Hebrew word · H7849

שָׁטַח

shoteach

to spread

To spread out, spread flat. In the basic form it is used for spreading grain to dry (2 Sam 17:19), spreading quail out on the ground (Num 11:32), and laying things flat (Job 12:23; Jer 8:2). Here it is in an intensive form found nowhere else in the Hebrew Bible.

Appears 6 times in 5 verses of the Hebrew Old Testament. ·

What it means

1) to spread, spread abroad, stretch out

1a) (Qal)

1a1) to spread

1a2) spreading, expanding (participle)

1b) (Piel) to spread 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 Psalm 88:9

Range of meaning

To spread out, spread flat. In the basic form it is used for spreading grain to dry (2 Sam 17:19), spreading quail out on the ground (Num 11:32), and laying things flat (Job 12:23; Jer 8:2). Here it is in an intensive form found nowhere else in the Hebrew Bible.

Against the English

'Spread out my hands' (BSB, WEB, YLT) is accurate. The KJV's 'stretched out' is close. Paraphrases that add 'for mercy' or turn the gesture into 'lifting hands' bring in other ideas.

Used elsewhere in the period

The usual Hebrew phrase for this gesture is pāraś kappayim, 'spread the palms' (Exod 9:29; 1 Kgs 8:22, 38; Isa 1:15; Ps 143:6). Ps 88 uses a rarer verb, perhaps for variety or for extra force. The gesture is widely shown in ancient Near Eastern art and texts. Mesopotamian prayers were even named for a hand gesture: šu-ila, 'lifting of the hand'.

From the study of Jeremiah 8:2

Range of meaning

To spread out or lay flat, especially to dry things in the sun. Num 11:32 (the people spread out quail all around the camp), 2 Sam 17:19 (a woman spreads grain over a well), Job 12:23 ('he spreads out nations'), Ps 88:10 (spreading out the hands in prayer).

Against the English

KJV, WEB and YLT say 'spread'. BSB says 'exposed', which is a passive. 'Exposed' gives the result but loses the domestic picture of produce laid out to dry, and it hides the unnamed 'they' who do the spreading.

Used elsewhere in the period

Its uses for food laid out to dry (quail, grain) show the everyday background. Its use with 'hands' (Ps 88:10) shows a gesture of offering or pleading. Here bodies are placed under the sky the way worshippers once stretched out their hands to it.

Where it appears

Numbers · 2

  1. Numbers 11:32 וַיִּשְׁטְח֤וּ שָׁט֔וֹחַ and they spread [them] out, completely <to spread out>

    All that day and night, and all the next day, the people stayed up gathering the quail. No one gathered less than ten homers, and they spread them out all around the camp.

2 Samuel · 1

  1. 2 Samuel 17:19 וַתִּשְׁטַ֥ח and she spread

    Then the man’s wife took a covering, spread it over the mouth of the well, and scattered grain over it so nobody would know a thing.

Job · 1

  1. Job 12:23 שֹׁטֵ֥חַ [he is] spreading out

    He makes nations great and destroys them; He enlarges nations, then disperses them.

Psalms · 1

  1. Psalm 88:9 שִׁטַּ֖חְתִּי I have spread out

    My eyes grow dim with grief. I call to You daily, O LORD; I spread out my hands to You.

    Here: 'I have spread out.' The verb is used elsewhere for spreading grain or birds flat on the ground. This intensive form appears nowhere else. The picture is of hands stretched wide open as far as they go.

Jeremiah · 1

  1. Jeremiah 8:2 וּשְׁטָחוּם֩ and they will spread out them

    They will be exposed to the sun and moon, and to all the host of heaven which they have loved, served, followed, consulted, and worshiped. Their bones will not be gathered up or buried, but will become like dung lying on the ground.

    Here: 'And they will spread them out.' The word is used for laying grain or meat flat to dry (2 Sam 17:19; Num 11:32). The bones of 8:1 are laid out in the open like produce left to dry. The 'they' is not named.

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