The Qur’anic Root J B B

1. Root forms and semantic cores

J B B is a doubled Arabic root: its second and third radicals are identical. Important forms recorded in the dictionaries include جَبَّ (jabba), جَبّ (jabb), جِبَاب (jibāb), مَجْبُوب (majbūb), أَجَبّ (ajabb), جَبَّاء (jabbāʾ), جُبّ (jubb), جُبَّة (jubbah), and جَبُوب (jabūb). Lexicographers also discuss the reduplicated form جُبْجُبَة (jubjubah) within this family; its structure differs from that of simple triliteral derivatives.

Brief root meaning: cutting and gathering; jubb: a well. These forms can be examined under several semantic branches.

Cutting and separating: The verb جَبَّ (jabba) is used for cutting, particularly cutting off an entire part. For example, جَبَّ السَّنَامَ (jabba al-sanāma) means cutting off or removing a camel’s hump. مَجْبُوب (majbūb) is also used of someone whose genital organ has been cut off. Separating or removing part of a whole is prominent in this branch.

The well and a hollow in the ground: جُبّ (jubb) means a well. A number of lexical explanations apply it to a well whose walls have not been lined with stone or other materials. Other lexicographers report different characteristics. This variation cautions against restricting its definition to one technical feature.

Gathering and enclosing: Dictionaries record جُبَّة (jubbah) for a garment enclosing the body, جُبْجُبَة (jubjubah) for a leather container, and جَبُوب (jabūb) for hard ground or the earth’s surface. Gathering, enclosure, or compactness can be discerned in some of these uses.

Surpassing and prevailing: جَبَّهُ (jabbahu—the verb jabba with the object pronoun -hu) is also recorded for surpassing another person, including in beauty or excellence. A person excels so decisively that the other is figuratively prevented from matching or competing with them.

We therefore encounter a family in which cutting is very clear, yet whose uses are not all restricted to direct physical cutting.

2. Cutting and gathering in early Arabic

Ibn Fāris distinguishes two bases in this root: cutting and gathering.

Ibn Fāris, Maqāyīs: cutting and gathering

This division matters because it prevents imposing the familiar basic meaning of جَبّ (jabb) on every other form without regard to the evidence.

Cutting and removal

In the first branch, جَبَّ (jabba) means to cut off. Its use for a camel’s hump provides a clear example: something previously present and projecting has been cut away or removed.

The adjective أَجَبّ (ajabb), describing a camel without a hump or whose hump has been removed, belongs to this semantic field. Its feminine is جَبَّاء (jabbāʾ).

A verse attributed to the pre-Islamic poet Al-Nābighah al-Dhubyānī reads:

«وَنَأْخُذُ بَعْدَهُ بِذَنَابِ عَيْشٍ
أَجَبِّ الظَّهْرِ لَيْسَ لَهُ سَنَامُ»

wa-naʾkhudhu baʿdahu bi-dhanābi ʿayshin / ajabbi al-ẓahri laysa lahu sanāmu

That is: “After him we shall grasp only the tail end, a meagre remnant, of life—a life like a camel with a humpless back, with no hump.”

The poet uses the humpless camel to depict a diminished, deprived life. Here أَجَبّ (ajabb) describes the absence of a hump; the image concerns deprivation of something normally found on a camel’s back.

Asās al-Balāghah and Lisān al-ʿArab: Al-Nābighah’s witness and ajabb

This example shows that cutting and the loss of a projecting bodily part were recognized in early poetic language.

Surpassing may also be understood as a metaphorical extension of this idea. Someone prevailing over another figuratively prevents them from reaching an equal position. Nevertheless, “surpassing” is an established meaning in its own usage; a translation need not insert the idea of cutting into it.

Gathering, covering, and enclosing

For the second branch, Ibn Fāris considers words connected with gathering or enclosure.

جُبَّة (jubbah) is a garment enclosing the body. جُبْجُبَة (jubjubah) names a leather container or basket in which things are placed. جَبُوب (jabūb) is also recorded for ground, especially hard ground. Jubjubah serves here as an example of a related reduplicated form in the dictionaries’ arrangement; its structure must not be equated with simple jabba. Its semantic origin is also disputed: Ibn Fāris relates it to gathering, whereas Al-Rāghib rejects a connection with cutting and connects its name with its sound.

