sea
yam denotes a body of water, and can also name a westward direction or a large bronze vessel.
The term most often denotes a body or expanse of waters, whether as a shoreline, a route for ships, a source of waters, or a boundary. It also marks the westward direction in directional lists and can designate the large cast-metal vessel described with twelve cattle beneath it.
Senses in use
-
Body of water or maritime expanse · dominant
Singular forms identify waters beside which people travel, look, or work: in 1 Kings 18:43 the servant is told to look toward it, and in 1 Kings 5:9 the APB renders transport to and upon it. The term also occurs for waters receiving rivers in Ecclesiastes 1:7 and for waters called and poured onto land in Amos 5:8.
-
The large cast-metal vessel · common
In the temple-equipment descriptions, the singular noun names an object made of cast metal: 1 Kings 7:23 gives its round dimensions, while 1 Kings 7:25 places it above twelve cattle. In 2 Chronicles 4:6, the APB renders the clause that this object was for the priests to wash in.
-
Westward direction · occasional
A singular form occurs within directional sequences. In 1 Chronicles 9:24 the APB lists east, west, north, and Negeb, and in Daniel 8:4 it renders the ram's movement as “westward, northward, and southward.”
In the Anselm Project Bible: The APB commonly presents the term with “sea” in clauses about waters, shorelines, ships, and the cast-metal object. In directional clauses it uses “west” or “westward”; These renderings indicate the clauses' presentation rather than a fixed English equivalent in every occurrence.