Hebrew word · H7605

שְׁאָר

she'ar

remnant

šǝʾār means the rest, the part left over, especially the survivors of a catastrophe (Isaiah 10:19–21; 11:11, 16; 16:14). šûb means to turn, turn back, return. It covers coming back to a place (Ruth 1:6), restoration, and turning back to God in repentance (Isaiah 6:10; 31:6; 44:22).

Appears 26 times in 25 verses of the Hebrew Old Testament. ·

What it means

rest, residue, remnant, remainder

Aramaic equivalent: she.ar (שְׁאָר "remainder" H7606)

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 Isaiah 10:22

Range of meaning

šǝʾār means the rest, the part left over, especially the survivors of a catastrophe (Isaiah 10:19–21; 11:11, 16; 16:14). šûb means to turn, turn back, return. It covers coming back to a place (Ruth 1:6), restoration, and turning back to God in repentance (Isaiah 6:10; 31:6; 44:22).

Against the English

'A remnant will return' is accurate, but English 'return' mostly means coming back to a place. The Hebrew verb is also the ordinary word for repenting, and verse 21 makes that sense clear: they return 'to the Mighty God.'

How it drifted

English has no single verb that means both 'come back' and 'repent', so translators have to pick one. Later readers who knew of the Babylonian exile often heard only 'return from exile.'

Used elsewhere in the period

Isaiah names his son Šǝʾār Yāšûb in 7:3, during the Syro-Ephraimite crisis of about 734 BC. The name works as a walking prophecy (8:18: 'I and the children the LORD has given me are signs'). Verses 20–22 are in effect a commentary on the name. Other prophets develop the remnant idea too (Amos 5:15; Micah 2:12; Zephaniah 3:12–13). Some Dead Sea communities thought of themselves as the faithful remnant (e.g. the Damascus Document 1:4–5). Paul, following the Greek, reads it as 'the remnant will be saved' (Romans 9:27).

From the study of Isaiah 10:20

Range of meaning

She'ar means "what is left over, the rest" after something has been used up or destroyed. Peleitah means "escape", and by extension "the escaped ones": survivors who got out of a disaster alive (Gen 45:7; 2 Kgs 19:30–31 = Isa 37:31–32; Isa 4:2).

Against the English

"Remnant" and "survivors" are fair renderings. In modern church use, though, "the remnant" often suggests a faithful minority that was loyal all along. Isaiah's word first describes the results of a disaster: what is left after the axe has done its work.

How it drifted

Later Jewish and Christian groups, from Qumran onward, called themselves the true "remnant". That use leans toward "the faithful few". In Isaiah, the remnant's faithfulness is the result of the judgment, not the reason they survived it.

Used elsewhere in the period

Isaiah named his son Shear-yashub, "a remnant will return" (7:3), and v. 21 plays on that name directly. Verse 19 uses she'ar for Assyria's "remaining trees". Verse 22 sharpens the threat: even if Israel is as many as the sand of the sea, only a remnant will return (Paul quotes this in Rom 9:27). 2 Kings 19:30–31 pairs she'erit and peleitah for the survivors of Sennacherib's invasion in 701 BC. Elsewhere in the ancient Near East, Assyrian royal inscriptions boast of leaving no survivors of a defeated people.

From the study of Isaiah 11:16

Range of meaning

The noun means 'rest, remainder, what is left'. The verb means 'to remain, be left over'. Applied to people it means the survivors of war, plague or deportation. The word carries two notes at once. Something terrible happened, because only a remnant is left. And there is a future, because a remnant survived.

Against the English

'Remnant' is the standard rendering and is accurate. Modern ears may hear 'leftover scraps', or, in church usage, 'the faithful elite few'. Isaiah's word is first of all about survivors of a catastrophe. Faithfulness can be part of the picture (10:20), but the word itself names who survived.

How it drifted

In some later religious usage 'the remnant' became a badge of a righteous minority. That moral sense is a development of the idea, not its starting point.

