Hebrew word · H7875

שִׂיד

sid

lime

Lime or plaster: the white, powdery calcium substance made by burning limestone (or bones) and then mixed with water to coat surfaces.

Appears 4 times in 4 verses of the Hebrew Old Testament. ·

What it means

1) lime, whitewash

1a) made by burning bones

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 Isaiah 33:12

Range of meaning

Lime or plaster: the white, powdery calcium substance made by burning limestone (or bones) and then mixed with water to coat surfaces. It appears only four times: Deuteronomy 27:2, 4 (large stones "plastered with lime" so the law could be written on them), Amos 2:1 (Moab "burned the bones of the king of Edom to lime"), and here.

Against the English

KJV and WEB say "lime" and NIV/NASB "burned to lime," which is accurate. BSB's "burned to ashes" keeps the idea of total burning but loses the particular image of a white, chalky residue. Today many readers first think of the citrus fruit when they see "lime."

How it drifted

English "lime" (the mineral) and "lime" (the fruit) are unrelated words that happen to share a spelling. Now that most people never handle quicklime, the fruit is the meaning that comes to mind.

Used elsewhere in the period

Archaeologists find lime plaster at Iron Age sites throughout Israel and Judah, on cisterns, floors and walls, and on inscribed plaster such as the wall texts at Kuntillet ʿAjrud and Deir ʿAlla. Making it meant keeping limestone in a kiln at roughly 800–900°C for days, which was one of the hottest and longest-burning fires in ordinary life. Amos 2:1 shows that "burning to lime" could also describe reducing human bones to powder, an act treated as an outrage because it left nothing to bury.

Where it appears

Deuteronomy · 2

  1. Deuteronomy 27:2 בַּשִּֽׂיד׃ with <the> lime

    And on the day you cross the Jordan into the land that the LORD your God is giving you, set up large stones and coat them with plaster.

    Here: Lime, the white material made by burning limestone (or bones, Amos 2:1). Spread on stone, it makes a smooth bright surface that can be written on in ink or paint (v. 3).

  2. Deuteronomy 27:4 בַּשִּֽׂיד׃ with <the> lime

    And when you have crossed the Jordan, you are to set up these stones on Mount Ebal, as I am commanding you today, and you are to coat them with plaster.

Isaiah · 1

  1. Isaiah 33:12 שִׂ֑יד lime

    The peoples will be burned to ashes, like thorns cut down and set ablaze.

    Here: Lime is the white powder made by roasting limestone, or bone, at very high heat. The picture is of something burned until only crumbling white powder is left. A major Hebrew pause mark falls on this word, closing the first image.

Amos · 1

  1. Amos 2:1 לַשִּֽׂיד׃ into <the> lime

    This is what the LORD says: “For three transgressions of Moab, even four, I will not revoke My judgment, because he burned to lime the bones of Edom’s king.

    Here: 'To lime': the white powder you get by burning limestone (or bone), which was used for plaster and whitewash. The bones were burned until nothing recognisable was left, possibly to be used as building material.

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