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Word

שָׂנֵא

sânêʼ · H8130 · Hebrew · 146 occurrences

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Meanings

  1. to hate, to reject

    State in which humans or deities experience hostility towards a person, an object, or a practice

    Examples

    Genesis 26:27 Isaac said to them, “Why have you come to me, since you hate me and have sent me away from you?”

    Genesis 29:31 Now the LORD saw that Leah was unloved, and He opened her womb, but Rachel was unable to have children.

    Genesis 29:33 Then she conceived again and gave birth to a son, and said, “Because the LORD has heard that I am unloved, He has therefore given me this son also.” So she named him Simeon.

  2. enemy

    Person who experiences hostily towards someone else and acts accordingly

    Examples

    Genesis 24:60 And they blessed Rebekah and said to her, “May you, our sister, Become thousands of ten thousands, And may your descendants possess The gate of those who hate them.”

    Exodus 1:10 “Come, let us deal shrewdly with them, otherwise they will multiply, and in the event of war, they will also join those who hate us, and fight against us and depart from the land.”

    Leviticus 26:17 ‘And I will set My face against you so that you will be defeated before your enemies; and those who hate you will rule over you, and you will flee when no one is pursuing you.

How it’s used In 13 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

85 occurrences in 25 groups

What it acts on, or what is saidObject

65 occurrences in 44 groups

With prepositionsPrepositional phrases

9 occurrences in 7 groups

With adverbsAdverbs

11 occurrences in 4 groups

Whose, or of whatGenitive or possessive

51 occurrences in 14 groups

Words describing itAdjectives, demonstratives, participles

1 occurrences in 1 groups

Named alongside itApposition

4 occurrences in 6 groups

What it doesIt is the subject

24 occurrences in 22 groups

What is done to itIt is the object

12 occurrences in 10 groups

What it is said to bePredicate

2 occurrences in 2 groups

What is said to be itIt is the predicate

3 occurrences in 3 groups

After prepositionsPrepositional phrases

20 occurrences in 6 groups

In phrases “… of it”It is the genitive

10 occurrences in 8 groups

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 4 words
אָיַב ʼâyab · H340 · to be (someone's) enemy, enemy
Both express enmity or hostility.
תָּאַב tâʼab · H8374 · to long, to desire, to hate
שָׂנֵא (sânêʼ, H8130) (“hate, enemy, foe”) and תָּאַב (tâʼab, H8374) (“abhor”) are genuine negative-emotion verbs that could substitute for one another in expressing strong aversion; תָּאַב (tâʼab, H8374) is very rarely attested, but the semantic relationship itself is real.
שָׂטַם sâṭam · H7852 · to bear a grudge (against someone), to harass
Both are Hebrew verbs of hating and hostility, distinct roots that overlap in sense and can substitute in many contexts.
תַּעָב taʻâb · H8581 · to abhor, to act abominably
Both words denote strong negative emotional attitudes, hating and abhorring or detesting, two distinct Hebrew words for intense rejection and aversion that could substitute in many contexts.
Contrasting words 1 word
אָהַב ʼâhab · H157 · to love, friend, companion
The direct lexical opposite of אָהַב, denoting hatred or enmity toward a person or thing.
In the other Testament 1 word
μισέω miséō · G3404 · to hate, to detest
Greek μισέω (miséō, G3404) is the standard LXX rendering of Hebrew שָׂנֵא (sânêʼ, H8130), both denoting active hatred or enmity; the Greek term carries both the core sense 'to hate/detest' and the extended nuance 'to love less' (comparative disfavor), directly mirroring the Hebrew semantic range across personal, covenantal, and theological contexts.
Semantic domains 2 entries
Hate002001002014
This verb denotes feeling hostility toward someone, as in Genesis 26:27's account of Isaac asking the Philistines why they hate him and sent him away.
Enemies001001003002
The verb's participle also substantively denotes one who hates, an enemy or foe, as in Genesis 24:60's blessing that Rebekah's descendants would possess the gate of those who hate them.
Word family 4 words

Words formed from the same root. They share a form, not always a meaning.

