב לוֹ (שמואל א' ו, ד), וְאֵת כְּלֵי הַזָּהָב אֲשֶׁר הֲשֵׁבֹתֶם לוֹ (שמואל א' ו, ח), ופירוש ההשבה בענין המנחה לפי שהמנחה היא גמול הטובה ומשיב לו מאשר גמלו, או ליראה ממנו ומשיב לו המנחה תגמול שאינו מריע לו. ופירוש ההשבה בענין האשם כי החוטא בהביאו הקרבן הוא כבעל חוב שמשיב חובו לבעליו. והנכון בעיני עוד כי טעם ההשבה בענין המנחה לפי שהיא תמיד פעם אחר פעם כמו וְהֵשִׁיב לְמֶֽלֶךְ־יִשְׂרָאֵל (מלכים ב' ג, ד), כי בכל שנה ושנה היה עושה זה. הֱשִׁיבוֹתָ מֵֽחֲרוֹן אַפֶּֽךָ (תהלים פה, ד), אינו פעל עומד אך הוא פעל יוצא כמשפטו, ומלת מֵֽחֲרוֹן מקור בתוספת נו"ן כמו שכתבנו בחלק הדקדוק וכאילו אמר השיבות אפך מחרון. ושלא נזכר פעלו ממנו [הָפְעַל] וַיּוּשַׁב אֶת־מֹשֶׁה וְאֶֽת־אַֽהֲרֹן (שמות י, ח). וכבד אחר [פִּעֵל] נַפְשִׁי יְשׁוֹבֵב (תהלים כג, ג), פירוש ישיב אותה אל הדרך הטוב. לְשׁוֹבֵב שָׂדֵינוּ יְחַלֵּֽק (מיכה ב, ד), פירוש אמר איך ימיש לי כלומר איך יסיר האויב חלקי שהיה לי, ואם אנחנו מיחלים לשובב שדינו שישיבום לנו הם יחלקום לעצמם. לְשׁוֹבֵב יַֽעֲקֹב (ישעיה מט, ה), בְּשֽׁוֹבְבִי אוֹתָם (יחזקאל לט, כז), מְשׁוֹבֵב נְתִיבוֹת (ישעיה נח, יב), מְשׁוֹבֶבֶת מֵחֶרֶב (יחזקאל לח, ח), כלומר הנמלטת מחרב הגוים ושבה לארצה. והשם וְלִתְשׁוּבַת הַשָּׁנָה (דברי הימים ב' לו, י), פירושו לסוף השנה שתשוב השמש לנקודה אשר החלה ממנה. ומשקל אחר אֶת־שִׁיבַת צִיּוֹן (תהלים קכו, א). וענין שני וְשָׁב י"י אֱלֹהֶיךָ אֶת־שְׁבֽוּתְךָ (דברים ל, ג), בְּשׁוּב י"י (תהלים יד, ז), הִֽנְנִי־שָׁב שְׁבוּת (ירמיה ל, יח), וְשָׁ֥ב שְׁבִותָֽם [שְׁבִיתָֽם] (צפניה ב, ז), שָׁב י"י (נחום ב, ג), כולם ענין השקטה והנחה כאשר כתבם רבי יהודה. ורבי יונה תפס עליו ואמר כי מה ענין שישקיטם בגלות? ואין זו סברא נכונה, כי הנביא אמר שישקיט הגלות ויניחם מצרתם וזה לא יתכן זולת שישיבם אל מקומם, כי הגולה מארצו לא ישקוט ואפילו יהיה שם בתענוגים גדולים. ומה שכתב רבי יהודה הוא הנכון שיהיה כל הפעל הקל מהעניו הראשון פעלים עומדים ואין אחד מהם יוצא. ואין טענה מן בְּשׁוּבֵנִי וְהִנֵּה אֶל־שְׂפַת הַנַּחַל עֵץ רַב מְאֹד (יחזקאל מז, ז), כמו שכתב רבי יונה שגם הוא פעל עומד ואף על פי שנאמר הכינוי בנו"ן יו"ד ואין כן המנהג אלא בכינוי הפעול המחובר אל מקור הפעל כמו הַֽלְהָרְגֵנִי אַתָּה אֹמֵר (שמות ב, יד), אַל־תָּאִיצוּ לְנַֽחֲמֵנִי (ישעיה כב, ד), והדומים להם ואין כן המנהג בכינוי הפעל המחובר אל מקור הפעל בעצמו כי אם ביו"ד לבדה כמו וּֽבְדַבְּרִי אֽוֹתְךָ (יחזקאל ג, כז), בְּֽשַׁלְּחִי אֶת־חִצֵּי הָֽרָעָב (יחזקאל ה, טז), בְּאָמְרִי לָֽרָשָׁע (יחזקאל ג, יח), והדומים להם והיה לו לומר לפי סברת רבי יונה בְּשׁוּבִי. ואין זו טענה כי הנה מצאנו תַּכְרִיעַ קָמַי תַּחְתֵּֽנִי (שמואל ב' כב, מ) כמו תחתי. ובכנוי הפעול עם מקור הפעל ביו"ד לבדה כי מֵאֵן