Maqāyīs: jubbah, jubjubah, and jabūb

For جَبُوب (jabūb), a line attributed to the pre-Islamic poet Imruʾ al-Qays reads:

«فَيَبِتْنَ يَنْهَسْنَ الْجَبُوبَ بِهَا
وَأَبِيتُ مُرْتَفِقًا عَلَى رَحْلِي»

fa-yabitna yanhasna al-jabūba bihā / wa-abītu murtafiqan ʿalā raḥlī

That is: “Those she-camels spend the night there biting and eating from the ground, while I pass the night leaning on my saddle.” The commentary glosses يَنْهَسْنَ (yanhasna) as “they eat” and jabūb as “the earth’s surface”; the expression need not be understood as eating the soil or stones themselves.

Commentary on Imruʾ al-Qays: she-camels, eating, and the earth’s surface

In this poetic image, جَبُوب (jabūb) denotes the ground or its hard surface. Lexical explanations differ over whether it refers to the earth’s surface generally, soil, or hard and rocky ground.

Lisān al-ʿArab: jabūb with initial fatḥah and differing explanations

The witness establishes the use of this form for the ground; the line alone does not establish every later explanation concerning the ground’s material and structure.

Accordingly, defining the J B B family through a very broad concept such as “separation” or “gathering” is insufficient. Both branches should be recognized through their actual uses.

3. Jubb in Arabic: the well and its features

The dictionaries record جُبّ (jubb) as a well. They differ, however, over the particular kind of well to which the name was applied.

One familiar explanation is a well whose walls have not been lined with stone. Here لَمْ تُطْوَ (lam tuṭwa) means that the well’s walls have not been reinforced or lined with stone or other materials.

Some sources describe jubb as a shallow well, others as a deep well containing much water. Another report applies the name to a naturally occurring well rather than one dug by people.

These explanations cannot all be treated as necessary features of a single type of well. The disagreement over depth particularly shows that being shallow or deep is not, by itself, a decisive criterion for identifying a jubb.

Lisān al-ʿArab and Tāj al-ʿArūs: differing features of the well

Why was the well called jubb?

Lexical sources offer two main possibilities for the name.

The first connects jubb with cutting: making a well involves cutting into the ground and removing part of it. On this explanation, cutting and hollowing the earth underlie the name.

The second focuses on hard ground, جَبُوب (jabūb). On this account, jubb can name a well situated or dug in such ground.

Al-Rāghib al-Iṣfahānī likewise presents both possibilities: a connection with hard ground and a connection with cutting and hollowing the earth.

Al-Rāghib, Al-Mufradāt: two explanations of the well’s name

These lexical explanations deserve attention, but they do not mean that jubb directly signifies “a cutting in the earth” or “hard ground” in every sentence.

As a noun, jubb names a well; an explanation of how the name arose is not identical with the word’s meaning in a sentence.

Does jubb differ from biʾr?

بِئْر (biʾr) also means a well in Arabic; the Qur’an uses it in Al-Ḥajj 22:45.

Since some lexicographers define jubb as an unlined well, a distinction in the well’s construction can be envisaged in certain usages.

This cannot, however, be made an absolute rule for all Arabic. Biʾr is the familiar general name for a well, and authoritative sources also explain jubb through that same word.

Thus, claims that jubb is not a well at all, or necessarily denotes a natural cavity without water, are inconsistent with the collected lexical evidence.

Nor does the name alone require assigning a specific depth, construction, or geometric shape to the well in Joseph’s story.

4. Jubb in the Qur’an and Joseph’s story

Yūsuf 12:10: proposing that Joseph be cast into the well

قَالَ قَائِلٌ مِّنْهُمْ لَا تَقْتُلُوا يُوسُفَ وَأَلْقُوهُ فِي غَيَابَتِ الْجُبِّ يَلْتَقِطْهُ بَعْضُ السَّيَّارَةِ إِن كُنتُمْ فَاعِلِينَ

qāla qāʾilun minhum lā taqtulū Yūsufa wa-alqūhu fī ghayābati al-jubbi yaltaqiṭhu baʿḍu al-sayyārati in kuntum fāʿilīna

“One of them said: Do not kill Joseph; cast him into the hidden part of the well, so that some travellers may pick him up, if you are going to act.”

