StrongerBible

shalom

שָׁלוֹם

HebrewH7965“peace, well-being, ...”

Appears 237 times · tap a cell to see the verses

Gen 15:15Gen 26:29Gen 26:31Gen 28:21Gen 29:6 (2×)Gen 37:4Gen 37:14 (2×)Gen 41:16Gen 43:23Gen 43:27 (2×)Gen 43:28Gen 44:17Exo 4:18Deu 23:6(7)1Sa 16:42Sa 11:7 (3×)1Ki 2:51Ki 2:61Ki 5:12(26)2Ki 9:222Ki 10:13Ezr 9:12Est 2:11Job 15:21Psa 29:11Psa 35:27Psa 41:9(10)Psa 55:20(21)Psa 69:22(23)Psa 73:3Psa 122:6Isa 48:18Isa 53:5Isa 54:10Isa 54:13Jer 13:19Jer 15:5Jer 16:5Jer 20:10Jer 25:37Jer 29:7Jer 33:9Jer 38:22Lam 3:17Ezk 13:16 (2×)Oba 1:7Zec 8:12Zec 8:19Mal 2:5
Names & words formed with this
Word studyResearch-gradesha-LOMEnoun

What shalom means

wholeness: a person, community, or situation that is sound and intact and lacks nothing it needs to flourish

TranslatabilityPartialCertaintyStrong

The word points to a positive fullness of life, not merely the absence of trouble. Its oldest and widest sense is that a thing is whole, sound, and complete:

  • a body that is healthy
  • a household that is secure
  • a harvest that comes in
  • a relationship that is unbroken
  • a nation that is settled

The same word can name any of these because they are all the one underlying idea of soundness showing up in different places.

The more familiar sense, peace as the end of war, is real but narrow. It is one application of wholeness to the life of a nation, sitting alongside many others. Israelites greeted each other and inquired after one another's shalom the way we ask whether someone is doing well, and the answer could be about health, family, livestock, or a journey.

Because it names a state in which everything is as it should be, the word easily takes on a relational and even covenantal weight. To live at peace with someone is to be in unbroken, friendly relation with them, and Scripture extends this to God: a restored, settled relationship with God is the deepest shalom, gathered up as the climax of blessing and held out as the hope of the future.

The senses below are not separate words but one word seen from different angles. The thread running through all of them is a life that is sound, secure, and complete.

Nuances

1athe sound, flourishing, lacking-nothing condition of a life, a people, or the land: health, prosperity, a full span of years
Gen 15:15Lev 26:6Num 6:261Ki 2:62Ki 22:202Ch 34:28Est 9:30Psa 35:27Psa 37:11Psa 37:37Psa 38:3Psa 73:3
1bpeace as the end or absence of war: the settled state between nations or parties who are not fighting, often sealed by a treaty
Deu 2:26Deu 20:10Deu 20:11Jos 9:15Jdg 4:17Jdg 11:13Jdg 21:131Sa 7:142Sa 17:31Ki 2:51Ki 4:241Ki 5:12(26)
1cwelfare, how someone or something is faring: the state of affairs one asks after or reports on
Gen 29:6 (2×)Gen 37:14 (2×)Gen 41:16Gen 43:27 (2×)Gen 43:28Exo 18:7Deu 23:6(7)Jdg 18:151Sa 10:41Sa 16:41Sa 16:51Sa 17:18
1da word of greeting or farewell: a blessing of well-being spoken on meeting or parting, as in "go in peace"
Gen 43:23Gen 44:17Exo 4:18Jdg 6:23Jdg 18:6Jdg 19:201Sa 1:171Sa 20:131Sa 20:421Sa 25:61Sa 25:351Sa 29:7
1efriendly, unbroken relations between people: alliance, friendship, being on good terms
Gen 26:29Gen 26:31Gen 37:41Ch 12:171Ch 12:18Psa 28:3Psa 34:14Psa 35:20Psa 41:9(10)Psa 55:20(21)Psa 69:22(23)Pro 12:20
1fsafety and security: being unharmed and out of danger, able to rest without fear
Gen 28:21Deu 29:19Jos 10:21Jdg 8:9Jdg 11:311Sa 20:71Sa 20:212Sa 3:212Sa 3:222Sa 3:232Sa 19:242Sa 19:30
1ga settled, whole relationship with God: covenant-peace and the restored flourishing it brings, including the hoped-for peace of the age to come
Num 25:12Jdg 6:241Ki 2:33Psa 72:3Psa 72:7Psa 85:8Psa 85:10Psa 119:165Isa 9:6Isa 9:7Isa 26:3Isa 26:12