י"י לְתִתִּי (במדבר כב, יג), לֹא אָבָה יַבְּמִֽי (דברים כה, ז), לְבִלְתִּי עָצְבִּי (דברי הימים א' ד, י). שָׁבוּ כְלֵיהֶם רֵיקָם (ירמיה יד, ג), פירוש עם כליהם. וְעוֹדֶנּוּ לֹֽא־יָשׁוּב (ירמיה מ, ה), וְשֻׁבָה אֶל־גְּדַלְיָה (שם), הוא מענין הראשון, פירוש ועוד ירמיה לא אמר כי דעתו שישוב והוא רב טבחים הבין כי דעתו כן ואמר לו לך ושובה. ומהענין השני עוד שׁוּבָה י"י רִֽבֲבוֹת אַלְפֵי יִשְׂרָאֵֽל (במדבר י, לו). ואשר הם עומדים וְאַתָּה בֵּֽאלֹהֶיךָ תָשׁוּב (הושע יב, ז), יָשֻׁבוּ יֹֽשְׁבֵי בְצִלּוֹ (הושע יד, ח), בְּשִֽׁיבָתוֹ בְמַֽחֲנַיִם (שמואל ב' יט, לג), ואף על פי שכתבנו בו טעם אחר בשרש יָשׁב. והשם בְּשׁוּבָה וָנַחַת תִּוָּשֵׁעוּן (ישעיה ל, טו). ומזה עוד אִם־תָּשׁוּב יִשְׂרָאֵל נְאֻם־י"י אֵלַי תָּשׁוּב (ירמיה ד, א), השני הוא מהענין הזה. ויש לפרש מזה נַפְשִׁי יְשׁוֹבֵב, כלומר יניחנה וישקיטנה. וכן וְשַׁבְתִּי בְּבֵית־י"י (תהלים כג, ו). ויתכן גם וְשַׁבְתִּי מהענין הראשון ואמר ושבתי בהתמדת הליכתו שם פעם אחר פעם. וכן וְשׁוּב מֹל אֶת־בְּנֵֽי־יִשְׂרָאֵל שֵׁנִֽית (יהושע ה, ב), פעם אחר פעם עד שימולו כולם. ויש מפרשים מזה כִּי מְשׁוּבַת פְּתָיִם תַּֽהַרְגֵם (משלי א, לב), כמו שאמר וְשַׁלְוַת כְּסִילִים תְּאַבְּדֵֽם (שם). ואדוני אבי ז"ל כתב שׁוּבָה י"י רִֽבֲבוֹת אַלְפֵי יִשְׂרָאֵֽל מהענין הראשון כתרגומו תּוּב יְיָ שְׁרֵי בִיקָרָךְ, ופירושו כי אותן שלשה ימים שהלך הארון לפניהם כאשר הוציאוהו מן המחנה אמר משה קוּמָה י"י וְיָפֻצוּ אֹֽיְבֶיךָ (במדבר י, לה) ובסוף שלשה ימים שחזר למקומו בתוך המחנה כי שם היה נוסע תמיד כמו שאמר (במדבר ב, יז) וְנָסַע אֹֽהֶל־מוֹעֵד מַֽחֲנֵה הַֽלְוִיִּם בְּתוֹךְ הַֽמַּֽחֲנֹת אמר בשובו שׁוּבָה י"י רִֽבֲבוֹת אַלְפֵי יִשְׂרָאֵֽל, כלומר עם רבבות אלפי ישראל שובה ולך עמהם כאשר בתחלה. וענין שלישי תְּיַסְּרֵךְ רָֽעָתֵךְ וּמְשֻֽׁבוֹתַיִךְ תּֽוֹכִחֻךְ (ירמיה ב, יט), וְעַמִּי תְלוּאִים לִמְשֽׁוּבָתִי (יהושע יא, ח), פירוש בעבור המשובה שעושים עמי הם תלואים בצרתם לא ידעו אן יפנו לעזרה. ויו"ד למשובתי איננה סימן הפועל. וכן וְשִׂמַּחְתִּים בְּבֵית תְּפִלָּתִי (ישעיה נו, ז), וכבר כתבתים בחלק הדקדוק. כִּי מְשׁוּבַת פְּתָיִם תַּֽהַרְגֵם (משלי א, לב), מְשֻׁבָה נִצַּחַת (ירמיה ח, ה), אלה שמות. והתאר שׁוּבָה מְשֻׁבָה יִשְׂרָאֵל (ירמיה ג, יב). וכן בזה המשקל תאר מנחי העי"ן וַֽעֲנִיִּים מְרוּדִים (ישעיה נח, ז), תאמר הנקבה ממנו מְרוּדָה בפלס מְשׁוּבָה. והפעל הכבד ממנו [פִּעֵל] מַדּוּעַ שֽׁוֹבְבָה הָעָם הַזֶּה (ישעיה ח, ה). והיוצא לשלישי חָכְמָתֵךְ וְדַעְתֵּךְ הִיא שֽׁוֹבְבָתֶךְ (ישעיה מז, י). והתאר וַיֵּלֶךְ שׁוֹבָב (ישעיה נז, יז), שׁוּבוּ בָנִים שֽׁוֹבָבִים (ירמיה ג, יד), כולם ענין המרד. ויש מפרשים מזה כִּֽי־אַֽחֲרֵי שׁוּבִי נִחַמְתִּי (ירמיה לא, יט).