This verse reports a proposal by one of Joseph’s brothers. Instead of killing Joseph, he proposes removing him from his family and placing him somewhere travellers might discover him.

The significant point is that the Qur’an does not merely say فِي الْجُبِّ (fī al-jubbi), “in the well,” but فِي غَيَابَتِ الْجُبِّ (fī ghayābati al-jubbi), “in the hidden part of the well.”

غَيَابَة (ghayābah) belongs to GH Y B and denotes a concealed place out of sight. Thus ghayābati al-jubbi means the well’s hidden part, a place within it concealed from view.

Study of GH Y B

Ghayābah may be connected with the well’s depth and darkness, but the phrase itself does not establish a particular ledge, small cave, or platform above the water.

Such features may exist in some wells, but their possible existence does not mean that the Qur’an describes one of those specific arrangements.

The further clause يَلْتَقِطْهُ بَعْضُ السَّيَّارَةِ (yaltaqiṭhu baʿḍu al-sayyārati) shows that the proposer envisages Joseph being found and picked up by travellers.

The proposal’s aim in the story is therefore to remove Joseph from his family, rather than merely to place him in a cavity inaccessible to others. That possibility in the proposer’s words does not, by itself, establish that he was certain of Joseph’s safety.

Here jubb means a well. Concealment comes from ghayābah, and the possibility of Joseph’s discovery from the following clause. These distinct elements should not all be attributed to the lexical meaning of jubb.

Yūsuf 12:15: carrying out the brothers’ decision

فَلَمَّا ذَهَبُوا بِهِ وَأَجْمَعُوا أَن يَجْعَلُوهُ فِي غَيَابَتِ الْجُبِّ وَأَوْحَيْنَا إِلَيْهِ لَتُنَبِّئَنَّهُم بِأَمْرِهِمْ هَٰذَا وَهُمْ لَا يَشْعُرُونَ

fa-lammā dhahabū bihi wa-ajmaʿū an yajʿalūhu fī ghayābati al-jubbi wa-awḥaynā ilayhi la-tunabbiʾannahum bi-amrihim hādhā wa-hum lā yashʿurūna

“Then, when they took him away and agreed to put him in the hidden part of the well—and We revealed to him: You will certainly tell them of this deed of theirs while they are unaware.”

The brothers’ decision now reaches the stage of execution. They take Joseph with them and agree to place him in the hidden part of the well.

Yūsuf 12:10 used أَلْقُوهُ (alqūhu), denoting casting or throwing. Yūsuf 12:15 instead uses أَن يَجْعَلُوهُ (an yajʿalūhu), denoting putting him in that place.

This is a difference between the two verbs in the sentence. It does not establish that Joseph was lowered in a particular way, thrown into water, or placed on a platform. The verse does not explain the exact procedure.

The repetition of غَيَابَتِ الْجُبِّ (ghayābati al-jubbi) also shows that the same concealed place mentioned in the initial proposal remains the subject.

The second part of the verse describes revelation to Joseph, announcing that he will later tell his brothers of their deed. Beyond the lexical meaning of jubb, it advances the story’s future course.

Yūsuf 12:19: evidence for understanding the well’s use

وَجَاءَتْ سَيَّارَةٌ فَأَرْسَلُوا وَارِدَهُمْ فَأَدْلَىٰ دَلْوَهُ قَالَ يَا بُشْرَىٰ هَٰذَا غُلَامٌ وَأَسَرُّوهُ بِضَاعَةً وَاللَّهُ عَلِيمٌ بِمَا يَعْمَلُونَ

wa-jāʾat sayyāratun fa-arsalū wāridahum fa-adlā dalwahu qāla yā bushrā hādhā ghulāmun wa-asarrūhu biḍāʿatan wa-Allāhu ʿalīmun bi-mā yaʿmalūna

“A group of travellers came and sent their water-drawer, who lowered his bucket. He said: Good news! Here is a boy! They concealed him as merchandise; and The God knows what they do.”

