Original Word: זוּב
Part of Speech: Verb
Transliteration: zuwb
Pronunciation: zoob
Phonetic Spelling: (zoob)
KJV: flow, gush out, have a (running) issue, pine away, run
NASB: flowing, discharge, gushed, flow, flowed, flows, has
Word Origin: [a primitive root]

1. to flow freely (as water), i.e. (specifically) to have a (sexual) flux
2. (figuratively) to waste away
3. also to overflow

flow, gush out, have a running issue, pine away, run

A primitive root; to flow freely (as water), i.e. (specifically) to have a (sexual) flux; figuratively, to waste away; also to overflow -- flow, gush out, have a (running) issue, pine away, run.

Word Origin
a prim. root
Definition
to flow, gush
NASB Translation
discharge (14), flow (1), flowed (1), flowing (19), flows (1), gushed (2), has (1), has a discharge (1), pine away (1).

[זוּב] verb flow, gush (Late Hebrew id., Aramaic דּוּב, דִּיב, , all used often in sense 4 below; Arabic (medial ) melt, dissolve, flow) — only

Qal Imperfect יָזוּב Leviticus 15:25 etc.; Participle זָב Jeremiah 49:9f. זָבָ֫ה Leviticus 15:19 etc.; —

1 flow, gush (poetry), of water from the smitten rock Psalm 78:20 ("" שָׁטַף), Psalm 105:41 ("" הָלַךְ), Isaiah 48:21 ("" נָזַל).

2 Participle frequently in (אֶרֶץ) זָבַת חָלָב וּדְבַשׁ, always of promised land, Exodus 3:8,17; Exodus 13:5 (all J) Exodus 33:3; Numbers 13:27; Numbers 14:8; Numbers 16:13,14 (all J E) Deuteronomy 6:3; Deuteronomy 11:9; Deuteronomy 26:9,15; Deuteronomy 27:3; Deuteronomy 31:20; Joshua 5:6 (D) Leviticus 20:24 (H) Jeremiah 11:5; Jeremiah 32:22; Ezekiel 20:6,15 (in last two insert ארץ ᵐ5 Co); זָב עִמְקֵךְ Jeremiah 49:4 (fertile valley of Ammon).

3 figurative flow away = pine away (from hunger) Lamentations 4:9.

4 flow, of issue from woman (all P), Leviticus 15:25 יָזוּב זוֺב דָּמָהּ (see ווֺב); especially have an issue (flux, gleet), of woman Leviticus 15:25; and Leviticus 15:19 (תִּהְיֶה זָבָה); usually of man, 2 Samuel 3:29 ("" מְצֹרָע); elsewhere P, Leviticus 15:2 זָב מִבִּשָׂרוֺ; with cognate accusative Leviticus 15:33; ordinarily Participle זָב one that has an issue Leviticus 15:4,6,7,8,9,11,12,13,32 (all P), Leviticus 22:4 (H; "" צָרוּעַ); also Numbers 5:2 (P; "" id.)

Overview

Strong’s Hebrew 2100 (זוּב, zûb) portrays the act of “flowing” or “oozing,” whether of desirable abundance or of undesirable bodily discharge. Its narrative arc moves between the blessed prosperity of a promised land and the defiling seepage that renders worshippers unclean, thereby making the verb a vivid witness to both covenant blessing and covenant discipline.

Old Testament Distribution

Approximately forty-two occurrences cluster in two principal groups:

1. Promised-land texts celebrating “a land flowing with milk and honey” (beginning with Exodus 3:8).
2. Holiness legislation dealing with human bodily discharges (centralized in Leviticus 12–15 and reflected in later historical and prophetic passages).

Smaller occurrences appear in descriptions of physical maladies (2 Samuel 3:29), ritual exclusions (Numbers 5:2), and prophetic metaphors for judgement or renewal (Ezekiel 20:6).

