Hebrew word · H7713

שְׂדֵרָה

hasederot

rank

A rare word, found only four times: 2 Kings 11:8, 11:15; 2 Chronicles 23:14; 1 Kings 6:9. In 1 Kings 6:9 it describes rows or courses of cedar planks in the temple's construction. In the coup story it is usually taken as rows or lines of soldiers.

Appears 4 times in 4 verses of the Hebrew Old Testament. ·

What it means

1) row, rank (of soldiers)

1a) rows, ranks

1b) technical term of building

1b1) meaning unknown

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 2 Chronicles 23:14

Range of meaning

A rare word, found only four times: 2 Kings 11:8, 11:15; 2 Chronicles 23:14; 1 Kings 6:9. In 1 Kings 6:9 it describes rows or courses of cedar planks in the temple's construction. In the coup story it is usually taken as rows or lines of soldiers. BDB and HALOT give 'row, rank' for both building and military uses. Some scholars think it is an architectural term here too: a row of pillars, or some kind of structure or enclosure in the temple precinct.

Against the English

BSB, WEB, NIV, ESV and NASB give 'between the ranks'. KJV's 'ranges' is an older English word for rows or ranks, not open country. YLT gives 'rows'. Some older British translations took it as the temple 'precincts' instead.

How it drifted

KJV 'ranges' has become misleading because 'range' now suggests mountains or a firing range. In 1611 it meant 'rows'.

Used elsewhere in the period

Outside these passages the word hardly appears in ancient Hebrew. In 2 Kings 11:8 the guards are told that anyone who 'comes into the ranks' must be killed, which supports the military sense in this story. The Greek translations struggled with the word, and in places they transliterate it or guess at it, which shows that its exact meaning was already uncertain in antiquity.

Where it appears

1 Kings · 1

  1. 1 Kings 6:9 וּשְׂדֵרֹ֖ת and planks

    So Solomon built the temple and finished it, roofing it with beams and planks of cedar.

2 Kings · 2

  1. 2 Kings 11:8 הַשְּׂדֵר֖וֹת the ranks

    You must surround the king with weapons in hand, and anyone who approaches the ranks must be put to death. You must stay close to the king wherever he goes.”

  2. 2 Kings 11:15 לַשְּׂדֵרֹ֔ת to the ranks

    And Jehoiada the priest ordered the commanders of hundreds in charge of the army, “Bring her out between the ranks, and put to the sword anyone who follows her.” For the priest had said, “She must not be put to death in the house of the LORD.”

2 Chronicles · 1

  1. 2 Chronicles 23:14 הַשְּׂדֵר֔וֹת the ranks

    And Jehoiada the priest sent out the commanders of hundreds in charge of the army, saying, “Bring her out between the ranks, and put to the sword anyone who follows her.” For the priest had said, “She must not be put to death in the house of the LORD.”

    Here: A rare word for rows: the lines of guards here, and rows of building timbers in 1 Kings 6:9. Athaliah is marched out under close guard.

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