שָׁבַר
shâbar · H7665 · Hebrew · 148 occurrences
Meanings
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To break or shatter, an action by which humans or deities cause an object to be broken into pieces, sometimes figurative for the sudden end of a condition
ExamplesGenesis 19:9 But they said, “Get out of the way!” They also said, “This one came in as a foreigner, and already he is acting like a judge; now we will treat you worse than them!” So they pressed hard against Lot and moved forward to break the door.
Exodus 9:25 The hail struck everything that was in the field through all the land of Egypt, from people to animals; the hail also struck every plant of the field, and shattered every tree of the field.
Exodus 12:46 “It is to be eaten in a single house; you are not to bring any of the meat outside of the house, nor are you to break any bone of it.
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To maul, tear, or injure, literally to break, an action by which humans, deities, animals, or circumstances cause others to be severely injured
ExamplesExodus 22:10 “If someone gives his neighbor a donkey, an ox, a sheep, or any animal to keep for him, and it dies or is injured or is driven away while no one is looking,
Exodus 22:14 “And if someone borrows an animal from his neighbor, and it is injured or dies while its owner is not with it, he shall make full restitution.
1 Kings 13:26 Now when the prophet who had brought him back from the way heard about it, he said, “It is the man of God, who disobeyed the command of the LORD; therefore the LORD has given him to the lion, which has torn him and killed him, in accordance with the word of the LORD which He spoke to him.”
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To bring about birth, literally to break the womb, a process by which deities cause women to give birth
ExamplesIsaiah 66:9 “Shall I bring to the point of birth but not give delivery?” says the LORD. “Or shall I who gives delivery shut the womb?” says your God.
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To end or bring to an end, literally to break an event, an action by which humans or deities end an event or situation
ExamplesLeviticus 26:19 ‘I will also break down your pride of power; and I will make your sky like iron and your earth like bronze.
Job 24:20 “A mother will forget him; The maggot feeds sweetly until he is no longer remembered. And injustice will be broken like a tree.
Psalm 104:11 They give drink to every animal of the field; The wild donkeys quench their thirst.
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To break someone's heart, meaning to cause profound grief, a process by which deities or circumstances cause humans to suffer deeply
ExamplesPsalm 34:18 The LORD is near to the brokenhearted And saves those who are crushed in spirit.
Psalm 51:17 The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; A broken and a contrite heart, God, You will not despise.
Psalm 69:20 Disgrace has broken my heart, and I am so sick. And I waited for sympathy, but there was none; And for comforters, but I found none.
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To break someone's spirit, meaning to cause profound grief, a process by which deities or circumstances cause humans to suffer deeply
ExamplesPsalm 51:17 The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; A broken and a contrite heart, God, You will not despise.
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To break, meaning to grieve, literally to break someone, a process by which humans, deities, or circumstances cause others to suffer profound grief
ExamplesJeremiah 8:21 I am broken over the brokenness of the daughter of my people. I mourn, dismay has taken hold of me.
Ezekiel 6:9 “Then those of you who escape will remember Me among the nations to which they will be taken captive, how I have been hurt by their adulterous hearts which turned away from Me, and by their eyes which committed infidelity with their idols; and they will loathe themselves in their own sight for the evils which they have committed, for all their abominations.
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To set or prescribe, literally to break limits, a process by which deities put certain conditions in place
ExamplesJob 38:10 And I placed boundaries on it And set a bolt and doors,
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To break the staff of bread, meaning to break the supply of bread, a process by which deities cause a food shortage resulting in famine
ExamplesLeviticus 26:26 ‘When I break your staff of bread, ten women will bake your bread in one oven, and they will bring back your bread in rationed amounts, so that you will eat and not be satisfied.
Psalm 105:16 And He called for a famine upon the land; He broke the whole staff of bread.
Ezekiel 4:16 Moreover, He said to me, “Son of man, behold, I am going to break the staff of bread in Jerusalem, and they will eat bread by weight and with anxiety, and drink water by measure and in horror,
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To break someone's arm, meaning to break their power, an action by which humans or deities cause individuals or nations to lose power over others
ExamplesJob 38:15 “Their light is withheld from the wicked, And the uplifted arm is broken.
Psalm 10:15 Break the arm of the wicked and the evildoer, Seek out his wickedness until You find none.
Psalm 37:17 For the arms of the wicked will be broken, But the LORD sustains the righteous.
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To break or crush military power, literally to break an army or nation, an action by which humans or deities make armies and nations lose power over others
Examples2 Chronicles 14:13 Asa and the people who were with him pursued them as far as Gerar; and so many Ethiopians fell that they could not recover, for they were shattered before the LORD and before His army. And they carried away a very large amount of plunder.
