Hebrew word · H5568

סָמַר

samar

to bristle up

To bristle, stand up stiffly. It is used of hair standing on end and of things that bristle like spikes. The related noun מַסְמֵר (masmer) means 'nail', which shows the core idea of something sharp sticking up or out.

Appears 2 times in 2 verses of the Hebrew Old Testament. · Updated October 23, 2026

What it means

1) to bristle up, shiver, stand up

1a) (Qal) to bristle up, shiver

1b) (Piel) to bristle up, stand up

Abridged from Brown, Driver and Briggs, A Hebrew and English Lexicon of the Old Testament (1906), via STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0).

In depth

From the study of Psalm 119:120

Range of meaning: To bristle, stand up stiffly. It is used of hair standing on end and of things that bristle like spikes. The related noun מַסְמֵר (masmer) means 'nail', which shows the core idea of something sharp sticking up or out.
Against the English: English versions almost all say 'trembles'. Trembling is shaking; samar is bristling, the hair rising and the skin crawling. Both are bodily signs of fear, but the Hebrew picture is more exact and more eerie.
How it drifted: 'Tremble' is the stock English word for a fearful body, used since the early English Bibles. It reflects the general sense rather than the specific image.
Used elsewhere in the period: Job 4:15, in Eliphaz's night vision: 'a spirit glided past my face; the hair of my flesh stood up' (Piel of samar), almost the same phrase with 'flesh'. Jeremiah 51:27 uses the related adjective for 'bristling locusts'. This verse is the only use of the simple (Qal) form.

Where it appears

Job · 1

Job 4:15 תְּ֝סַמֵּ֗ר it made bristle

Then a spirit glided past my face, and the hair on my body bristled.

Psalms · 1

Psalm 119:120 סָמַ֣ר it trembles

My flesh trembles in awe of You; I stand in fear of Your judgments.

Here: The picture is hair standing up, skin going to goosebumps, a body reacting before the mind does. The past-tense form describes a settled present state: 'my flesh bristles.' It is the first word of the line because every line in this stanza must begin with the letter samekh (ס).

Word data: STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0), main text only.