Aramaic word · H7606

שְׁאָר

she'ar

remainder

The rest, the remainder, whatever is left of a group or amount.

A Biblical Aramaic word, from the parts of the Old Testament written in Aramaic. Why Aramaic?

Appears 12 times in 10 verses of the Aramaic of the Old Testament. ·

What it means

rest, remainder

Aramaic of she.ar (שְׁאָר "remnant" H7605)

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 Ezra 6:16

Range of meaning

The rest, the remainder, whatever is left of a group or amount.

Against the English

All the major versions rightly say 'the rest'. Nothing in the Aramaic requires the more theological word 'remnant' here.

Used elsewhere in the period

In Aramaic it is an everyday word for other people or things (Ezra 4:9–10, 17; 7:18; Daniel 2:18; 7:7, 12, 19). The related Hebrew word carries the prophetic idea of a surviving remnant in Isaiah 7:3 and 10:20–22, and Ezra 9 uses remnant language in Hebrew with other related terms.

Where it appears

Ezra · 8

  1. Ezra 4:9 וּשְׁאָ֖ר and [the] rest of

    From Rehum the commander, Shimshai the scribe, and the rest of their associates—the judges and officials over Tripolis, Persia, Erech and Babylon, the Elamites of Susa,

    Here: 'And the rest of': it brings in the whole body of co-signers behind the two named men.

  2. Ezra 4:10 וּשְׁאָ֣ר וּשְׁאָ֥ר and [the] rest of

    and the rest of the peoples whom the great and honorable Ashurbanipal deported and settled in the cities of Samaria and elsewhere west of the Euphrates.

  3. Ezra 4:17 וּשְׁאָר֙ וּשְׁאָ֧ר and [the] rest of

    Then the king sent this reply: To Rehum the commander, Shimshai the scribe, and the rest of your associates living in Samaria and elsewhere in the region west of the Euphrates: Greetings.

  4. Ezra 6:16 וּשְׁאָ֣ר and [the] rest of

    Then the people of Israel—the priests, the Levites, and the rest of the exiles—celebrated the dedication of the house of God with joy.

    Here: An ordinary word for 'the rest' or 'the remainder'. Here it covers everyone who was not a priest or Levite, so the list takes in the whole community.

  5. Ezra 7:18 בִּשְׁאָ֛ר with [the] rest of

    You and your brothers may do whatever seems best with the rest of the silver and gold, according to the will of your God.

  6. Ezra 7:20 וּשְׁאָ֗ר and [the] rest of

    And if anything else is needed for the house of your God that you may have occasion to supply, you may pay for it from the royal treasury.

Daniel · 4

  1. Daniel 2:18 שְׁאָ֖ר [the] rest of

    urging them to plead for mercy from the God of heaven concerning this mystery, so that Daniel and his friends would not be killed with the rest of the wise men of Babylon.

    Here: 'The rest of'. This quietly counts Daniel and his friends among Babylon's wise men, as the king's decree did (2:13).

  2. Daniel 7:7 וּשְׁאָרָ֖א and rest the

    After this, as I watched in my vision in the night, suddenly a fourth beast appeared, and it was terrifying—dreadful and extremely strong—with large iron teeth. It devoured and crushed; then it trampled underfoot whatever was left. It was different from all the beasts before it, and it had ten horns.

    Here: 'And the rest': whatever the beast did not eat or crush. Nothing escapes it.

  3. Daniel 7:12 וּשְׁאָר֙ and [the] rest of

    As for the rest of the beasts, their dominion was removed, but they were granted an extension of life for a season and a time.

  4. Daniel 7:19 וּשְׁאָרָ֖א and rest the

    Then I wanted to know the true meaning of the fourth beast, which was different from all the others—extremely terrifying—devouring and crushing with iron teeth and bronze claws, then trampling underfoot whatever was left.

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