To grow grey; and שֵׂיבָה, greyness, which is further on than old age, as the Mishnah says: sixty for old age, seventy for greyness.
Greyness, further on than old age
זָקַנְתִּי וָשַׂבְתִּי (Shmuel I 12:2), I have grown old and grey; the adjective גַּם שָׂב גַּם יָשִׁישׁ בָּנוּ (Iyov 15:10), both the grey and the aged are among us; the noun כִּי קָמוּ עֵינָיו מִשֵּׂיבוֹ (Melachim I 14:4), for his eyes had risen from his grey age; and with the feminine ending גַּם שֵׂיבָה זָרְקָה בּוֹ (Hoshea 7:9), greyness is sprinkled on him. שֵׂיבָה is further on than זקנה, old age, as the Mishnah says (Avos 5:21), sixty for old age and seventy for greyness; and so the pasuk means, I grew grey after I had grown old.
Radak’s root שׂוב
זָקַנְתִּי וָשַׂבְתִּי (שמואל א' יב, ב). והתאר גַּם־שָׂב גַּם־יָשִׁישׁ בָּנוּ (איוב טו, יא). והשם כִּי קָמוּ עֵינָיו מִשֵּׂיבֽוֹ (מלכים א' יד, ד). ובה"א הנקבה גַּם־שֵׂיבָה זָרְקָה בּוֹ (הושע ז, ט), השיבה היא יותר מהזקנה כמו שאמרו במשנה (אבות פרק חמישי משנה כא) בן ששים לזקנה בן שבעים לשיבה, וכן דעת הפסוק ושבתי אחרי זקנתי.
Radak, Sefer HaShorashim, Berlin 1847. Public domain, digitised by Sefaria from the National Library of Israel.
Rav Pappenheim on this root
Cheshek Shlomo
ש-ב
In English, our account of his entry
Return, to a former place or state or to the state nature calls for; and since rest is the natural state, ceasing from motion: sitting, captivity, Shabbos
Three kinds of return
The root's basic sense is return, a going back to what came before, and it comes in three kinds. The first is back to a former place: ויצא יצוא ושוב (Bereishis 8:7), it went out, going and returning; ותשב אליו אל התבה (Bereishis 8:9), she came back to him, to the ark; ודור רביעי ישובו הנה (Bereishis 15:16), the fourth generation shall return here. The second is back to a former condition: עד אשר תשוב חמת אחיך (Bereishis 27:44), until your brother's fury turns back; שוב מחרון אפך (Shemos 32:12), turn back from Your burning anger, that is, to the goodwill there was before; והנה שבה כבשרו (Shemos 4:7), and it had gone back to being like his flesh. Both have three stations and two moves: the thing leaves its first station for a second, then leaves that and goes back to the first.
Return to one's natural state
The third kind has two stations and one move: a thing enters the state it ought to be in, by nature or by right, though it was never there before. One born blind who is healed is said to have שב לראיתו, returned to his sight, though he never saw; since nature calls for sight, it counts as his earlier station, and blindness as a removal from it. So ההשב אשיב את בנך אל הארץ אשר יצאת משם (Bereishis 24:5), shall I bring your son back to the land you came out of?, though Yitzchak had never been there: it was the land of his fathers' birth. So too תשובו לתוכחתי (Mishlei 1:23), turn back to my rebuke, since heeding rebuke is what the soul's nature calls for; and גם אל פיהו לא ישיבנה (Mishlei 19:24), he will not even bring it back to his mouth, since the hand meeting the mouth to eat is a natural need, and so השבה, bringing back, is said of it.
