StrongerBible

shakhav

שָׁכַב

HebrewH7901lie down, lie with, ...

Appears 212 times · tap a cell to see the verses

Gen 19:4Gen 19:32Gen 19:33 (2×)Gen 19:34 (2×)Gen 19:35 (2×)Gen 26:10Gen 28:11Gen 28:13Gen 30:15Gen 30:16Gen 34:2Gen 34:7Gen 35:22Gen 39:7Gen 39:10Gen 39:12Gen 39:14Exo 22:16(15)Exo 22:19(18)Exo 22:27(26)Lev 14:47Lev 15:4Lev 15:18Lev 15:20Lev 15:24 (2×)Lev 15:26Lev 15:33Lev 18:22Lev 19:20Lev 20:11Lev 20:12Lev 20:13Lev 20:18Lev 20:20Num 5:13Num 5:19Num 24:9Deu 6:7Deu 11:19Deu 22:22 (2×)Deu 22:23Deu 22:25 (2×)Deu 22:28Deu 22:29Deu 24:12Deu 24:13Deu 27:20Deu 27:21Deu 27:22Deu 27:23
Root family
Word studysha-KHAVverb

What shakhav means

to lie down: to put one's body flat, whether to rest, to sleep, to have sex, or in death

TranslatabilityPartialCertaintySettled

One simple action sits under every use of this word: a body going from upright to flat. From that single picture the Bible draws a whole range of situations. A person lies down to rest on the ground or a bed, lies down for the night and sleeps, lies down with another person for sex, and lies down for the last time in death.

The shades are not separate words but the same act read by its setting. Lying down at evening shades into sleep. Lying down beside someone becomes the ordinary plain way the Bible speaks of sexual relations, often without naming the act outright. And the long sleep of death is pictured as lying down too, so kings "lie down with their fathers" when they die.

Because the core stays constant, the right English word depends entirely on context, and a reader has to follow the situation rather than fix on one translation.

Nuances

1ato lie down to rest, or simply to be lying in a place
Gen 28:11Rut 3:4Rut 3:7 (2×)Rut 3:81Sa 3:21Sa 3:31Sa 3:5 (2×)1Sa 26:5 (2×)1Sa 26:7 (2×)1Ki 19:51Ki 19:61Ki 21:4
1bto lie down and sleep through the night, free from fear
Lev 26:6Job 11:18Psa 3:5(6)Psa 4:8(9)Pro 3:24 (2×)Hos 2:18(20)
1cto lie with someone sexually; in the laws, to force someone into sex
Gen 19:32Gen 19:33 (2×)Gen 19:34 (2×)Gen 19:35 (2×)Gen 26:10Gen 30:15Gen 30:16Gen 34:2Gen 34:7Gen 35:22Gen 39:7Gen 39:10
1dto lie down in death; of a king, to die and be buried with his ancestors
Gen 47:302Sa 7:121Ki 1:211Ki 2:101Ki 11:211Ki 11:431Ki 14:201Ki 14:311Ki 15:81Ki 15:241Ki 16:61Ki 16:28

What scholars say about shakhav

The standard lexica treat שׁכב as a single verb meaning to lie down, with a fan of context-driven senses: to rest or lie, to sleep, to lie with sexually, and to lie down in death. BDB and HALOT group the sexual use as a recognized idiom (often with prepositions naming the partner) and note the frequent royal formula for dying, lying down with one's fathers. The sexual sense covers both willing relations and, in the legal material, coercion.

Sources

  • BDB, s.v. שׁכבlexicon
  • HALOT, s.v. שכבlexicon
  • DCH, s.v. שכבlexicon
  • G. H. Wilson, "שכב," in NIDOTTE, ed. Willem A. VanGemerendictionary

All attested forms of שָׁכַב

qal consecutive-imperfect 3ms

וַיִּשְׁכַּב, וַיִּשְׁכָּב

Gen 28:11, Gen 30:16, Gen 34:2, Gen 35:22, Jdg 16:3, 1Sa 3:9, 1Sa 3:15, 2Sa 11:4

qal participle m s absolute

שֹׁכֵב, שֹּׁכֵב, שׁוֹכֵב

Gen 28:13, Exo 22:19, Deu 22:22, Deu 27:20, Deu 27:21, Deu 27:22, Deu 27:23, Deu 31:16

qal imperfect 3ms

יִשְׁכַּב, יִשְׁכָּב, יִשְׁכָּבֶ

Gen 30:15, Lev 15:4, Lev 15:18, Lev 15:24, Lev 15:24, Lev 15:33, Lev 19:20, Lev 20:11

qal infinitive-construct construct

שְׁכַּב, שְׁכַב, שָׁכְבְּ, שְׁכָּב, שִׁכְבָ, שָׁכְב

Gen 34:7, Gen 39:10, Gen 39:14, Rut 3:7, 2Sa 11:11, 2Sa 11:13, 1Ki 1:21, 2Ki 14:22