What scholars say about shalom

The major lexica and theological dictionaries (BDB; HALOT; DCH vol. 8; TWOT; NIDOTTE [Philip Nel]; TDOT [F.J. Stendebach]; TLOT [Gillis Gerleman]) agree that shalom names a positive state of wholeness or well-being of which "peace as absence of war" is only one application; material and relational well-being is primary, cessation of war secondary. Walter Eisenbeis (Die Wurzel slm im Alten Testament, BZAW 113, 1969) systematically derives every use from a single kernel of wholeness and intactness, building on Johannes Pedersen's holistic anthropology (Israel: Its Life and Culture, 1926). The comparative Semitic evidence (Akkadian sulmu and the verb salamu; Ugaritic, Phoenician, and Aramaic cognates) shows the root is ancient, widespread, and stable around wholeness, soundness, and well-being. The classic claim that shalom means more than peace rests on 2 Samuel 11:7, where one asks after the shalom of a war (Stendebach, TDOT). The word is also theologically central in the prophets: Jeremiah's polemic against false prophets who cry "peace, peace, where there is no peace" (Jeremiah 6:14; 8:11), and Isaiah's eschatological vocabulary (Isaiah 9:6; 32:17; 52:7; 53:5; 54:10), studied in detail by H.G.M. Williamson (Isaiah 6-12, ICC) and John Goldingay. The shalom-and-righteousness pairing (Isaiah 32:17; Psalm 85:10) anchors Hans Heinrich Schmid's reading of shalom as right cosmic and social order (Salom, SBS 51, 1971).

Where scholars disagree about shalom

Scholars agree shalom is wider than "peace" but disagree on what its core sense is. The dominant lexical tradition (BDB, Eisenbeis, TWOT, NIDOTTE) makes wholeness and completeness the kernel from which the other uses derive. Gillis Gerleman dissents on a statistical ground: the related verb meaning "to repay, pay in full" is by far the most attested verbal form of the root, so he locates the core in "being settled, paid up, in order" rather than in an abstract wholeness. Hans Heinrich Schmid offers a third reading, shalom as right cosmic and social order, closely tied to righteousness. David Clines's DCH declines to commit to any single underlying meaning at all. The trend has been toward a network of senses without forcing one to be primary.

  • majorityWholeness or completeness is the core, from which the other uses derive; Walter Eisenbeis, Die Wurzel slm im Alten Testament (BZAW 113; de Gruyter, 1969); Philip J. Nel, "shalom," in NIDOTTE (Zondervan, 1997)
  • minorityThe core is "being settled, paid up, in order," since the verb meaning "to repay in full" is the dominant verbal usage of the root; Gillis Gerleman, "slm," in TLOT (Hendrickson, 1997); ZAW 85 (1973)
  • minorityShalom is fundamentally right cosmic and social order, paired with righteousness; Hans Heinrich Schmid, Salom (SBS 51; KBW, 1971)
  • minorityNo single underlying meaning should be assigned; the senses form a network; David J.A. Clines, ed., The Dictionary of Classical Hebrew, vol. 8
In-depth research

This is a research paper, so it may be hard to read without scholarly background. It is useful if you want to dig even deeper into this word.

Sources

  • F.J. Stendebach, "shalom," in Theological Dictionary of the Old Testament, vol. XV (Eerdmans, 2006), 13-49dictionary
  • Gillis Gerleman, "slm," in Theological Lexicon of the Old Testament (Hendrickson, 1997); and ZAW 85 (1973)dictionary
  • Philip J. Nel, "shalom," in New International Dictionary of Old Testament Theology and Exegesis (Zondervan, 1997)dictionary
  • Walter Eisenbeis, Die Wurzel slm im Alten Testament (BZAW 113; de Gruyter, 1969)monograph
  • Hans Heinrich Schmid, Salom: "Frieden" im Alten Orient und im Alten Testament (SBS 51; KBW, 1971)monograph
  • Johannes Pedersen, Israel: Its Life and Culture I-II (Oxford University Press, 1926)monograph
  • HALOT (Koehler-Baumgartner), The Hebrew and Aramaic Lexicon of the Old Testament, s.v. shalomlexicon
  • DCH (David J.A. Clines, ed.), The Dictionary of Classical Hebrew, vol. 8, s.v. shalomlexicon
  • BDB (Brown-Driver-Briggs), A Hebrew and English Lexicon of the Old Testament, s.v. shalomlexicon
  • H.G.M. Williamson, Isaiah 6-12 (ICC; T&T Clark, 2018), 396-406commentary
  • Werner Foerster and Gerhard von Rad, "eirene," in Theological Dictionary of the New Testament, vol. II (Eerdmans, 1964)dictionary

AI-generated word study · claude-opus-4-8

All attested forms of שָׁלוֹם

m s absolute

שָׁלוֹם, שָּׁלוֹם, שָׁלֹם

Gen 15:15, Gen 26:29, Gen 26:31, Gen 28:21, Gen 29:6, Gen 29:6, Gen 43:23, Gen 43:27

m s construct

שְׁלוֹם

Gen 37:14, Gen 37:14, Gen 41:16, 2Sa 11:7, 2Sa 11:7, 2Sa 11:7, 2Ki 10:13, Est 2:11

m s construct

שְׁלוֹמִי

Psa 41:9, Isa 54:10, Jer 16:5, Jer 20:10

m s construct

שְׁלֹמֶךָ, שְׁלוֹמֶךָ

Jer 38:22, Oba 1:7, Isa 48:18

m p absolute

שְׁלוֹמִים

Psa 69:22, Jer 13:19

m s construct

שְׁלֹמָם

Deu 23:6, Ezr 9:12

m p construct

שְׁלֹמָיו

Psa 55:20

m s construct

שְׁלוֹמֵנוּ

Isa 53:5

m s construct

שְׁלוֹמָהּ

Jer 29:7