Hebrew word · H7818

שָׂחַט

va'eschat

to squeeze

To press or squeeze out liquid, to wring. It occurs only here in the Hebrew Bible, so its meaning comes mainly from context and from later Hebrew and Aramaic, where the same root means to press out juice.

Appears once in the Hebrew Old Testament. ·

What it means

(Qal) to squeeze, press out

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 Genesis 40:11

Range of meaning

To press or squeeze out liquid, to wring. It occurs only here in the Hebrew Bible, so its meaning comes mainly from context and from later Hebrew and Aramaic, where the same root means to press out juice.

Against the English

Translations split between 'pressed' (KJV, WEB, YLT, ESV) and 'squeezed' (BSB, NASB, NIV). Both are accurate. 'Squeezed' gives a better picture of grapes crushed by hand straight into a cup. 'Pressed' can make English readers think of a winepress, which this scene does not have.

Used elsewhere in the period

Found nowhere else in biblical Hebrew. The meaning 'press out juice' is well attested in later (Mishnaic) Hebrew and Aramaic (see HALOT and Jastrow). The Septuagint, the ancient Greek translation, renders it with a Greek verb meaning 'squeeze out', which supports the sense. Do not confuse it with the very common verb shachat (H7819), 'to slaughter', which is spelled with a different 's' letter (shin instead of sin) and is a separate word.

Where it appears

Genesis · 1

  1. Genesis 40:11 וָֽאֶשְׂחַ֤ט and I squeezed

    Pharaoh’s cup was in my hand, and I took the grapes, squeezed them into his cup, and placed the cup in his hand.”

    Here: The verb occurs only here in the Hebrew Bible. It means pressing or wringing out the juice, done straight into the cup by hand, with no vat and no waiting.

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