The Hebrew word mabbua means a gushing spring or flowing fountain. It comes from the root naba (H5042), meaning to well up or flow. The word describes a natural spring that gushes forth water, used metaphorically for wisdom and the life-giving word of God.
Mabbua is a vivid image of God's provision and the inexhaustible nature of divine wisdom. In Proverbs, the mouth of the righteous is a mabbua — a gushing spring of life-giving words, in contrast to the violence of the wicked (Proverbs 10:11). Isaiah uses the image to describe the miraculous provision God makes in the wilderness — where there was desert, springs will burst forth. This word reminds us that true refreshment, wisdom, and life flow only from God, the fountain of living waters (Jeremiah 2:13).