שָׁלָל
shâlâl · H7998 · Hebrew · 73 occurrences
Meanings
-
spoil, plunder, booty
All sorts of goods (including humans and animals), taken forcibly from an enemy in war
ExamplesGenesis 49:27 “Benjamin is a ravenous wolf; In the morning he devours the prey, And in the evening he divides the spoils.”
Exodus 15:9 “The enemy said, ‘I will pursue, I will overtake, I will divide the spoils; I shall be satisfied against them; I will draw my sword, my hand will destroy them.’
Deuteronomy 2:35 “We took only the animals as our plunder, and the spoils of the cities which we had captured.
-
Literally: (one's) life as spoil; hence: process by which humans will remain alive as opposed to others who will die a violent death (gain (one's) life, escape with (one's) life)
ExamplesJeremiah 21:9 “Anyone who stays in this city will die by the sword, by famine, or by plague; but anyone who leaves and goes over to the Chaldeans who are besieging you will live, and he will have his own life as plunder.
Jeremiah 38:2 “This is what the LORD says: ‘Anyone who stays in this city will die by the sword, by famine, or by plague; but anyone who surrenders to the Chaldeans will live and have his own life as plunder, and stay alive.’
Jeremiah 39:18 “For I will assuredly rescue you, and you will not fall by the sword; but you will have your own life as plunder, because you have trusted in Me,” declares the LORD.’”
-
income, gain
Literally: spoil; hence: accumulated possessions
ExamplesProverbs 31:11 The heart of her husband trusts in her, And he will have no lack of gain.
How it’s used In 9 roles
Every occurrence, grouped by the words it is grammatically related to.
the word studied the word it goes with
Whose, or of whatGenitive or possessive
29 occurrences in 12 groups
- עִירcity, town 6
- הּher 5
- הֶםtheir 5
- אֹיֵבenemy 4
- Other words · 8 groups that occur once or twice (10) 10
Words describing itAdjectives, demonstratives, participles
10 occurrences in 8 groups
- רַבmany, great 3
- גָּדוֹלgreat, large 2
- לָכַדto capture, to take, to catch 1
- לָקַחto take, to receive 1
- מָצָאto find 1
- נָצַלto deliver, to rescue 1
Named alongside itApposition
3 occurrences in 5 groups
- רָבָהto increase 2
- טַףyoung child 1
- כֹּלall, every, whole 1
- אִשָּׁהwoman, wife 1
- בְּהֵמָהanimal, livestock 1
What it doesIt is the subject
2 occurrences in 2 groups
- חָלַקto divide, to distribute 1
- אָסַףto gather, to assemble 1
What is done to itIt is the object
38 occurrences in 14 groups
- בָּזַזto plunder 9
- חָלַקto divide, to distribute 8
- שָׁלַלto plunder, to seize 5
- בּוֹאto come, to go in, to bring 3
- Other words · 10 groups that occur once or twice (13) 13
What it is said to bePredicate
1 occurrences in 1 groups
- סִיסְרָאSisera 1
What is said to be itIt is the predicate
1 occurrences in 1 groups
- זֶהthis 1
After prepositionsPrepositional phrases
22 occurrences in 4 groups
- מִןfrom 16
- לto/for 13
- אֵלto, toward 4
- בin/on/with 4
In phrases “… of it”It is the genitive
5 occurrences in 4 groups
- נֶזֶםring 2
- מָצָאto find 1
- עַדto 1
- צַוָּארneck 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.
In the other Testament 1 word
- σκῦλον skŷlon · G4661 · booty, spoils, plunder
- Greek σκῦλον renders Hebrew שָׁלָל as the standard translation equivalent for war spoils and plunder, with both terms denoting material goods stripped from defeated enemies.
Semantic domains 3 entries
- Objects001
- The generic sense of spoil as tangible goods seized in war, directly shown in the animals taken "as our plunder" alongside "the spoils of the cities" (Deuteronomy 2:35).
- Alive002001001003
- The sense of living plunder — captives taken alive rather than material goods — directly shown in the captives brought back "both of people and of livestock" to the camp at the plains of Moab (Numbers 31:11, 31:12).
- Possess002003002019
- The core sense of spoil as something seized and possessed, directly shown in Benjamin who "devours the prey" and "divides the spoils" (Genesis 49:27) and the enemy's boast to "divide the spoils" of Israel (Exodus 15:9).
Word family 3 words
Words formed from the same root. They share a form, not always a meaning.
Brown-Driver-Briggs Hebrew Lexicon H7998. shalal שָׁלָל75 noun masculine1Sa 30:16 prey, spoil, plunder, booty; — absolute…
שָׁלָל75 noun masculine1Sa 30:16 prey, spoil, plunder, booty; — absolute ׳שׁ Gen 49:27 +; construct שְׁלַל Jdg 5:30 +, suffix שְׁלָלֵךְ Zec 14:1, שְׁלַלְכֶם Isa 33:4, etc.; —
1 prey, of Benjamin as wolf Gen 49:27 (poem in J; with חִלֵּק).
2 booty, spoil of war, of all kinds (often || בַּז): including garments, gold and silver Jos 7:21 (J), ornaments Jdg 8:24-25, fabrics and women Jdg 5:30 a, b, flocks and herds 1Sa 30:20; Jer 49:32; 2Ch 15:11, + persons Deu 20:14 (twice in verse), garments, food and drink 2Ch 28:15, etc. (58 t.; among these) הֶעָרִים שְׁלַל Deu 2:25; 2Sa 12:30; 1Ch 20:2 and (+ cattle in addition) Deu 3:7; Jos 8:27; Jos 11:14 (both RD), compare (also of city) Isa 8:4; Deu 13:17 (twice in verse); Zec 14:1 and (+ cattle) Jos 8:2 (RD), but including person and cattle Deu 20:14, compare Deu 20:14; figurative of entire nation Jer 50:10; Eze 7:21; Zec 2:13; ׳שׁ in symbolic proper name וגו שָׁלָל ׳מַהֵר Isa 8:1, Isa 8:3, see above p.555:a; ׳שׁ in metaphor of future majesty of י ׳עֶבֶד Isa 53:12; לְשׁ נַפְשׁוֺ ׳וְהֳיְתָהאלּוֺ i.e. life shall be spared, Jer 21:9; Jer 38:2; Jer 39:18, compare Jer 45:5.
3 private plunder Isa 10:2 (שְׁלָלָם אַלְמָנוֺת), Pro 1:13 and (perhaps in current saying) Pro 16:19.
4 = gain Pro 31:11. — שׁ ׳לְצַוִּארֵי Jdg 5:30 c is clearly wrong; meaning dubious (see especially GFM); plausible conjectures are שׁ ׳לְצַוָּארַי for my neck as spoil, ReussBr and others, and שֵׁגָל לְצַוְּארֵי for the neck of the queen Ew Be Kit and others (but שֵׁגָל elsewhere late); Now strike out שָׁלָל and reads לְצַוָּארָיו.
Brown, Driver and Briggs, A Hebrew and English Lexicon of the Old Testament (1906), public domain
Topical studies with this word 3 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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