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se'ar

שֵׂעָר

HebrewH8181hair, hairy

Appears 28 times · tap a cell to see the verses

Gen 25:25Lev 13:3Lev 13:4Lev 13:10Lev 13:20Lev 13:21Lev 13:25Lev 13:26Lev 13:30Lev 13:31Lev 13:32Lev 13:36Lev 13:37Lev 14:8Lev 14:9 (2×)Num 6:5Num 6:18Jdg 16:222Sa 14:262Ki 1:8Ezr 9:3Psa 68:21(22)Sng 4:1Sng 6:5Isa 7:20Ezk 16:7
Word studyseh-ARnoun

What se'ar means

hair: the strands that grow on the head, face, or body of a person or animal, taken together as a whole head or coat of hair, and by extension the coarse hair woven into a rough garment

TranslatabilityDirectCertaintySettled

This is the ordinary word for hair. It is a collective noun, so a single form names the whole growth at once, the way English can say a person has thick "hair" without counting the strands. One word covers the hair of the head, the beard, and the rest of the body, and it works the same way for the shaggy coat of an animal.

Most of its appearances are plainly physical. Priests inspect the hair inside a patch of diseased skin to see whether it has turned white or yellow, a Nazirite lets his hair grow untouched and then shaves it, Samson's strength returns as his hair grows back, and a poet compares a woman's flowing hair to a flock of goats streaming down a hillside. In a few places the same word names hair as raw material: a rough cloak woven from animal hair, the recognizable dress of a prophet.

Because the word is so plain, the only places a reader can trip are a couple of set expressions built on it. Scripture can speak of "the hair of the feet" as a modest way of naming hair on the lower body, and a "garment of hair" is a coarse woven cloak, not the wearer's own long locks.

Nuances

1athe hair that grows on a person or animal, whether the head, the beard, or the body
Lev 13:3Lev 13:4Lev 13:10Lev 13:20Lev 13:21Lev 13:25Lev 13:26Lev 13:30Lev 13:31Lev 13:32Lev 13:36Lev 13:37
1bhair as coarse material, a rough garment woven from animal hair
Gen 25:25Zec 13:4

What scholars say about se'ar

The standard lexica treat this as a single collective noun for hair, listing its use for the hair of the human head and body, for animal hair, and for the coarse hair woven into a mantle (BDB; HALOT). It is tied to the root sense of being hairy and to related words such as the adjective for hairy (also denoting the he-goat) and the region name Seir. The feminine byform (H8185) functions as the corresponding unit noun for a single hair. No live disagreement attaches to the basic sense; the interpretive questions are local, chiefly whether the description of Elijah in 2 Kings 1:8 denotes bodily hairiness or a hair garment.

Sources

  • BDB, s.v. שֵׂעָרlexicon
  • HALOT, s.v. שֵׂעָרlexicon
  • TWOT, s.v. שֵׂעָר (Harris, Archer, Waltke)lexicon

All attested forms of שֵׂעָר

m s absolute

שֵׂעָר, שֵּׂעָר

Gen 25:25, Lev 13:3, Lev 13:10, Lev 13:21, Lev 13:25, Lev 13:26, Lev 13:30, Lev 13:31

m s construct

שְׂעַר, שְּׂעַר, שַׂעַר

Num 6:5, Num 6:18, Jdg 16:22, 2Sa 14:26, Ezr 9:3, Isa 7:20

m s construct

שַׂעְרֵךְ, שְׂעָרֵךְ

Sng 4:1, Sng 6:5, Ezk 16:7

m s construct

שְׂעָרוֹ

Lev 14:8, Lev 14:9, Lev 14:9

m s construct

שְׂעָרָה, שְׂעָרָהּ

Lev 13:4, Lev 13:20