Teshuvah in either direction
ובשוב צדיק מצדקתו ועשה עול (Yechezkel 18:24), when a righteous man turns from his righteousness and does wrong, does not by its plain sense speak of one who was wicked, became righteous and then went back to his wickedness, but of one who was always righteous and became wicked. Nor is ובשוב רשע מרשעתו (Yechezkel 18:27), when a wicked man turns from his wickedness, about one who was righteous, became wicked and turned righteous again because תוהא על הראשונות, he regrets the earlier ones, the reading Chazal give by way of derash (Kiddushin 40b). Rav Pappenheim's account is that man is set in two natures that oppose each other: his good inclination binds him to be good and his evil inclination binds him to be evil. A lifelong tzaddik who turns wicked has returned to the nature that binds him to evil, and a lifelong rasha who turns righteous has returned to the nature that binds him to righteousness, so תשובה, return, is said of both.
Returning words: an answer
There is also a return of words: וישב משה את דברי העם (Shemos 19:8), Moshe brought back the people's words; וישיבו אותם דבר (Bamidbar 13:26), they brought back word to them; משיב דברים נכוחים (Mishlei 24:26), one who gives back straight words. Speech is like a messenger sent to bring something back, and the other man's answer is like the messenger coming back to the one who sent him, so תשובה, return, fits an answer.
שביב: the rebounding spark
With the bet doubled comes the noun שביב: ולא-יגה שביב אשו (Iyov 18:5), the spark of his fire will not shine. It is the spark of light that comes back when it falls on a hard body.
שובב: straying, turning back
The verb שבב: וילך שובב בדרך לבו (Yeshayahu 57:17), he went on wayward in the way of his heart; שובו בנים שובבים (Yirmiyahu 3:14), return, wayward children. It is error and wandering: one who strives to reach a true goal and does not find it, since nothing he finds is the true one, and he must keep turning back and taking another road. So שובב is from תשובה, return, for he must always go back from the road he set out on. A deranged mind that cannot settle is also שובב: ושובבתיך ונתתי חחים (Yechezkel 38:4), I will turn you about and put hooks in you; משובבת מחרב (Yechezkel 38:8), turned about from the sword; ושבבתיך וששאתיך (Yechezkel 39:2), I will turn you about and lead you on.
שבב: a tangled road
So the twisting, confused road, where no way out can be found and one must go back to where one came from, is also שבב: רעיהם התעום הרים שובבום (Yirmiyahu 50:6), their shepherds led them astray, on mountains that turned them about, mountains so tangled that no way out of them is found, going always from mountain to hill and from hill to mountain; and כי שבבים יהיה עגל שמרון (Hoshea 8:6), for the calf of Shomron shall become shevavim, meaning the roads that lead to the calf of Shomron will be confused, and the road that brings one there will not be found.
משבה: waywardness
The noun משבה belongs with these: משבה ישראל (Yirmiyahu 3:6), wayward Israel; ארפה משובתיכם (Yirmiyahu 3:22), I will heal your waywardness; משבה נצחת (Yirmiyahu 8:5), a lasting waywardness; ארפא משובתם (Hoshea 14:5), I will heal their waywardness.
Rest as a return to nature
From the first sense, return to what came earlier in time or to the natural state that comes first in rank, other nouns and verbs derive that all share one meaning, ceasing from motion, that is, rest, which is in truth a return to the natural state. Rest is a thing's natural state: a body is by nature at rest of itself, and rest involves no action and needs no cause to come about, while nothing moves without a cause, from outside or within, to move it. So a thing that stops moving is said to have שב, returned, to its natural state, which is rest.
ישב: sitting
That is the verb ישב, sitting, the end of moving about and the return to rest. Sometimes it is the body not moving, the opposite of walking and standing: יושב פתח האוהל (Bereishis 18:1), sitting at the entrance of the tent; קום נא שבה (Bereishis 27:19), rise, please, sit; וכל כלי אשר תשב עליו (Vayikra 15:20), and any vessel she sits on; היושב על כסאו (Shemos 11:5), who sits on his throne.