Used elsewhere in the period

Isaiah's son is named Shear-jashub, 'A remnant will return' (7:3). Isa 10:20–22: 'the remnant of Israel ... will lean on the LORD ... a remnant will return'. Isa 11:11 has the same phrase as here: 'the remnant of his people that remains from Assyria'. Assyrian annals use similar 'what was left' language for conquered peoples. Isaiah turns the idea into a promise of hope.

Where it appears

1 Chronicles · 2

  1. 1 Chronicles 11:8 שְׁאָ֥ר [the] remainder of

    He built up the city around it, from the supporting terraces to the surrounding wall, while Joab restored the rest of the city.

  2. 1 Chronicles 16:41 וּשְׁאָר֙ and [the] rest of

    With them were Heman, Jeduthun, and the rest of those chosen and designated by name to give thanks to the LORD, for “His loving devotion endures forever.”

    Here: "The remainder of": the rest of the musicians beyond the two named leaders. It makes the leaders the heads of a larger body of singers.

2 Chronicles · 2

  1. 2 Chronicles 9:29 וּשְׁאָר֙ and [the] rest of

    As for the rest of the acts of Solomon, from beginning to end, are they not written in the Records of Nathan the Prophet, in the Prophecy of Ahijah the Shilonite, and in the Visions of Iddo the Seer concerning Jeroboam son of Nebat?

  2. 2 Chronicles 24:14 שְׁאָ֣ר [the] remainder of

    When they were finished, they brought the rest of the money to the king and Jehoiada, and with it were made articles for the house of the LORD—utensils for the service and for the burnt offerings, dishes, and other objects of gold and silver. Throughout the days of Jehoiada, burnt offerings were presented regularly in the house of the LORD.

Ezra · 3

  1. Ezra 3:8 וּשְׁאָ֥ר and [the] rest of

    In the second month of the second year after they had arrived at the house of God in Jerusalem, Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, Jeshua son of Jozadak, and the rest of their associates including the priests, the Levites, and all who had returned to Jerusalem from the captivity, began the work. They appointed Levites twenty years of age or older to supervise the construction of the house of the LORD.

  2. Ezra 4:3 וּשְׁאָ֨ר and [the] rest of

    But Zerubbabel, Jeshua, and the other heads of the families of Israel replied, “You have no part with us in building a house for our God, since we alone must build it for the LORD, the God of Israel, as Cyrus king of Persia has commanded us.”

  3. Ezra 4:7 וּשְׁאָ֣ר and [the] rest of

    And in the days of Artaxerxes king of Persia, Bishlam, Mithredath, Tabeel, and the rest of his associates wrote a letter to Artaxerxes. It was written in Aramaic and then translated.

Nehemiah · 3

  1. Nehemiah 10:28 וּשְׁאָ֣ר and [the] rest of

    “The rest of the people—the priests, Levites, gatekeepers, singers, temple servants, and all who had separated themselves from the people of the land to obey the Law of God—along with their wives and all their sons and daughters who are able to understand,

  2. Nehemiah 11:1 וּשְׁאָ֣ר and [the] rest of

    Now the leaders of the people settled in Jerusalem, and the rest of the people cast lots to bring one out of ten to live in the holy city of Jerusalem, while the remaining nine were to dwell in their own towns.

    Here: "And the rest of": simply everyone who was not one of the leaders. Here it is an ordinary word for "the others". It is not the theological "remnant" of the prophets.

  3. Nehemiah 11:20 וּשְׁאָ֨ר and [the] rest of

    The rest of the Israelites, with the priests and Levites, were in all the villages of Judah, each on his own inheritance.

Esther · 2

  1. Esther 9:12 בִּשְׁאָ֛ר in [the] rest of

    who said to Queen Esther, “In the citadel of Susa the Jews have killed and destroyed five hundred men, including Haman’s ten sons. What have they done in the rest of the royal provinces? Now what is your petition? It will be given to you. And what further do you request? It will be fulfilled.”

  2. Esther 9:16 וּשְׁאָ֣ר and [the] remainder of

    The rest of the Jews in the royal provinces also assembled to defend themselves and rid themselves of their enemies. They killed 75,000 who hated them, but they did not lay a hand on the plunder.

