Hebrew word · H7751

שׁוּט

shut-

to rove

To rove, roam, go to and fro, range about. Used of people scouring Jerusalem's streets (Jer 5:1), of people running to and fro searching (Amos 8:12; Dan 12:4), of the Accuser 'roaming the earth' (Job 1:7; 2:2), and of the 'eyes of Yahweh' in Zech 4:10.

Appears 13 times in 13 verses of the Hebrew Old Testament. · Updated November 01, 2026

What it means

1) to go, go or rove about, go to and fro

1a) (Qal) to go or rove about

1b) (Polel) to go to and fro, go eagerly or quickly to and fro

1c) (Hithpolel) to run to and fro

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 16:9

Range of meaning: To rove, roam, go to and fro, range about. Used of people scouring Jerusalem's streets (Jer 5:1), of people running to and fro searching (Amos 8:12; Dan 12:4), of the Accuser 'roaming the earth' (Job 1:7; 2:2), and of the 'eyes of Yahweh' in Zech 4:10.
Against the English: KJV and WEB 'run to and fro'; BSB 'roam to and fro'; NIV 'range'; NLT 'searches'. All are reasonable. 'Searches' slightly narrows the sense to looking for someone in particular, while the Hebrew pictures continuous, wide-ranging patrol.
Used elsewhere in the period: Zechariah 4:10 uses nearly the identical phrase, 'the eyes of Yahweh, they range through all the earth' (meshotetim bekhol-haʾarets). Ancient writers describe Persian royal agents called 'the King's Eyes' and 'Ears' who reported on the empire (Herodotus 1.114; Xenophon, Cyropaedia 8.2.10–12). A. L. Oppenheim connected the biblical image with this institution.

From the study of Jeremiah 5:1

Range of meaning: To move about, roam, range to and fro; in the intensive form, to dash back and forth, criss-cross an area. It is used of rowing too (a related noun means “oar”), so the picture is of repeated back-and-forth movement.
Against the English: KJV/WEB “run to and fro” keep the restless back-and-forth motion. BSB “go up and down” is accurate but calmer. Translations that say just “go through” lose the sense of a thorough, exhaustive sweep.
Used elsewhere in the period: The LORD's eyes “range (meshotetot) through the whole earth” to support those whose heart is whole toward him (2 Chr 16:9; cf. Zech 4:10). The Accuser comes “from roaming (mishut) the earth” (Job 1:7; 2:2). In Amos 8:12 people “run to and fro to seek the word of the LORD, and shall not find it”: the same pairing of roaming, seeking and not finding as here. Daniel 12:4: “many shall run to and fro”.

From the study of Job 2:2

Range of meaning: "To go/run to and fro, to rove, range about". It is used of people searching widely (Jer 5:1, "run to and fro through the streets of Jerusalem… see if you can find a man"; Amos 8:12; Dan 12:4), and of rowing (the related noun means an oar). Most tellingly, it is used of Yahweh's watchful eyes: "the eyes of the LORD range throughout the whole earth to show himself strong for those whose heart is blameless toward him" (2 Chr 16:9; cf. Zech 4:10).
Against the English: KJV "going to and fro" and WEB "going back and forth" are good. BSB's "roaming" can sound aimless or idle, like a vagrant. NLT's "patrolling" catches the purpose better, though it adds an explanation.
Used elsewhere in the period: Jer 5:1 and 2 Chr 16:9 show the verb describing a deliberate search across a territory to find out the truth about people. Some scholars hear a sound-play between šûṭ ("rove") and śāṭān ("Adversary"), as if the name echoes his job, but the two words are not from the same root and the play is at most a sound echo.

Where it appears

Numbers · 1

Numbers 11:8 שָׁטוּ֩ they went about

The people walked around and gathered it, ground it on a handmill or crushed it in a mortar, then boiled it in a cooking pot or shaped it into cakes. It tasted like pastry baked with fine oil.