qal perfect 3ms

שָׁכַב, שָׁכָב

Gen 26:10, Num 5:19, Num 24:9, Deu 22:25, 1Sa 26:5, 1Ki 11:21, Job 14:12, Psa 41:8

qal imperfect 3mp

יִשְׁכָּבוּ, יִשְׁכְּבוּ

Gen 19:4, Jos 2:8, Job 21:26, Job 30:17, Ezk 32:29, 1Sa 2:22, Ecc 4:11, Isa 43:17

qal consecutive-perfect 3ms

וְשָׁכַב

Exo 22:16, Num 5:13, Deu 22:23, Deu 22:25, Deu 22:28, Deu 24:13, 2Sa 12:11, 2Sa 12:16

qal imperative 2ms

שְׁכָב, שְׁכַב, שִׁכְבָ

1Sa 3:5, 1Sa 3:6, 1Sa 3:9, 2Sa 13:5, Ezk 4:4, Gen 39:7, Gen 39:12

qal imperfect 2ms

תִּשְׁכַּב, תִּשְׁכָּב

Lev 18:22, Deu 24:12, Pro 3:24, Ezk 4:4, Ezk 31:18, Job 11:18, Pro 6:9

qal perfect 3cp

שָׁכְבוּ

Isa 14:18, Isa 51:20, Lam 2:21, Ezk 23:8, Ezk 32:21

qal consecutive-imperfect 3fs

וַתִּשְׁכַּב, וַתִּשְׁכָּב

Gen 19:33, Gen 19:35, Rut 3:14, Rut 3:7

qal imperfect 3fs

תִּשְׁכַּב, תִּשְׁכָּב

Lev 15:20, Lev 15:26, 2Sa 12:3, Job 20:11

qal perfect 1cs

שָׁכַבְתִּי

Gen 19:34, Job 3:13, Job 7:4, Psa 3:5

qal consecutive-perfect 2ms

וְשָׁכַבְתָּ

2Sa 7:12, Pro 3:24, Ezk 4:6

qal imperative 2fs

שִׁכְבִי

Gen 19:34, Rut 3:13, 2Sa 13:11

qal participle m p absolute

שֹׁכְבִים, שֹּׁכְבִים

1Sa 26:7, Isa 56:10, Amo 6:4

hiphil consecutive-imperfect 3fs

וַתַּשְׁכִּבֵ, וַתַּשְׁכִּיבֵ

2Ki 4:21, 1Ki 3:20

niphal imperfect 3fp

תִּשָּׁכַבְנָה

Isa 13:16, Zec 14:2

qal cohortative 1cp

נִשְׁכְּבָה

Gen 19:32, Jer 3:25

qal cohortative 1cs

אֶשְׁכְּבָה

Psa 4:8, Psa 57:4

qal consecutive-imperfect 3mp

וַיִּשְׁכְּבוּ

Jos 2:1, Ezk 32:30

qal imperfect 2mp

תִּשְׁכְּבוּ, תִּשְׁכָּבוּ

Psa 68:13, Isa 50:11

hiphil consecutive-imperfect 3mp

וַיַּשְׁכִּיבֻ

2Ch 16:14

hiphil consecutive-imperfect 3ms

וַיַּשְׁכִּבֵ

1Ki 17:19

hiphil consecutive-perfect 1cs

וְהִשְׁכַּבְתִּי

Hos 2:18

hiphil imperfect 3ms

יַשְׁכִּיב

Job 38:37

hiphil infinitive-absolute absolute

הַשְׁכֵּב

2Sa 8:2

hiphil perfect 3fs

הִשְׁכִּיבָה

1Ki 3:20

hophal consecutive-perfect 3ms

וְהֻשְׁכַּב

Ezk 32:32

hophal imperative 2ms

הָשְׁכְּבָ

Ezk 32:19

hophal passive-participle m s absolute

מֻשְׁכָּב

2Ki 4:32

pual perfect 2fs

שֻׁכַּבְתְּ

Jer 3:2

qal conjunctive-imperfect 2ms

וְתִשְׁכַּב

Ezk 32:28

qal consecutive-perfect 1cs

וְשָׁכַבְתִּי

Gen 47:30

qal consecutive-perfect 2fs

וְשָׁכָבְתְּ

Rut 3:4

qal consecutive-perfect 2mp

וּשְׁכַבְתֶּם

Lev 26:6

qal consecutive-perfect 3fs

וְשָׁכְבָה

1Ki 1:2

qal imperfect 1cs

אֶשְׁכָּב

Job 7:21

qal infinitive-absolute absolute

שָׁכֹב

Lev 15:24

qal participle f s absolute

שֹׁכֶבֶת

Rut 3:8

4 further parsings are listed under Syntax.