Hebrew word · H7788
שׁוּר
vatashuri
to travel
A rare verb. BDB lists it as "travel, journey" and compares Arabic sāra, "to travel". Ezek 27:25 may use a related noun for trading caravans. A different root with the same spelling means "look, gaze", and Song 4:8 ("come down / look from the peak of Amana") is ambiguous between the two.
Appears 3 times in 3 verses of the Hebrew Old Testament. ·
What it means
1) (Qal) to travel, journey, go
1a) traveller (participle)
1b) (BDB) meaning uncertain
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
- Range of meaning
A rare verb. BDB lists it as "travel, journey" and compares Arabic sāra, "to travel". Ezek 27:25 may use a related noun for trading caravans. A different root with the same spelling means "look, gaze", and Song 4:8 ("come down / look from the peak of Amana") is ambiguous between the two.
- Against the English
Most versions say "went" or "journeyed." YLT's "goest joyfully" has little lexical support. Some scholars have proposed changing the vowels or letters to get a verb meaning "drench" or "lavish" ("you lavished oil on the king"). That fits the oil but rests on conjecture.
- Used elsewhere in the period
The noun teshurah, a present brought when visiting someone (1 Sam 9:7, the gift for the man of God), is often linked to this root. It may mean a gift carried by a traveller, or a gift for an audience. Either way the travel verb sits close to gift-bearing. Verse 10's "you were wearied by the length of your way" confirms that the passage is thinking of journeys.
From the study of Song of Songs 4:8
- Range of meaning
Two roots share this spelling. (1) šûr I, 'to travel, journey' (Isa 57:9, 'you journeyed to the king'). This is the root the supplied data uses (H7788). (2) šûr II, 'to gaze, look out, watch' (Num 23:9; 24:17; Job 7:8; Hos 13:7, where a leopard 'lurks/watches'). Strong's lists that one as H7789.
- Against the English
KJV, WEB and YLT have 'look from the top'. BSB has 'descend', NIV 'descend', and ESV renders it as a call to leave the peak. 'Descend' is an interpretation of 'journey' that fits the movement 'from the top'. 'Look' gives a different picture: she surveys the land from the heights.
- Used elsewhere in the period
Both senses are found in Biblical Hebrew. The Septuagint renders it 'you will pass through'. The Vulgate gives 'you will be crowned', which seems to reflect a different reading or tradition. Hos 13:7 uses šûr of a leopard watching, the same animal that ends this verse, which some scholars think favours 'look' here.
Where it appears
Song of Songs · 1
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Song of Songs 4:8 תָּשׁ֣וּרִי׀ you will come down
Come with me from Lebanon, my bride, come with me from Lebanon! Descend from the peak of Amana, from the summits of Senir and Hermon, from the dens of the lions, from the mountains of the leopards.
Here: An uncertain verb addressed to a woman. The supplied data takes it as 'journey' (the root in Isa 57:9), which BSB renders 'descend'. A different root with the same spelling means 'gaze, look out' (Num 23:9), and KJV follows that one. On either reading she leaves the heights, or looks out from them toward him.
Isaiah · 1
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Isaiah 57:9 וַתָּשֻׁ֤רִי and you journeyed
You went to Molech with oil and multiplied your perfumes. You have sent your envoys a great distance; you have descended even to Sheol itself.
Here: "And you journeyed": a rare verb for travelling, maybe used of trading caravans. The feminine "you" is the people pictured as an unfaithful woman setting out to court a powerful partner. The next verse, "you were wearied by your many journeys," backs up the sense of travel.
Ezekiel · 1
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Ezekiel 27:25 שָׁרוֹתַ֖יִךְ [were] travelers your
The ships of Tarshish carried your merchandise. And you were filled with heavy cargo in the heart of the sea.
Word data: STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0), main text only.