Hebrew word · H7902

שְׁכָבָה

shikhvat-

act|product of lying

'A lying of seed': a set phrase in the purity laws for an emission of semen (Lev 15:16–18, 32; 22:4). Combined with 'lie with', it means intercourse in which semen was emitted. Compare Lev 18:20 (with a neighbour's wife) and Num 5:13 (the suspected wife).

Appears 9 times in 9 verses of the Hebrew Old Testament. ·

What it means

1) act of lying, layer, coating

1a) act of lying (of sexual relations)

1b) layer

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 Leviticus 19:20

Range of meaning

'A lying of seed': a set phrase in the purity laws for an emission of semen (Lev 15:16–18, 32; 22:4). Combined with 'lie with', it means intercourse in which semen was emitted. Compare Lev 18:20 (with a neighbour's wife) and Num 5:13 (the suspected wife).

Against the English

KJV/BSB/WEB render it 'lies carnally', which is accurate but loses the concrete wording. YLT keeps it as 'with seed of copulation'.

Used elsewhere in the period

Priestly and Holiness Code legal language (Lev 15; 18:20; 19:20; 22:4; Num 5:13).

Where it appears

Exodus · 2
  1. Exodus 16:13 שִׁכְבַ֣ת [the] layer of

    That evening quail came and covered the camp, and in the morning there was a layer of dew around the camp.

  2. Exodus 16:14 שִׁכְבַ֣ת [the] layer of

    When the layer of dew had evaporated, there were thin flakes on the desert floor, as fine as frost on the ground.

Leviticus · 6
  1. Leviticus 15:16 שִׁכְבַת־ a laying of

    When a man has an emission of semen, he must bathe his whole body with water, and he will be unclean until evening.

  2. Leviticus 15:17 שִׁכְבַת־ a laying of

    Any clothing or leather on which there is an emission of semen must be washed with water, and it will remain unclean until evening.

  3. Leviticus 15:18 שִׁכְבַת־ a laying of

    If a man lies with a woman and there is an emission of semen, both must bathe with water, and they will remain unclean until evening.

  4. Leviticus 15:32 שִׁכְבַת־ a laying of

    This is the law of him who has a discharge, of the man who has an emission of semen whereby he is unclean,

  5. Leviticus 19:20 שִׁכְבַת־ a laying of

    If a man lies carnally with a slave girl promised to another man but who has not been redeemed or given her freedom, there must be due punishment. But they are not to be put to death, because she had not been freed.

    Here: 'A lying of…'. With the next word it forms a set legal-medical phrase for intercourse in which semen is emitted.

  6. Leviticus 22:4 שִׁכְבַת־ a laying of

    If a descendant of Aaron has a skin disease or a discharge, he may not eat the sacred offerings until he is clean. Whoever touches anything defiled by a corpse or by a man who has an emission of semen,

Numbers · 1
  1. Numbers 5:13 שִׁכְבַת־ a laying of

    by sleeping with another man, and it is concealed from her husband and her impurity is undetected (since there is no witness against her and she was not caught in the act),

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