Lexical Summary
laban: To be white, to make white, to purify
Original Word: לָבַן
Part of Speech: Verb
Transliteration: laban
Pronunciation: lah-VAHN
Phonetic Spelling: (law-ban')
KJV: make brick, be (made, make) white(-r)
Word Origin: [a primitive root]
1. to be (or become) white
2. (as denominative from H3843) to make bricks
Strong's Exhaustive Concordance
make brick, be made, make whiter
A primitive root; to be (or become) white; also (as denominative from lbenah) to make bricks -- make brick, be (made, make) white(-r).
see HEBREW lbenah
Brown-Driver-Briggs
[] (on see Ba
NB 166; Lag
BN 33, compare 53, 54 infers from ; Late Hebrew
id., Pi`el Hiph`il, and derivatives; Phoenician
white; Arabic
👁 Image milk;
👁 Image also
be white, dialect of Yemen, Maltzan
ZMG xxvii, 1873, 247; apparently √ of following fourteen words, but this dubious especially in case of II. III. , , , II. , I. II. ); —
Perfect3plural Joel 1:7; Imperfect1singular Psalm 51:9; 3plural Isaiah 1:18; Infinitive construct (= ) Daniel 11:35; —
make white = purify (ethical) Daniel 11:35 (no object expressed, "" , ).
shew whiteness, grow white, of fig-tree, stripped by locusts, Joel 1:7; figurative of moral purity, Isaiah 1:18; Psalm 51:9.
Imperfect Daniel 12:10 be purified (ethical, "" ). — , make brick, see below
[] (as Assyrian labânu fromlibittu DlHWB 370); —
Imperfect1plural Genesis 11:3 (with accusative of congnate meaning with verb); Infinitive construct Exodus 5:7 (with accusative of congnate meaning with verb), Exodus 5:14 (absolute)
Topical Lexicon
Literal Usage: Bricks and Human Endeavor Genesis 11:3 records humanity’s first large-scale building project after the Flood: “And they said to one another, ‘Come, let us make bricks and bake them thoroughly.’” The verb לָבַן describes the manufacturing of the bricks that would form the Tower of Babel, a monument to self-glory and independence from God. The same root appears in Exodus 5:7 and 5:14, where Pharaoh’s taskmasters order Israel to maintain an impossible brick quota. Thus the word marks both rebellious pride (Babel) and cruel oppression (Egypt). In both narratives the Lord intervenes—scattering the builders in Shinar and delivering Israel through the Exodus—demonstrating His sovereignty over every human structure raised against Him.
Figurative Usage: Whiteness, Cleansing, and Purity
Outside the building context, the root לָבַן takes on a moral dimension:
• Psalm 51:7 – “Wash me, and I will be whiter than snow.”
• Isaiah 1:18 – “Though your sins are scarlet, they shall be as white as snow.”
• Daniel 11:35; 12:10 – End-time refinement will “purify, cleanse, and make them white.”
• Joel 1:7 – The devastation of the vine “strips off the bark and casts it white,” a picture of judgment leaving a bleached-out ruin.
Here whiteness symbolizes cleansing from sin, restoration, and refined holiness. The same root that once served human pride now portrays God’s gracious work of purification.
Redemptive Thread through Scripture
1. Babel’s bricks show the futility of self-salvation.
2. Egypt’s bricks highlight bondage from which only divine intervention can rescue.
3. The prophets and psalmist proclaim a cleansing that God alone provides, pointing forward to the atoning blood of Jesus Christ, whose transfigured garments became “dazzling white” (Mark 9:3), the ultimate fulfillment of לָבַן imagery.
Eschatological Hope
Daniel 11:35 and 12:10 link “making white” with end-time purification of the saints. The trials of the last days are not punitive only; they refine believers for eternal fellowship, echoing Revelation 7:14 where the redeemed “washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.”
Ministry Implications
• Preaching: Contrast the brick-making of Babel and Egypt with God’s call to be cleansed and built into a “spiritual house” (1 Peter 2:5).
• Discipleship: Encourage believers that present trials are instruments of divine whitening, preparing a spotless Bride (Ephesians 5:27).
• Evangelism: Use Isaiah 1:18 to assure sinners that, however deep the stain, God promises a whiteness no human effort can achieve.
Summary
לָבַן moves from baked clay to purified heart—from man-made towers to God-made holiness. It warns against self-reliance, exposes oppressive systems, and ultimately celebrates the Father’s power to wash His people “whiter than snow.”
Forms and Transliterations
אַלְבִּֽין׃ אלבין׃ הִלְבִּ֖ינוּ הלבינו וְיִֽתְלַבְּנ֤וּ וְלַלְבֵּ֖ן ויתלבנו וללבן יַלְבִּ֔ינוּ ילבינו לִלְבֹּ֥ן לִלְבֹּן֙ ללבן נִלְבְּנָ֣ה נלבנה ’al·bîn ’albîn alBin hil·bî·nū hilBinu hilbînū lil·bōn lilBon lilbōn nil·bə·nāh nilbeNah nilbənāh velalBen veyitlabbeNu wə·lal·bên wə·yiṯ·lab·bə·nū wəlalbên wəyiṯlabbənū yal·bî·nū yalBinu yalbînū
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