Isaiah · 12

  1. Isaiah 10:19 וּשְׁאָ֥ר and [the] remnant of

    The remaining trees of its forests will be so few that a child could count them.

  2. Isaiah 10:20 שְׁאָ֤ר [the] remnant of

    On that day the remnant of Israel and the survivors of the house of Jacob will no longer depend on him who struck them, but they will truly rely on the LORD, the Holy One of Israel.

    Here: What is left after a disaster. The same word was used in v. 19 for the few "remaining trees" of Assyria's forest. Both nations are cut down to leftovers, but only Israel's leftovers have a future with God.

  3. Isaiah 10:21 שְׁאָ֥ר שְׁאָ֣ר a remnant, [the] remnant of

    A remnant will return—a remnant of Jacob—to the Mighty God.

  4. Isaiah 10:22 שְׁאָ֖ר a remnant

    Though your people, O Israel, be like the sand of the sea, only a remnant will return. Destruction has been decreed, overflowing with righteousness.

    Here: 'A remnant': what is left after a disaster. It has no article and stands first in its clause for emphasis. It is the first half of the name of Isaiah's son Shear-jashub (7:3).

  5. Isaiah 11:11 שְׁאָ֣ר [the] remnant of

    On that day the Lord will extend His hand a second time to recover the remnant of His people from Assyria, from Egypt, from Pathros, from Cush, from Elam, from Shinar, from Hamath, and from the islands of the sea.

    Here: The survivors left after judgment. It is a key word in Isaiah, built into the name of his son Shear-jashub, 'a remnant will return' (7:3; 10:20–22).

  6. Isaiah 11:16 לִשְׁאָ֣ר to [the] remnant of

    There will be a highway for the remnant of His people who remain from Assyria, as there was for Israel when they came up from the land of Egypt.

    Here: 'For the rest/survivors of'. This is Isaiah's key word for the people left after a disaster. The road is for them.

  7. Isaiah 14:22 וּשְׁאָ֛ר and remnant

    “I will rise up against them,” declares the LORD of Hosts. “I will cut off from Babylon her name and her remnant, her offspring and her posterity,” declares the LORD.

    Here: Whoever is left after a disaster, the survivors from whom a people could rebuild. It chimes in sound with shem, forming a pair: 'name and remainder'.

  8. Isaiah 16:14 וּשְׁאָ֥ר and a remnant

    And now the LORD says, “In three years, as a hired worker counts the years, Moab’s splendor will become an object of contempt, with all her many people. And those who are left will be few and feeble.”

  9. Isaiah 17:3 וּשְׁאָ֣ר and [the] remnant of

    The fortress will disappear from Ephraim, and the sovereignty from Damascus. The remnant of Aram will be like the splendor of the Israelites,” declares the LORD of Hosts.

    Here: "And the remainder of." It means what survives the disaster. Here these are the leftovers of a beaten nation, not a faithful group that God preserves.

  10. Isaiah 21:17 וּשְׁאָ֧ר and [the] remnant of

    The remaining archers, the warriors of Kedar, will be few.” For the LORD, the God of Israel, has spoken.

  11. Isaiah 28:5 לִשְׁאָ֖ר for [the] remnant of

    On that day the LORD of Hosts will be a crown of glory, a diadem of splendor to the remnant of His people,

    Here: "For the remnant of": the survivors who are left after the catastrophe. This is a key Isaiah idea. One of his sons was named Shear-jashub, "a remnant will return".

Zephaniah · 1

  1. Zephaniah 1:4 שְׁאָ֣ר [the] remnant of

    “I will stretch out My hand against Judah and against all who dwell in Jerusalem. I will cut off from this place every remnant of Baal, the names of the idolatrous and pagan priests—

Malachi · 1

  1. Malachi 2:15 וּשְׁאָ֥ר and a remnant of

    Has not the LORD made them one, having a portion of the Spirit? And why one? Because He seeks godly offspring. So guard yourselves in your spirit and do not break faith with the wife of your youth.

    Here: 'Rest, remainder, what is left over' (used of the remnant of a people or of the trees of a forest). With the same consonants and different vowels it would be she'er, 'flesh, blood-relative', which is why some versions read 'flesh and spirit'.

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