Isaiah 14:25 to break Assyria in My land, and I will trample him on My mountains. Then his yoke will be removed from them, and his burden removed from their shoulders.
Jeremiah 14:17 “You will say this word to them, ‘Let my eyes stream down tears night and day, And let them not cease; For the virgin daughter of my people has been crushed with a mighty blow, With a sorely infected wound.
How it’s used In 8 roles
Every occurrence, grouped by the words it is grammatically related to.
the word studied the word it goes with
Who or what does itSubject
135 occurrences in 47 groups
- Not stated: he, she or it 30
- Not stated: I 24
- Not stated: you (one person) 11
- Not stated: they 10
- Not stated: you (more than one) 5
- Not stated (infinitive) 4
- Other words · 39 groups that occur once or twice (45) 45
What it acts on, or what is saidObject
84 occurrences in 49 groups
- מַצֵּבָהsacred pillar, pillar 9
- מַטֶּהtribe, staff, rod 6
- עֹלyoke 6
- מוֹטָהyoke, bar 5
- זְרוֹעַarm, strength 4
- עֶצֶםbone 4
- Other words · 39 groups that occur once or twice (50) 50
With prepositionsPrepositional phrases
37 occurrences in 35 groups
- Other words · 35 groups that occur once or twice (38) 38
With adverbsAdverbs
11 occurrences in 5 groups
- לֹאnot 5
- כָּכָהthus 2
- שָׁםthere 2
- יַחַדtogether 1
- כֵּןthus 1
Whose, or of whatGenitive or possessive
3 occurrences in 1 groups
- לֵבheart, mind 3
Named alongside itApposition
1 occurrences in 1 groups
- זְרוֹעַarm, strength 1
What is done to itIt is the object
2 occurrences in 2 groups
- אָמַרto say 1
- רָפָאto heal 1
After prepositionsPrepositional phrases
13 occurrences in 4 groups
- לto/for 12
- בin/on/with 3
- אַחַרafter, behind 1
- כlike/as 1
When two words share a role, as in “Paul and Barnabas said”, the verse appears under each, so a section’s counts can add up to more than the number of occurrences.
MACULA Greek Linguistic Datasets, available at https://github.com/Clear-Bible/macula-greek/, licensed CC BY 4.0; MACULA Hebrew Linguistic Datasets © 2022-2024 by Biblica, Inc., CC BY 4.0. Westminster Leningrad Codex (tanach.us). OpenScriptures Hebrew Bible morphology (hb.openscriptures.org), CC BY 4.0.
Near synonyms 1 word
- עָצַב ʻâtsab · H6087 · to be hurt, to frustrate
- This is real semantic overlap—both can describe causing grief or hurt.
In the other Testament 1 word
- συντρίβω syntríbō · G4937 · to break into pieces, to shatter, to crush
- Greek συντρίβω emphasizes complete crushing/shattering as a finished state, while Hebrew שָׁבַר covers the broader semantic range of breaking in various manners (down, off, in pieces) including metaphorical breaking (broken-hearted) and the specific idiomatic sense of bringing to birth; συντρίβω typically renders the physical destruction and crushing senses of שָׁבַר in LXX translation contexts.
Semantic domains 9 entries
- Impact002001001024
- Genesis 19:9 describes the mob who "moved forward to break the door," and Exodus 9:25 says the hail "shattered every tree of the field," both directly attesting the breaking blow this word denotes.
- Birth002002002003
- This word's gloss extends to "bring to the birth," the idiom of labor pains bringing a child forth, a sense the sampled citations (which show only literal physical breaking) do not themselves directly illustrate.
- End002003003010
- Exodus 9:25's hail that "shattered every tree of the field" attests the definitive, destructive end this word can bring upon what it strikes.
- Grieve002001002013
- This word's gloss also covers "broken-hearted," a figurative sense of grief the sampled citations (all literal breaking) do not themselves directly illustrate.
- Happen002002003003
- This word's broader gloss can shade into a resulting turn of events after something gives way or breaks, a sense the sampled citations do not directly illustrate.
- Hunger002004001001002
- שָׁבַר (shâbar, H7665) means "to break, shatter, smash." The quotation "the hail also struck every plant of the field, and shattered every tree of the field" at Exodus 9:25 shows this sense, which does not independently attest the "Hunger" domain; that classification is bundle-shared with שָׁבַר (shâbar, H7666) in the source data and reflects שָׁבַר (shâbar, H7666)'s own attested sense ("to buy grain"), not this lexeme's.