Although jubb itself is not repeated in this verse, the story’s continuation matters for understanding the function of the place where Joseph had been put.

The travellers’ arrival, their sending a water-drawer, and the lowering of a bucket connect the location with drawing water. Understanding it as a water well therefore fits the story’s context.

This matters in assessing a reading that treats jubb here simply as a dry cavity unrelated to water. Such a restriction does not follow from the Qur’anic text.

The verse nevertheless does not state the amount of water, Joseph’s position in the well, or how he reached the bucket or the travellers. These details should not be attributed to the text without evidence.

Reading Yūsuf 12:10, Yūsuf 12:15, and Yūsuf 12:19 together produces a clear but limited picture: Joseph was placed in a well’s hidden part; travellers subsequently came there to fetch water and found him. These verses do not supply a precise description of the well’s construction.

5. Distinguishing J B B from nearby roots

J B B and J W B

Study of J W B

The Arabic root J W B includes uses such as cutting through, traversing, and answering.

Al-Fajr 89:9 uses جَابُوا الصَّخْرَ بِالْوَادِ (jābū al-ṣakhra bi-al-wādi) for cutting or hewing rock in the valley.

Its sense of cutting and cleaving resembles one branch of J B B, but the two roots are distinct. Jabba has a doubled root with two bāʾ radicals; jābū in that verse belongs to J W B.

Similarity between some meanings must not lead to transferring derivatives from one root to another.

J B B and J Y B

Study of J Y B (Not yet published)

جَيْب (jayb), from J Y B, relates in its Qur’anic uses to a garment’s opening.

Although jubbah in the J B B family and jayb in J Y B both concern clothing, this shared subject does not establish that the roots are identical.

J B B and B ʾ R

Study of B ʾ R

The roots differ in structure, but the nouns jubb and biʾr both belong to the semantic field of wells.

Possible differences in a well’s construction or condition occur in certain lexical explanations. They cannot establish an absolute rule that one word always means a natural well and the other always a human-made one.

Understanding jubb in the Qur’an requires considering both the word’s established meaning and the context of Joseph’s story.

6. Translation proposals for Forqan

For the Qur’anic form al-jubbi, the natural and defensible Persian equivalent is chāh, “well.”

In ghayābati al-jubbi, Persian can use nahāngāh-e chāh, “the well’s hidden part.” Bakhsh-e penhān-e chāh, “the hidden part of the well,” is also clear, but the former is shorter and better preserves the Arabic genitive construction.

For the two Qur’anic occurrences, the proposed renderings are:

Yūsuf 12:10: “And cast him into the hidden part of the well.”

Yūsuf 12:15: “That they should put him in the hidden part of the well.”

“The bottom of the well” also appears in some lexical and exegetical explanations of ghayābah. For a basic translation, however, “the well’s hidden part” conveys concealment without decisively specifying the place’s shape or depth.

By contrast, renderings such as “natural cavity,” “waterless well,” “stone well,” or “a platform inside the well” introduce restrictions that the Qur’anic word itself does not decisively establish.

Conclusion

The Arabic root J B B has two major axes: cutting and gathering. Cutting off or removing part of something appears in jabba and majbūb, while, in Ibn Fāris’s classification, enclosure and gathering are prominent in jubbah and the associated reduplicated form jubjubah.

Jubb is recorded in this family as a well. Lexicographers offer different explanations of its name and features, but none should be made a necessary characteristic of every use without sufficient evidence.

In the Qur’an, al-jubbi occurs only in Yūsuf 12:10 and Yūsuf 12:15. Both use ghayābati al-jubbi for the well’s hidden part. Yūsuf 12:19 also connects the place with drawing water through its account of the water-drawer’s arrival and his lowering a bucket.

Accordingly, the Qur’anic meaning of jubb is a well: a hollow place in the ground whose concealed part was chosen in Joseph’s story to keep him out of sight. Cutting or gathering may matter in explaining the name’s lexical history, but neither should displace the established meaning “well” when translating the word itself.