Hebrew word · H6247
עֶ֫שֶׁת
'eshet
plate
Found only here. Probably a smooth, wrought or polished piece: a bar, slab or plate. Related forms: ʿāšôt, "wrought (iron)" in Ezek 27:19, and the verb ʿāšat, "be sleek, shiny" in Jer 5:28.
Appears once in the Hebrew Old Testament. ·
What it means
plate, slab, something fabricated
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 Song of Songs 5:14
- Range of meaning
Found only here. Probably a smooth, wrought or polished piece: a bar, slab or plate. Related forms: ʿāšôt, "wrought (iron)" in Ezek 27:19, and the verb ʿāšat, "be sleek, shiny" in Jer 5:28.
- Against the English
"Bright ivory" (KJV), "polished ivory" (BSB), "ivory work" (WEB), "panels of ivory" (NASB). All are reasonable. Each picks up one side of an uncertain word: its shine, its craftsmanship or its shape.
- Used elsewhere in the period
The LXX has pyxion elephantinon, an "ivory tablet or panel". The Vulgate has eburneus, "of ivory".
Where it appears
Song of Songs · 1
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Song of Songs 5:14 עֶ֣שֶׁת [are] a plate of
His arms are rods of gold set with beryl. His body is polished ivory bedecked with sapphires.
Here: Found only here in the Bible: a smooth, polished block or panel of worked material. Related words suggest something wrought or sleek (compare "wrought iron", Ezek 27:19).
Word data: STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0), main text only.