משאב

Biblical hapax legomenon derived from שָׁאַב (sha'áv, “to draw water”) and not attested in Mishnaic Hebrew. The original meaning of this word is not conclusive, however two interpretations are possible depending on whether it is to be understood in a passive or active sense. In the former, which is favored by some modern scholars such as Gesenius or Klein and the Vulgata, it refers to watering troughs for cattle, as water was drawn into them (passive sense). The other case interprets the word to refer to something which draws water like a well (active sense) or where water is drawn by someone, and seems to have been the understanding of later Rabbinic commentators. Given that it only occurs inside a poetic and archaic section of the Tanach, it may be reasonable to assume it to have been a more imaginative term for wells and springs or perhaps a neologism to characterize them based on their purpose.

Curiously, all of the extant Greek translation of this passage understand this word to be a pi'el participle in the form of מְשָׁאְבִים (m'sha'evím, “drawers of water”), which could suggest that the Tiberian vocalization might be erroneous. There's furthermore a lack of unity among the translators as to how to translate this participle, with some manuscripts of the Septuagint rendering it in the most obvious and direct way as ὑδρευόμενοι (hudreuómenoi, “lit. drawers of water”), but other ones deviate by preferring εὐφραινόμενοι (euphrainómenoi, literally “rejoicing”) and Symmachos following suit with συμπίνοντες (sumpínontes, literally “holding a banquet, celebrating”). Aquilas again takes another approach and sees it as καταλέγοντες (katalégontes, literally “telling, narrating”).^[1]

The modern meaning as "resource" has its origin in the latter view; just as a well is used for the purpose of drawing water, so are resources used to achieve a certain objective or goal.

• (Modern Israeli Hebrew) IPA^(key): /maʃˈ(ʔ)av/

מַשְׁאָב • (mash'áv) m (plural indefinite מַשְׁאַבִּים, singular construct מַשְׁאַב־, plural construct מַשְׁאַבֵּי־) [pattern: מַקְטָל]

1. (Modern Israeli Hebrew) resource

   מַשְׁאַבֵּי אֱנוֹשׁ ― mash'abé enósh ― human resources

   משאבי טבע ― mash'abé téva ― natural resources

   ארץ דלת משאבים. ― érets dalát mash'abím ― A resource-poor country.

   • 1972 August 3, “משאבי מצרים ולוב [The Resources of Egypt and Libya]”, in Al HaMishmar‎^[1]:

     לוב — כלכלתה מבוססת מאז שנות ה־50 על משאבי נפט גדולים, […]

     Libya — its economy, since the 50s, has been based on large oil resources, […]

   • 1984 July 20, S. Yizhar, “המחשבה התקועה”, in Davar‎^[2]:

     עוד כוח ויותר כוח, עוד שטחים ויותר שטחים, בלי לשאול על מחיר ובלי לחוס על משאבים – והשאלה הבסיסית נשארת ללא מענה.

     More force and still more force, more territory and still more territory, without asking the price and without sparing resources—and the fundamental question remains unanswered.

2. (Biblical Hebrew, hapax legomenon) well, spring; or watering trough
   • Tanach, Judges 5:11:

     מִקּוֹל מְחַצְצִים בֵּין מַשְׁאַבִּים שָׁם יְתַנּוּ צִדְקוֹת יְהֹוָה צִדְקֹת פִּרְזוֹנוֹ בְּיִשְׂרָאֵל אָז יָרְדוּ לַשְּׁעָרִים עַם־יְהֹוָה׃

     [Louder] than the voice of those taking spoils between troughs [i.e. taking cattle as spoils, who drink out of them], there may they praise the acts of grace of Hashem, the gracious acts of his might; then did the people of Hashem descend to the gates.

3. (dated) a dipper, a scoop
   • 1913, Bernard Gorin, הנגר הנאור [The Enlightened Carpenter]‎^[3]:

     משמאל הפתח נצב ספסל רחב ועב ועליו דלי מלאה מים ועל אזנה משאב־נחשת.

     Left of the opening a wide and thick bench stands and on it a bucket full of water and on its handle a copper scoop.

4. (dated) a pump

   Synonym: מַשְׁאֵבָה (“mash'evá”)

   • 1938, Levi Ben-Amitai, “מַשְׁאַבִּים עַל הַיַּרְדֵן [Pumps on the Jordan]”‎^[4]:

     עַל חוֹף־הַיַּרְדֵּן הַמְתֻלָּל \ הוֹמִים מַשְׁאַבִּים לֵיל וָיוֹם […]

     On the Jordan’s steep bank, / pumps roar night and day / […]

• H4857 in Strong, James (1979), Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance to the Bible
• Klein, Ernest (1987), “מַשְׁאָב”, in A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the Hebrew Language for Readers of English‎^[5], Jerusalem: Carta, →ISBN, page 388b
• "משאב" in the Noun Declension Tables of the Academy of Hebrew Language