StrongerBible

shalash

שָׁלַשׁ

HebrewH8027“divide into three parts, a third time, ...”

Appears 9 times · tap a cell to see the verses

Gen 15:9 (3×)Deu 19:31Sa 20:191Ki 18:34 (2×)Ecc 4:12Ezk 42:6
Root family
Word studyshah-LASHverb

What shalash means

to make something three: cut it into three parts, do it a third time, or describe it as coming in threes

TranslatabilityApproximateCertaintyStrong

Hebrew can turn a number into a verb. English does this with two: to "halve" something is to cut it in two. Hebrew does it with three, and this word is the result. There is no matching English verb, so translators reach for whatever phrase the sentence needs.

Used actively, it makes something happen in threes. Moses tells Israel to cut the promised land into three districts so that no one fleeing a killing is ever far from a city of refuge (Deuteronomy 19:3), and Elijah orders his helpers to soak the altar a third time before he prays (1 Kings 18:34).

Used as a description, it simply reports that something already comes in threes:

  • a heifer, a goat, and a ram each in their third year (Genesis 15:9)
  • a cord twisted together from three strands (Ecclesiastes 4:12)
  • side rooms in Ezekiel's temple stacked three levels high (Ezekiel 42:6)

The word turns up in only six verses, and one of them has puzzled readers for centuries. In 1 Samuel 20:19 it opens Jonathan's instructions with nothing for it to act on, which is why some read it as "on the third day" while others think a copyist put it where a different verb once stood. Its nearest relative is the verb for doing something over again (שָׁנָה), and 1 Kings 18:34 sets the two side by side: "do it again," then "do it a third time."

Nuances

1ato divide a stretch of land into three parts
Deu 19:3
1bto do something a third time
1Ki 18:34 (2×)
1cto act on the third day
CertaintyContested
1Sa 20:19
1Sa 20:19

Whether this verb is original to 1 Samuel 20:19, and so whether the clause means to act on the third day.

  • majorityThe verb is original and tells David to go down to the hiding place on the third day.; HALOT, s.v. שׁלשׁ; BDB, s.v. שָׁלַשׁ
  • minorityThe Hebrew is corrupt here; the Greek tradition and the wording of v. 18 support restoring a form of פקד, "you will be missed," in its place.; P. Kyle McCarter Jr., I Samuel (Anchor Bible 8; Doubleday, 1980), on 20:18-19
1dthree years old, of an animal in its third year
Gen 15:9 (3×)
1emade of three strands twisted together
TranslatabilityDirect
Ecc 4:12
1fbuilt in three levels, one above another
Ezk 42:6

What scholars say about shalash

The verb is formed from the numeral שָׁלוֹשׁ ("three") and occurs nine times across six verses, entirely in intensive active and intensive passive forms. BDB, HALOT, and DCH agree on the inventory: an active use "divide into three" (Deut 19:3) and "do a third time" (1 Kgs 18:34), plus a passive participle carrying the adjectival senses "three years old" (Gen 15:9), "threefold" (Eccl 4:12), and "three-storied" (Ezek 42:6). The one genuinely contested occurrence is 1 Sam 20:19, where the form stands at the head of the clause with no object; the lexicons gloss it "on the third day," while many text critics, following the Greek tradition and the parallel wording of v. 18, reconstruct a form of פקד in its place. TDOT treats the verb under the numeral rather than as an independent entry, which reflects how closely its senses track the number itself.

Sources

  • BDB, s.v. שָׁלַשׁlexicon
  • HALOT, s.v. שׁלשׁlexicon
  • DCH, s.v. שׁלשׁlexicon
  • TDOT, s.v. שָׁלוֹשׁ (šālôš)theological-dictionary
  • P. Kyle McCarter Jr., I Samuel (Anchor Bible 8; Doubleday, 1980), on 20:18-19commentary
  • Gordon J. Wenham, Genesis 1-15 (Word Biblical Commentary 1; Word, 1987), on Genesis 15:9commentary
  • Choon-Leong Seow, Ecclesiastes (Anchor Bible 18C; Doubleday, 1997), on 4:12commentary
  • Walther Zimmerli, Ezekiel 2 (Hermeneia; Fortress, 1983), on 42:6commentary

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

All attested forms of שָׁלַשׁ

piel consecutive-perfect 2ms

וְשִׁלַּשְׁתָּ

Deu 19:3, 1Sa 20:19

pual passive-participle f s construct

מְשֻׁלֶּשֶׁת

Gen 15:9, Gen 15:9

pual passive-participle m s absolute

מְשֻׁלָּשׁ

Gen 15:9, Ecc 4:12

piel consecutive-imperfect 3mp

וַיְשַׁלֵּשׁוּ

1Ki 18:34

piel imperative 2mp

שַׁלֵּשׁוּ

1Ki 18:34

pual passive-participle f p absolute

מְשֻׁלָּשׁוֹת

Ezk 42:6