שָׂנֵאsânêʼ · H8130שִׂנְאָה sinʼâh · H8135 · hatred, hate · 17×שְׂנֵא sᵉnêʼ · H8131 · hate · 1×שָׂנִיא sânîyʼ · H8146 · hated, rejected · 1×
Brown-Driver-Briggs Hebrew Lexicon H8130. sane שָׂנֵא145 verb hate (Late Hebrew id.; MI4 שנאי my foes; Sabean שנאם foe…
H8130. sane
שָׂנֵא145 verb hate (Late Hebrew id.; MI4 שנאי my foes; Sabean שנאם foe SabDenkmNo. 12, 1. 9 compare Ib.No. 7, 1. 9 CISiv, No. 173, 1. 6; Arabic , , hate; Aramaic סְנָא, , id., סָנְאָה, hater, etc.; Ethiopic hate is ); —
Qal128 Perfect3masculine singular ׳שׂ Deu 12:31 +, suffix שְׂנֵאָהּ 2Sa 13:15 +; 2 masculine singular שָׂנֵאתָ Psa 5:6 +, suffix שְׂנֵאתַ֫נִי Jdg 14:16, etc.; Imperfect3masculine singular יִשְׂנָא Pro 13:5; Pro 26:28, suffix יִשְׂמּנָאֶ֑ךָּ 9:s, etc.; Imperative masculine plural שִׂנְאוּ Amo 9:15; Psa 97:10; Infinitive absolute שָׂנאֹ Jdg 15:2; construct שְׂנאֹ Gen 37:5 +, שְׂנאֹת Pro 8:13; Participle active שׂנֵא Deu 4:42 +, שׂנַאֲךָ Exo 23:5; Pro 25:21; plural construct שׂנְאֵי Exo 18:21 +, etc.; passive feminine singular שְׂנוּאָה Gen 29:31 +; masculine plural construct שְׂנֻאֵי 2Sa 5:8 Qr (> Kt שָֽׂנְאוּ); — hate (often opposed to אָהֵב):
1 human;
a. with accusative of person Gen 26:27 (J), Gen 37:5, Gen 37:8 (E), Jdg 11:7; 2Sa 13:22; Amo 5:10 (|| תֵּעֵב) + 17 t. (evil-doers Psa 26:5; Psa 31:7; Psa 139:21), + (object wife) Jdg 14:16; Jdg 15:2 (twice in verse); + passive participle, of wife, Gen 29:31 (twice in verse) (J), Deu 21:15 (twice in verse); Deu 21:16-17, compare Pro 30:23; figurative of Zion Isa 60:15 (+ עֲזוּבָה); specifically of sexual revulsion 2Sa 13:15 (twice in verse) (+ accusative of congnate meaning with verb), Deu 22:13, Deu 22:16; Deu 24:3; so, object man (of Jerusalem under figure of harlot) Eze 16:37; passive דָּוִד נֶפֶשׁ שְׂנֻאֵי 2Sa 5:8 (but see obscure); reflexive (accusative נַפְשׁוֺ) Pro 29:24, absolute Ecc 3:8.
b. with accusative of thing, Eze 35:6 (but read ᵑ6 ᵐ5 אָשַׁמְתָּ בְּדָם Co Berthol Toy), Ecc 2:17-18, especially evil Exo 18:21 (E), Mic 3:2; Psa 45:7 Psa 45:10t., virtue, etc. Mic 3:2; Pro 1:22 Pro 1:4t.
2 subject ׳י; object perverse Israel Amo 6:8 (its palaces), Hos 9:15; Jer 12:8; wickedness Psa 5:6; Psa 11:5; idolatry and evil Amo 5:21; Isa 1:14; Isa 61:8; Jer 44:4; Mal 2:16 Mal 2:5t.
3 Participle active54 as adjective Isa 66:5 (as verb with 1singular pronoun Isa 61:8,
2 above); usually substantive, Pro 13:24 one hating his son (opposed to אֹהֵב); elsewhere = enemy foe (usually construct or with suffix), singular and plural (often || אֹיֵב, sometimes opposed to אֹהֵב): foe of man Exo 23:5 (E), Gen 24:60 (J), Lev 26:17 (H) +, nation Exo 1:10 (E), Est 9:1, Est 9:5, Est 9:16 +, absolute Pro 26:24; Pro 27:6, (c. 31 t. in all); + שׂנֵא לֹא with ל person, a no-hater to one Deu 4:42; Deu 19:4, Deu 19:6; Jos 20:5, and (without לֹא) Deu 19:11; foe of good Mic 3:2, compare Job 34:17 Job 34:3t., of evil Exo 18:21; Pro 28:1, compare Pro 15:27; of suretyship Pro 11:15 (i.e. not giving it); foes of ׳י Exo 20:5 = Deu 5:9; Deu 7:10 (twice in verse); 2Ch 19:2.
Niph`al Imperfect3masculine singular יִשָּׂנֵא Pro 14:17 is hated, so Pro 14:20 (+ ל person by, see לְ 5d).
Pi`el Participle suffix מְשַׂנְאִי Job 31:29; Psa 55:13; plural construct מְשַׂנְאֵי Psa 81:16; suffix מְשַׂנְאַי 2Sa 22:41 +, etc.; — enemy (Qal 3) || צָר אֹיֵב,, etc.:
1 personal and national, Job 31:29; Deu 33:11 (poem), 2Sa 22:41 = Psa 18:41; Psa 44:8; Psa 44:11; Psa 55:13; Psa 68:2; Psa 89:24.
2 of ׳י Num 10:35 (J), Deu 32:41 (poem), Psa 81:16; Psa 83:3; Psa 139:21.
3 of wisdom Pro 8:36.

Brown, Driver and Briggs, A Hebrew and English Lexicon of the Old Testament (1906), public domain

Topical studies with this word 2 entries
Enemies41 occurrencesHate104 occurrences

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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