Hebrew word · H7790
שׁוּר
beshurai
enemy
A rare noun found only here. It comes from the verb šûr, 'to look, watch, regard.' It means 'one who watches,' in the hostile sense of someone lying in wait or keeping a close eye on you to catch you out (BDB, HALOT).
Appears once in the Hebrew Old Testament. ·
What it means
1) watcher, enemy
1a) (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 noun found only here. It comes from the verb šûr, 'to look, watch, regard.' It means 'one who watches,' in the hostile sense of someone lying in wait or keeping a close eye on you to catch you out (BDB, HALOT). It is closely related to the more common šôrēr, 'foe, one who watches with hostility' (Pss 5:8; 27:11; 54:5; 56:2; 59:10).
- Against the English
All major English versions simply say 'enemies,' 'foes' or 'adversaries.' That is correct, but it drops the picture of someone watching, and with it a possible wordplay with the looking verb in the same line.
- Used elsewhere in the period
In Hos 13:7 the related verb is used of a leopard: 'like a leopard I will lurk (ʾāšûr) by the road.' The noun šôrēr appears regularly in individual laments for enemies who watch and wait to strike (e.g. Ps 56:2–3). Many commentators suggest reading šôrĕray here as in Ps 59:10, but no manuscript supports the change.
Where it appears
Psalms · 1
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Psalm 92:11 בְּשׁ֫וּרָ֥י on enemies my
My eyes see the downfall of my enemies; my ears hear the wailing of my wicked foes.
Here: "On my watchers," meaning the enemies who kept watch on the singer, waiting for a chance to strike. In Hebrew, "look on" (with the preposition 'on') someone's enemies is a set expression for looking at them in their defeat. Here the ones who used to watch the singer are now being watched.
Word data: STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0), main text only.