Cultic and Ritual Impurity

Leviticus 15 meticulously legislates the discharge-language of זוּב. The chapter opens, “When any man has a bodily discharge from his body, the discharge is unclean” (Leviticus 15:2). Detailed instructions follow for:
• The man with a persistent male discharge (verses 3–15).
• The woman in her menstrual period (verses 19–24).
• The woman with an irregular flow, “many days outside her period” (verse 25).

Defilement extends to everything touched (bed, saddle, vessel, even another person). Seven days after the flow stops, sacrificial atonement restores access to holy space. The legislation underscores that unchecked uncleanness contaminates both community and sanctuary: “Thus you must keep the Israelites from uncleanness, so that they will not die in their uncleanness by defiling My tabernacle that is among them” (Leviticus 15:31).

Redemptive Typology in Purity Laws

Because זוּב covers involuntary, life-related emissions, it illustrates humanity’s innate inability to stem impurity by self-discipline. Sacrificial blood, not mere hygiene, resolves the defilement. This anticipates the ultimate cleansing provided by the blood of Christ (Hebrews 9:13–14), moving the worshipper from ritual quarantine to restored fellowship. The Gospel narrative of the woman with a twelve-year flow of blood (Mark 5:25–34) shows Jesus claiming authority to reverse the impurity bound up in זוּב—He is not defiled by her touch; she is purified by His.

Land Flowing with Milk and Honey

The same root shines in the covenant promise: “I have come down… to bring them up out of that land to… a land flowing with milk and honey” (Exodus 3:8). The verb projects continuous, unrestrained abundance of pastoral and agricultural produce—milk from grazing flocks, honey from wild bees and date syrup. Repetition throughout the Pentateuch (Exodus 13:5; 33:3; Leviticus 20:24; Numbers 14:8; Deuteronomy 6:3; 11:9; 26:9) engraves the promise on Israel’s collective memory. Later writers appeal to that memory both to remind (Joshua 5:6) and to rebuke (Ezekiel 20:15) the nation for covenant infidelity.

Other Figurative and Literal Uses

• Physical disease: “May there never be lacking in the house of Joab one… who has a discharge” (2 Samuel 3:29).
• Social quarantine: “Command the Israelites to send away from the camp anyone with a discharge” (Numbers 5:2).
• Prophetic imagery of refinement: “On that day I lifted up My hand… to a land I had searched out for them, a land flowing with milk and honey, the glory of all lands” (Ezekiel 20:6). The lavish flow contrasts with the impending flow of molten judgment in Ezekiel 22:21–22 (root זוב appears in some Hebrew manuscripts).

Patterns of Blessing and Judgment

The dual application of זוּב—flow of blessing versus flow of pollution—parallels Deuteronomy’s covenant sanctions: obedience evokes abundance; disobedience yields affliction and exclusion. Scripture thus embeds theological instruction in the very vocabulary of flow.

Connections to New Testament Fulfilment

Although the Greek New Testament does not directly replicate the root, the thematic continuity persists:
• Jesus offers “streams of living water” (John 7:38), the positive flow surpassing the old land promise.
• The healing of chronic discharge (Mark 5:29) demonstrates Messianic authority over Levitical impurity.
• The heavenly Jerusalem is depicted with a river of life (Revelation 22:1), erasing all vestiges of unclean flow and fulfilling the typology of perpetual blessing.

Applications for Ministry

1. Preaching: זוּב provides a concrete bridge from the Mosaic purity code to the believer’s cleansing in Christ.
2. Pastoral Care: The verb dignifies sufferers of chronic illnesses; Scripture acknowledges the social and religious isolation they endure.
3. Missions and Mercy: The land-flow motif inspires holistic ministry—proclaiming the Gospel while facilitating tangible abundance in needy communities.
4. Worship: Corporate confession of sin and assurance of pardon echo the movement from defilement to restored presence found in Leviticus 15.

Summary

Strong’s 2100 spans the narrative of Scripture from defiling seepage to super-abundant blessing. Whether marking the stigma of impurity or the lavishness of covenant promise, זוּב consistently magnifies the God who alone turns unclean flow into living, life-giving streams.

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