2 Samuel · 2

2 Samuel 24:2 שֽׁוּט־ go about

So the king said to Joab the commander of his army, who was with him, “Go now throughout the tribes of Israel from Dan to Beersheba and register the troops, so that I may know their number.”
2 Samuel 24:8 וַיָּשֻׁ֖טוּ and they went about

At the end of nine months and twenty days, having gone through the whole land, they returned to Jerusalem.

2 Chronicles · 1

2 Chronicles 16:9 מְשֹׁטְט֤וֹת [are] roving about

For the eyes of the LORD roam to and fro over all the earth, to show Himself strong on behalf of those whose hearts are fully devoted to Him. You have acted foolishly in this matter. From now on, therefore, you will be at war.”

Here: An ongoing participle in an intensive, repeated-motion form: the eyes keep ranging back and forth, like scouts or a king's inspectors covering the territory.

Job · 2

Job 1:7 מִשּׁ֣וּט from roving about

“Where have you come from?” said the LORD to Satan. “From roaming through the earth,” he replied, “and walking back and forth in it.”

Here: 'From roving.' The prefix 'from' mirrors the 'from where?' of the question, but he answers with an activity rather than a place. The verb means ranging widely, and elsewhere it often describes going through an area to search or inspect. It also sounds a little like his title, satan.
Job 2:2 מִשֻּׁ֣ט from roving about

“Where have you come from?” said the LORD to Satan. “From roaming through the earth,” he replied, “and walking back and forth in it.”

Here: "From going to and fro." The verb is used of quick, wide-ranging movement across territory, including the eyes of Yahweh that "range over all the earth" (2 Chr 16:9; Zech 4:10). It pictures a sweep of inspection, not aimless wandering.

Jeremiah · 2

Jeremiah 5:1 שׁוֹטְט֞וּ rove about

“Go up and down the streets of Jerusalem. Look now and take note; search her squares. If you can find a single person, anyone who acts justly, anyone who seeks the truth, then I will forgive the city.

Here: A plural command in an intensive form: range back and forth, criss-cross the city. It is the verb used for the LORD's eyes that “range through the whole earth” (2 Chr 16:9; Zech 4:10), so the search has the feel of a divine inspection.
Jeremiah 49:3 וְהִתְשׁוֹטַ֖טְנָה and run to and fro

Wail, O Heshbon, for Ai has been destroyed; cry out, O daughters of Rabbah! Put on sackcloth and mourn; run back and forth within your walls, for Milcom will go into exile together with his priests and officials.

Here: 'And rush back and forth.' This verb form occurs only here in the Bible. It pictures frantic, aimless running, the movement of people in panic with nowhere safe to go.

Ezekiel · 2

Ezekiel 27:8 שָׁטִ֖ים rowers

The men of Sidon and Arvad were your oarsmen. Your men of skill, O Tyre, were there as your captains.
Ezekiel 27:26 הַשָּׁטִ֖ים the rowers

Your oarsmen have brought you onto the high seas, but the east wind will shatter you in the heart of the sea.

Daniel · 1

Daniel 12:4 יְשֹׁטְט֥וּ they will rove about

But you, Daniel, shut up these words and seal the book until the time of the end. Many will roam to and fro, and knowledge will increase.”

Here: An intensive form: 'they will range back and forth.' Elsewhere in the Bible the verb describes roaming in order to search (Jer 5:1; Amos 8:12; Zech 4:10). The picture is people casting about for understanding.

Amos · 1

Amos 8:12 יְשֽׁוֹטְט֛וּ they will rove about

People will stagger from sea to sea and roam from north to east, seeking the word of the LORD, but they will not find it.

Here: An intensive form that pictures restless back-and-forth movement, here, there, and back again. It is the same verb Jeremiah uses for searching Jerusalem's streets for one honest man (Jer 5:1).

Zechariah · 1

Zechariah 4:10 מְשׁוֹטְטִ֖ים [are] roving about

For who has despised the day of small things? But these seven eyes of the LORD, which scan the whole earth, will rejoice when they see the plumb line in the hand of Zerubbabel.”

Here: A participle with an intensive form, describing ongoing back-and-forth movement: always patrolling and scanning. The same wording appears in 2 Chr 16:9.

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