Hebrew word · H7786

שׂוּר

hesiru

to reign

Two roots are candidates. (1) śārâ (H8280), 'to strive, contend, persist', which occurs only in the Jacob tradition (Gen 32:28; Hos 12:3) and is the folk explanation of the name Israel. (2) śrr / śûr, 'to rule, act as prince' (noun śar, 'prince, official').

Appears 3 times in 3 verses of the Hebrew Old Testament. ·

What it means

1) to be or act as prince, rule, contend, have power, prevail over

1a) (Qal) to rule over, govern

1b) (Hiphil) to make rulers, play the prince

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 Hosea 12:4

Range of meaning

Two roots are candidates. (1) śārâ (H8280), 'to strive, contend, persist', which occurs only in the Jacob tradition (Gen 32:28; Hos 12:3) and is the folk explanation of the name Israel. (2) śrr / śûr, 'to rule, act as prince' (noun śar, 'prince, official'). As vocalized, wayyāśar looks like a form of the second, but it may simply be an unusual spelling of the first.

Against the English

BSB, WEB, NIV, ESV and NASB: 'struggled / strove / wrestled'. KJV: 'had power over'. YLT: 'is a prince unto'. KJV and YLT follow the 'rule' root, so they turn a fight into lordship.

Used elsewhere in the period

Genesis 32:28 explains the name: 'your name shall be Israel, for you have striven (śārîtā) with God and with men and have prevailed.' The Septuagint of Genesis has enischysas, 'you were strong'. The Septuagint of Hosea 12:4 (Hebrew 12:5) has enischysen, 'he was strong', which keeps the idea of strength more than combat. HALOT and BDB both list Hosea 12:4 under the 'strive' root, or note the irregular form.

From the study of Hosea 8:4

Range of meaning

This verb belongs with the noun śar, 'official, commander, chief, governor', and means 'to act as śar, to rule'. In the causative it means 'to appoint officials or princes'. A śar could be a cabinet minister, a provincial governor, an army captain ('commander of a thousand'), or a leader of a tribe or clan.

Against the English

'Princes' (KJV, BSB, WEB, YLT) makes modern readers think of a king's sons. The śārîm were high officials and military commanders, the governing class around the king. Pekah, who seized the throne, began as one of the king's officers (2 Kgs 15:25).

How it drifted

English 'prince' once meant any ruler or chief (Latin princeps, 'first man'). That sense survives in KJV English, but modern usage has narrowed it to royal offspring.

Used elsewhere in the period

Hosea pairs 'king' and 'officials' again and again: 3:4 ('without king or prince'), 7:3, 7:5 ('the officials became sick with the heat of wine'), 8:10 ('the burden of the king of princes'), 13:10 ('you said, Give me a king and princes'). Hosea 9:15 has a sound-play: 'all their officials are rebels' (śārêhem sōrərîm). HALOT lists this verb under śrr, 'to rule'.

From the study of Judges 9:22

Range of meaning

To be or act as a sar: a chief, commander, official or prince. It means holding authority over others, often given by a higher power. The noun sar covers army commanders (sar ṣābāʾ), city governors, court officials, tribal chiefs and leading men in general. The verb itself is rare. Its clearest other use is Hosea 8:4: 'they set up kings (himlîkû), but not by me; they made princes (hēśîrû), and I did not know it.' There the related causative form stands next to malak ('make king') as a separate idea.

Against the English

KJV and BSB say 'reigned', a word that in English belongs to kings and crowns. WEB and YLT say 'was prince', which keeps the Hebrew rank. Several modern versions say 'ruled' or 'governed', which is neutral. None of them can easily show that the narrator chose not to use the royal verb.

How it drifted

English 'reign' is the natural word for any long rule over a people. It slips in even though Hebrew had a separate verb for royal reign (malak) and did not use it here.

Used elsewhere in the period

The noun sar is very common in the Hebrew Bible (for example, the śārîm of Succoth in Judg 8:6, 14, and Zebul as sar hāʿîr, 'ruler of the city', in Judg 9:30). The verb also appears in Hos 8:4 and in the wordplay on Israel's name in Gen 32:28 / Hos 12:3-4, where it is usually connected with śārâ, 'strive'. The Greek Septuagint renders it with archō, 'rule, be leader', not basileuō, 'reign as king'.

Where it appears

Judges · 1

  1. Judges 9:22 וַיָּ֧שַׂר and he ruled

    After Abimelech had reigned over Israel for three years,

    Here: 'And he ruled as a prince (sar).' The verb comes from the same root as *sar*, the usual word for an official, commander or chief. It is not the verb for reigning as king (*malak*), even though verse 6 says the Shechemites 'made him king'. The 'and' form moves the story on: this is the next stage after Jotham's escape.

Hosea · 2

  1. Hosea 8:4 הֵשִׂ֖ירוּ they have installed leaders

    They set up kings, but not by Me. They make princes, but without My approval. With their silver and gold they make themselves idols, to their own destruction.

    Here: 'They installed princes': they set up the high officials and army commanders (śārîm) who ran the state and led its coups. In sound it is close to hēsîrû, 'they removed', so it may be a quiet pun: the men they installed were soon pushed out.

  2. Hosea 12:4 וָיָּ֤שַׂר and he struggled

    Yes, he struggled with the angel and prevailed; he wept and sought His favor; he found Him at Bethel and spoke with Him there—

    Here: Picks up 'he strove with God' (śārâ) from the verse before and plays on the name Israel (yiśrāʾēl). The supplied data takes it from a root meaning 'to rule' (hence KJV 'had power', YLT 'is a prince'), but most scholars read it as a form of śārâ, 'to struggle'. Either way it is the sound of the name Israel.

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