Hebrew word · H7904

שָׁכָה

mashkim

to lust

This is also a one-off form, and its meaning is debated.

Appears once in the Hebrew Old Testament. ·

What it means

1) (Hiphil) lustful (participle)

1a) 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

From the study of Jeremiah 5:8

Range of meaning

This is also a one-off form, and its meaning is debated. Options: (1) 'in heat, lusty', from a rare verb shakah; (2) 'having testicles, well-endowed', formed from eshek 'testicle' (Lev 21:20); (3) 'rising early', as though it were mashkimim from shakam (the reading behind KJV and YLT); (4) 'roaming', the Strong's/Gesenius gloss behind WEB.

Against the English

KJV 'in the morning' and YLT 'early risers' follow option 3, which requires reading a different word and makes little sense with the image. WEB's 'roaming at large' follows option 4. BSB, ESV, NIV and NLT have 'lusty', NASB 'lusty horses'. These follow options 1 and 2, which fit the neighing best.

How it drifted

KJV's 'in the morning' is not drift but an older guess at a rare word. It survives in KJV-based readings and makes the verse sound like a remark about the time of day, not about sexual heat.

Used elsewhere in the period

No other biblical use. The noun eshek ('testicle') appears in Lev 21:20. The Septuagint's thēlymaneis ('mad for females') and the Vulgate's emissarii ('stud horses') show that ancient translators understood the verse as being about sexual drive, not mornings.

Where it appears

Jeremiah · 1

  1. Jeremiah 5:8 מַשְׁכִּ֣ים lustful

    They are well-fed, lusty stallions, each neighing after his neighbor’s wife.

    Here: Another word found only here. It is usually taken as 'in rut' or 'well-endowed', perhaps formed from eshek, 'testicle' (Lev 21:20). Older versions read it as 'rising early', which gives KJV's 'in the morning'.

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