ישב: staying; the תושב
Sometimes it is no longer moving from place to place, and then it means staying: לשבת אברם בארץ כנען (Bereishis 16:3), of Avram's dwelling in the land of Canaan; בכל מושבותיכם (Shemos 12:20), in all your dwellings; ואשב בהר (Devarim 9:9), I stayed on the mountain; בסוכות תשבו (Vayikra 23:42), you shall dwell in sukkos; גר ותושב (Bereishis 23:4), a sojourner and a resident. One who stays in a land and fixes his dwelling there is called תושב, resident. So תשב על דמי טהרה (Vayikra 12:5), she shall remain in the blood of purity, means she shall stay.
שובה, שובב: stillness, settling
From the end of moving about comes בשובה ונחת תושעון (Yeshayahu 30:15), in stillness and quiet you shall be saved, that is, מתון מתון (Berachos 20a), slowly, slowly, without much moving about. From this sense too is שובנו אלהי ישענו (Tehillim 85:5), settle us, Elokim of our salvation; and with the bet doubled, נפשי ישובב (Tehillim 23:3), He settles my soul, and לשובב יעקב אליו (Yeshayahu 49:5), to settle Yaakov with Him. Or it is from תשובה, return: לשובב is like להשיב, to bring back, as לרומם is like להרים, to raise, in לרומם את בית אלהינו (Ezra 9:9), to raise up the house of our Elokim.
נשב: the wind settles in
With a nun, one of the formative letters, comes a verb נשב, from ישיבה, settling: וישב אתם אברם (Bereishis 15:11), and Avram blew them away; כי רוח ה׳ נשבה בו (Yeshayahu 40:7), for the breath of Hashem blew upon it; ישב רוחו יזלו מים (Tehillim 147:18), He makes His wind blow and the waters flow. It is from settling: the wind that moves about enters and settles in the body that receives it.
שבה: captivity
Also from the stopping of motion is the verb שבה, captivity, which stops free natural movement: כי נשבה אחיו (Bereishis 14:14), that his brother had been taken captive; כשבויות חרב (Bereishis 31:26), like captives of the sword; וישב ממנו שבי (Bamidbar 21:1), he took captives from him; שבות יעקב (Yechezkel 39:25), the captivity of Yaakov; שבות בני עמון (Yirmiyahu 49:6), the captivity of the children of Ammon. Any stopping and cessation of moving by choice and will is called שביה, captivity.
שבת: ceasing from work
For stopping occupation and the motion of work a tav is added: שבת, ceasing, an end to activity: שבת וינפש (Shemos 31:17), He ceased and rested; ושבתה הארץ (Vayikra 25:2), the land shall rest; תשביתו שאור מבתיכם (Shemos 12:15), you shall clear leaven out of your houses, meaning an end to dealing with leaven; שבת שבתון (Shemos 31:15), a Shabbos of complete rest; שחקו על משבתיה (Eichah 1:7), they mocked at her ceasing.
שאב: drawing water
For stopping plain natural motion there is the verb שאב, drawing water: יוצאות לשאוב מים (Bereishis 24:13), coming out to draw water; עד שואב מימיך (Devarim 29:10), to the one who draws your water; ושאבתם מים בששון (Yeshayahu 12:3), you shall draw water in joy. Water brought into a vessel is stopped from flowing and moving with its natural motion. So the three are set apart by the motion each stops: שביה the movement of choice and will, שבת occupation and work, שאב the plain motion of nature; and Rav Pappenheim calls שאב close to שביה, in which the captive is stopped from the movement of his own choice.
Rav Shlomo Pappenheim, Cheshek Shlomo (Shorashim), first printed from his manuscript by Moshe Tzuriel, Bnei Brak 5777. The English is our account of his entry.
Sources
Rabbi Reuven Chaim Klein, "Return to Sender: The True Meaning of Teshuva," What's in a Word?, Ohr Somayach, 5 October 2019.
Rabbi Reuven Chaim Klein, "The Year of Seven (Part 2 of 2)," What's in a Word?, Ohr Somayach, 21 May 2022.
Rabbi Reuven Chaim Klein, "Real Teshuvah: Return to Sender," What's in a Word? Synonyms in the Hebrew Language (book manuscript).
Cited in the essay: Bereishis 24:5; Vayikra 5:23, 11:2; Devarim 22:1, 30:2; Yechezkel 18:21-27, 33:18-19; Hoshea 14:2; Berachos 29a; Rabbi Shlomo Pappenheim, Cheshek Shlomo s.v. שב; Rabbi Eliyahu HaBachur (Elias Levita); Rabbi Menachem Ricanati to Vayikra 11:2; Rabbeinu Bachya; Rabbi David Ibn Zimra; Rabbi Yosef Ibn Kaspi; Rabbi Yaakov Tzvi Mecklenburg; Vayikra 16:4, 23:24 and Bamidbar 36:4 with Benamozegh.