- Weak002001001069
- Exodus 22:13 describes an animal "all torn to pieces," attesting the damaged, weakened state this word's breaking force can leave behind.
- Possess002003002019
- Exodus 22:9's law of "breach of trust" over an ox, donkey, sheep, or "any lost thing" concerns a dispute over rightful possession of property.
- Non-Possess002003002018
- The same breach-of-trust law in Exodus 22:9 also concerns the loss of possession through damage or theft that this word's "breach" sense describes.
Word family 7 words
Words formed from the same root. They share a form, not always a meaning.
Brown-Driver-Briggs Hebrew Lexicon H7665. shabar שָׁבַר148 verb break, break in pieces (Late Hebrew id.; Sabean תֿבר, break,…
שָׁבַר148 verb break, break in pieces (Late Hebrew id.; Sabean תֿבר, break, destroy DHMHof. Mus., no. 1, l. 26 MordtmHi 74; Arabic restrain, destroy; Aramaic תְּבַר, ; Assyrian šabâru, break, break in pieces; Ethiopic break); —
Qal53 Perfect3masculine singular ׳שׁ 1Ki 13:28; Isa 14:5, etc.; Imperfect3masculine singular יִשְׁבֹּר Jer 19:11, בּוֺר- Isa 42:3; Isa 42:3feminine singular תִּשְׁבָּרֿ Pro 25:15, etc.; Imperative masculine singular שְׁבֹר Psa 10:15, suffix שָׁבְרֵם Jer 17:18; Infinitive construct לִשְׁבֹּר Gen 19:9 Gen 19:2t., שְׁבוֺר Jer 28:12; Participle active שֹׁבֵר Eze 4:16 Eze 4:2t.; passive שָׁבוּר Lev 22:22, plural construct שְׁבוּרֵי Psa 147:3; — break, literally, object earthen vessel Jdg 7:20; Lev 11:33 (P), Jer 19:11 (in simile, compare Jer 19:11; Jer 48:33; Isa 30:14, flask Jer 19:10, gate-bar Amo 1:5 (in metaphor), bow Hos 1:5; Jer 49:35, and sword Hos 2:20 (מִןהָֿאָרֶץ), bone of lamb Exo 12:46; Num 9:12 (P), and (in metaphor) Pro 25:15, compare שָׁבוּר i.e. fractured of limb Lev 22:22 (H), yoke Jer 28:10, Jer 28:12, Jer 28:13, and, in metaphor, of deliverance (׳י subject) Jer 28:2; Jer 28:4; Jer 28:11; Jer 38:8 (with מֵעַל), +4 t., of rebellion Jer 2:20; Jer 5:5, so staff Isa 14:5 Isa 14:5t., reed Isa 42:3, arm of Pharaoh Eze 30:21-22, Eze 30:24 compare Psa 10:15; trees (subject thunder) Psa 29:5; break in, down, door Gen 19:9 (J); rend violently (of lion), man 1Ki 13:26, ass 1Ki 13:28; wreck Tyre (as ship) Eze 27:26; figurative break pride Lev 26:19 (H); crush (figurative) Isa 14:25 (compare Jer 48:28 above), Lam 1:15; Dan 11:26; שׁ שִׁבָּרוֺן ׳מִשְׁנֶה Jer 17:18; break, rupture, heart (figurative) Psa 69:21+ Eze 6:9 (see
Niph`al near the end), לֵב שְׁבוּרֵי Psa 147:3; חֻקִּי עָלָיו וָאֶשְׁבֹּר Job 38:10 broke for it my boundary, of sea, reference to abrupt ending of mainland; = quench thirst (frangere sitim) Psa 104:11.
