Hebrew word · H7752

שׁוֹט

shot

whip

Šôṭ is a whip or lash, used on horses (Prov 26:3) and as a picture of harsh rule or punishment (1 Kgs 12:11; Isa 10:26). Šāṭap means to overflow, flood or wash away, used of torrents and of invading armies (Isa 8:8; Dan 11:22).

Appears 11 times in 11 verses of the Hebrew Old Testament. ·

What it means

1) scourge, whip

1a) scourge (for chastisement)

1a1) of national judgment (fig)

1b) whip (for horse)

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 28:15

Range of meaning

Šôṭ is a whip or lash, used on horses (Prov 26:3) and as a picture of harsh rule or punishment (1 Kgs 12:11; Isa 10:26). Šāṭap means to overflow, flood or wash away, used of torrents and of invading armies (Isa 8:8; Dan 11:22).

Against the English

'Overflowing scourge' (KJV, WEB) keeps both images. 'Overwhelming scourge/whip' (BSB, ESV) loses the water. NLT's 'coming destruction' keeps neither picture.

Used elsewhere in the period

Isaiah 8:7–8 had already pictured the king of Assyria as the River (the Euphrates) overflowing (šāṭap) into Judah up to the neck. Isaiah 10:26 has the LORD raise a whip (šôṭ) against Assyria. Verse 2 of this chapter has a 'flood of mighty overflowing waters' as the LORD's agent.

From the study of Isaiah 28:18

Range of meaning

Shot is a whip or lash, used for horses (Prov 26:3) and for harsh rule (1 Kgs 12:11, 'my father scourged you with whips'). Shatap means to flood, overflow, wash away, sweep off, and is used of torrents and of armies.

Against the English

'Overflowing scourge' (KJV, WEB), 'overwhelming scourge' (BSB, NASB), 'overwhelming whip' (ESV). 'Scourge' keeps the whip idea for readers who know the old word, but many modern readers hear only 'plague, calamity.' No English version can carry the alliteration.

Used elsewhere in the period

Isa 8:7–8: the Assyrian 'River' 'will sweep (shataf) into Judah, overflow and pass through (avar).' These are the same verbs as here. Isa 10:26: 'the LORD of hosts will wield a whip (shot) against' Assyria. In 28:2 a 'flood of mighty overflowing waters' stands for the invader of Ephraim.

From the study of Proverbs 26:3

Range of meaning

A whip, used to drive animals (Nahum 3:2) and to punish people (1 Kings 12:11, 14, Rehoboam's 'whips'). By extension it means a disaster sent as punishment, a 'scourge' (Isaiah 10:26; 28:15, 18; Job 5:21, 'the scourge of the tongue').

Against the English

'Whip' is accurate. The word's link to punishing people (1 Kings 12) means the step from horse to human in this verse is shorter than it looks in English.

Used elsewhere in the period

The Septuagint has mastix, the same word used for punitive scourging in Greek texts.

Where it appears

1 Kings · 2

  1. 1 Kings 12:11 בַּשּׁוֹטִ֔ים with <the> whips

    Whereas my father burdened you with a heavy yoke, I will add to your yoke. Whereas my father scourged you with whips, I will scourge you with scorpions.’”

  2. 1 Kings 12:14 בַּשּׁוֹטִ֔ים with <the> whips

    and spoke to them as the young men had advised, saying, “Whereas my father made your yoke heavy, I will add to your yoke. Whereas my father scourged you with whips, I will scourge you with scorpions.”

2 Chronicles · 2

  1. 2 Chronicles 10:11 בַּשּׁוֹטִ֔ים with <the> whips

    Whereas my father burdened you with a heavy yoke, I will add to your yoke. Whereas my father scourged you with whips, I will scourge you with scorpions.’”

  2. 2 Chronicles 10:14 בַּשּׁוֹטִ֔ים with <the> whips

    and spoke to them as the young men had advised, saying, “Whereas my father made your yoke heavy, I will add to your yoke. Whereas my father scourged you with whips, I will scourge you with scorpions.”

Job · 2

  1. Job 5:21 בְּשׁ֣וֹט in [the] whip of

    You will be hidden from the scourge of the tongue, and will not fear havoc when it comes.

    Here: The prefix be- means "in" or "at the time of": when the lash falls. Shot is a real whip, the kind used on animals or for flogging. The tongue is pictured as a whip that cuts and leaves welts.

  2. Job 9:23 שׁ֭וֹט a scourge

    When the scourge brings sudden death, He mocks the despair of the innocent.

Proverbs · 1

  1. Proverbs 26:3 שׁ֣וֹט a whip

    A whip for the horse, a bridle for the donkey, and a rod for the backs of fools!

    Here: A driving whip of the kind used on chariot horses (compare Nahum 3:2, 'the crack of the whip'). Elsewhere it can mean a whip used for punishment (1 Kings 12:11). It comes first with no verb, which makes it read like a label: 'Whip: for horses.'

Isaiah · 3

  1. Isaiah 10:26 שׁ֔וֹט a whip

    And the LORD of Hosts will brandish a whip against them, as when He struck Midian at the rock of Oreb. He will raise His staff over the sea, as He did in Egypt.

    Here: A real whip, the kind used to drive animals or punish people. Assyria whipped Israel. Now God takes up a whip against Assyria.

  2. Isaiah 28:15 שׁ֣וֹט a scourge

    For you said, “We have made a covenant with death; we have fashioned an agreement with Sheol. When the overwhelming scourge passes through it will not touch us, because we have made lies our refuge and falsehood our hiding place.”

    Here: A whip: a lash used on animals or slaves and as a picture of punishment. It stands for the attacking Assyrian army as God's instrument of discipline (compare Isa 10:26, where God wields a whip).

  3. Isaiah 28:18 שׁ֤וֹט a scourge

    Your covenant with death will be dissolved, and your agreement with Sheol will not stand. When the overwhelming scourge passes through, you will be trampled by it.

    Here: A lash or whip, an instrument of punishment and of driving animals or slaves. Here it stands for the invading army God wields.

Nahum · 1

  1. Nahum 3:2 שׁ֔וֹט a whip

    The crack of the whip, the rumble of the wheel, galloping horse and bounding chariot!

    Here: The charioteer's whip driving the team at full speed. The first thing heard is the sharp crack of men pushing horses into a charge.

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