Why the use of וישב in Lech Lecha to describe Abram driving away vultures?

Question

Lech Lecha 15:11 וַיֵּ֥רֶד הָעַ֖יִט עַל־הַפְּגָרִ֑ים וַיַּשֵּׁ֥ב אֹתָ֖ם אַבְרָֽם

according to biblehub.com yashav is to remain, to dwell, to sit.

How then is this verb translated ?

Thankyou

Answer 1

If the vowels were וַיֵּשֶׁב you'd be right, but וַיַּשֵּׁב comes from the shoresh נשב, which means blow (as in the wind), and flying is a similar idea. וַיַּשֵּׁב means "he made them fly away."

For more information:

1. ישב:
   1. וַיֵּשֶׁב, as you say, would mean he sat
   2. וַיּוֹשֵׁב would mean he made the birds sit
2. שוב:
   1. וַיָּשָׁב would mean he returned (to where he was before, not like "he returned the library book")
   2. וַיָּשֶׁב would mean he made the birds return
3. נשב:
   2. וַיַּשֵּׁב means he made the birds fly away
4. שבי (thanks @DoubleAA):
   1. וַיִּשְׁבְּ (hard to pronounce) would mean he took the birds captive.

x.1 are binyan kal, x.2 are hif'il. I'm not quite sure what the vowels would be in 3.1 and 4.2, and they're not very practical words, so I left them out.

1.2, 2.2, and 4.1 would actually be reasonable things for Avraham to have done, but they're not what he did, and anyway they would be very hard to successfully do with wild birds. 1.1 and 2.1 wouldn't make any sense in context.