Niph`al57 Perfect3masculine singular נִשְׁבַּר Exo 22:9 +, etc.; Imperfect3masculine singular יִשָּׁבֵר Lev 6:21 +, 3 feminine singular וְתִשָּׁ֫בֶר Ecc 12:6, Ecc 12:2masculine singular תִּשָּׁבֵר Eze 29:7, שַבר- Eze 32:28, etc.; Infinitive construct הִשָּׁבֵר Jon 1:4 Participle נִשְׁבָּר Psa 51:19, feminine singular נִשְׁבָּרָה Psa 51:19, נִשְׁבֶּ֫רֵת Eze 27:34 +, etc.; — be broken, of neck 1Sa 4:18, bones Psa 34:21, gate-bars Jer 51:30, rod (in figurative) Isa 14:21; Jer 48:17, idols Eze 6:4, Eze 6:6, horn Dan 8:8, compare Dan 8:22, arm Job 31:22 (מִקָּנָה), and (in metaphor) Jer 48:25; Job 38:15; Psa 37:17, compare Eze 30:22, bough Eze 31:12; Isa 27:11, compare (figurative) of wickedness, like a tree Job 24:20, other things Psa 37:15; Jer 50:23; Eze 29:7; Psa 124:7; cisterns Jer 2:13 (id.), pottery Lev 6:21; Lev 15:12 (P), Ecc 12:6 (in figurative); = be maimed, crippled (have limb broken), of animal Exo 22:9; Exo 22:13 (E), and (figurative) Eze 34:4, Eze 34:16; Zec 11:16, so (figurative of men stumbling) Isa 8:15; Isa 28:13; be wrecked, of ships 1Ki 22:49 (read Qr נִשְׁבְּרוּ), || 2Ch 20:37; Jon 1:4, metaphor of Tyre Eze 27:34; figurative be crushed, destroyed (person, warriors, kingdoms, etc.), Jer 14:17; Jer 22:20; Jer 48:4; Jer 51:8 Jer 51:10t.; figurative be broken, of heart Jer 23:9; Isa 61:1; Psa 34:19; Psa 51:19, compare נִשׁ ׳רוּחַ Psa 34:19. — Exo 6:9 read probably וְשָֽׁבַרְתִּ֫י (We Sm Berthol Toy Krae); Co בְּשָׁבְרִי.
Pi`el36 Perfect3masculine singular שִׁבַּר Isa 21:9 +, שִׁבֵּ֑ר Exo 9:25, etc.; Imperfect3masculine singular יְשַׁבֵּר Psa 46:10 +, 2 masculine plural תְּשַׁבֵּר֑וּן Exo 34:13, etc.; Infinitive absolute שַׁבֵּר Exo 23:24; Participle מְשַׁבֵּר 1Ki 19:11; — shatter, break, tablets Exo 32:19 (E), Exo 34:1 (J), Deu 9:17; Deu 10:2; מַצֵּבוֺת Exo 23:24 (E; + Infinitive absolute), Exo 34:13 (J) + 7 t.; images 2Ki 11:18 2Ki 11:3t.; bronze sea, etc., 2Ki 25:13 = Jer 52:17; horns Dan 8:7; jaws Job 29:17 (in figurative); of hail shattering tree Exo 9:25 (J), compare 1Ki 19:11; elsewhere subject ׳י, shattering gate-bars, etc., weapons Isa 45:2; Isa 38:13; Lam 2:9; Lam 3:4; Psa 46:10; Psa 76:4; Psa 107:16, trees Psa 29:5; Psa 105:33, heads of תַּנִּינִים Psa 74:13; wrecking ship Psa 48:8.
Hiph`il cause to break out, i.e. bring to the birth, Imperfect1singular אוֺלִיד וְלֹא אַשְׁבִּיר הַאֲנִי Isa 66:9 (׳י subject; compare מַשְׁבֵּר below).
Hoph`al be broken, shattered (in heart), Perfect1singular הָשְׁבַּ֑רְתִּי בַּתעַֿמִּי עַלשֶֿׁבֶר Jer 8:21.
שָׁבוּר Lev 22:22 see √ Qal.
[תְּבַר] verb break (ᵑ7 Syriac; Biblical Hebrew שָׁבַר); —
Pe`al Participle pass feminine singular תְּבִירָה Dan 2:42 broken in pieces (kingdom).
תְּדִירָא see דּוּר
Brown, Driver and Briggs, A Hebrew and English Lexicon of the Old Testament (1906), public domain
Topical studies with this word 9 entries
Meanings adapted from the UBS Dictionary of the Greek New Testament, © United Bible Societies, CC BY-SA 4.0 and the UBS Dictionary of Biblical Hebrew (from the Semantic Dictionary of Biblical Hebrew), © United Bible Societies, CC BY-SA 4.0; MACULA Greek Linguistic Datasets, available at https://github.com/Clear-Bible/macula-greek/, licensed CC BY 4.0; MACULA Hebrew Linguistic Datasets © 2022-2024 by Biblica, Inc., CC BY 4.0. Westminster Leningrad Codex (tanach.us). OpenScriptures Hebrew Bible morphology (hb.openscriptures.org), CC BY 4.0.
Sources
eRhema lexical overview, based on the UBS Dictionary of Biblical Hebrew and the UBS Dictionary of the Greek New Testament (© United Bible Societies, CC BY-SA 4.0) and Macula Hebrew and Greek (Clear Bible, CC BY 4.0); released under CC BY-SA 4.0
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