StrongerBible

shazar

שָׁזַר

HebrewH7806twined, twisted

Appears 21 times · tap a cell to see the verses

Exo 26:1Exo 26:31Exo 26:36Exo 27:9Exo 27:16Exo 27:18Exo 28:6Exo 28:8Exo 28:15Exo 36:8Exo 36:35Exo 36:37
Word studyshaw-ZARverb

What shazar means

twined: of thread, twisted together from several strands into one strong, fine thread

TranslatabilityApproximateCertaintySettled

This word describes a step in making thread. Several separate strands were twisted around one another into a single ply, which produced a thread that was stronger, smoother, and more even than any one strand alone. English Bibles usually render the result as "fine twined linen" or "finely twisted linen."

Every time it appears, it is describing the materials of the tabernacle and the priest's garments: the linen curtains, the screen at the courtyard gate, the ephod, the breastpiece, the sash. It is almost always paired with the word for fine linen, and sometimes with the blue, purple, and scarlet wool, marking those as top-quality worked thread.

Because it only ever turns up in these building accounts, and only in a passive form ("having been twined"), it works less like an everyday verb and more like a technical craftsman's label. It is a close companion to spinning (טָוָה): spinning draws loose fibers into a single thread, and twining then twists finished threads together into one.

Exo 26:1Exo 26:31Exo 26:36Exo 27:9Exo 27:16Exo 27:18Exo 28:6Exo 28:8Exo 28:15Exo 36:8Exo 36:35Exo 36:37

What scholars say about shazar

The verb שׁזר occurs only in the Priestly tabernacle account (Exodus 26 to 39), exclusively as the passive participle מָשְׁזָר, and almost always in construction with שֵׁשׁ ("fine linen") or alongside the dyed wools. HALOT and BDB gloss it "to twist, twine," taking it of thread plied from several strands, a manufacturing step well attested in Egyptian byssus textiles and reflected in the high-count linen specified for the sanctuary. DCH concurs, and the sense is undisputed across the lexica; scholarly discussion concerns the textile technology (the number of plies, comparison with attested weaves) rather than the meaning of the word itself.

Sources

  • HALOT, s.v. שׁזרlexicon
  • BDB, s.v. שׁזרlexicon
  • DCH, s.v. שׁזרlexicon
  • William H. C. Propp, Exodus 19-40 (Anchor Yale Bible)commentary

All attested forms of שָׁזַר

hophal passive-participle m s absolute

מָשְׁזָר

Exo 26:1, Exo 26:31, Exo 26:36, Exo 27:9, Exo 27:16, Exo 27:18, Exo 28:6, Exo 28:8