Hebrew word · H7910

שִׁכֹּר

shikor

drunken

Drunk, a drunkard: literally (1 Sam 25:36, Nabal; 1 Kgs 16:9, King Elah drinking himself drunk in Tirzah) and as a figure for staggering confusion (Isa 19:14; Jer 23:9).

Appears 13 times in 13 verses of the Hebrew Old Testament. ·

What it means

1) drunken

1a) drunken

1b) drunkard, drunken one (subst)

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 28:3

Range of meaning

Drunk, a drunkard: literally (1 Sam 25:36, Nabal; 1 Kgs 16:9, King Elah drinking himself drunk in Tirzah) and as a figure for staggering confusion (Isa 19:14; Jer 23:9).

Against the English

All English versions say 'drunkards'. The Septuagint instead has 'hirelings' (see textual notes).

Used elsewhere in the period

The 8th-century prophets describe the feasts of the Samarian elite: Amos 6:4-6 ('who drink wine from bowls… but are not grieved over the ruin of Joseph'); Amos 4:1; Hos 7:5 ('the princes became sick with the heat of wine').

From the study of 1 Samuel 1:13

Range of meaning

A drunk person, a drunkard, from the root š-k-r, "to be or become drunk". The same root gives šēḵār, "strong drink" or "beer". The word is used of Nabal "very drunk" at his feast (1 Sam 25:36), of kings drinking themselves drunk (1 Kgs 16:9; 20:16), and of "the drunkards of Ephraim" (Isa 28:1, 3).

Against the English

"Drunk" is accurate. The feminine noun, though, carries more stigma than a passing adjective: ESV's "a drunken woman" keeps that. In verse 14 Eli asks "How long will you make yourself drunk?", which assumes a habit or a scene.

Used elsewhere in the period

The feminine form seems to occur only here. In verse 15 Hannah answers with the same root: "I have drunk neither wine nor šēḵār."

From the study of Jeremiah 23:9

Range of meaning

Shikkor is 'drunk, a drunkard'. Geber is a man in his vigour, often with a note of strength (it shares a root with gibbor, 'warrior', and gevurah, 'might'). 'Avar means to pass over or through; with water or waves as subject it means to sweep over someone (Ps 42:7; 88:16; Isa 8:8; Jonah 2:3).

Against the English

'A man overcome by wine' (BSB, also ESV and NASB) and 'whom wine hath overcome' (KJV) are good paraphrases. They lose the flood picture of wine 'passing over' him and the strength implied in geber. YLT's 'wine hath passed over him' keeps the literal image.

Used elsewhere in the period

Drunkenness is a common prophetic picture of judgment-stupor: Jer 13:12–14 (Judah's leaders filled with drunkenness), Jer 25:15–29 (the cup of Yahweh's wrath that makes nations stagger), Isa 29:9. Isaiah 28:7 accuses priest and prophet of reeling with strong drink so that they 'err in vision'.

Where it appears

1 Samuel · 2

  1. 1 Samuel 1:13 לְשִׁכֹּרָֽה׃ to a drunken [woman]

    Hannah was praying in her heart, and though her lips were moving, her voice could not be heard. So Eli thought she was drunk

    Here: "(As) a drunken woman", using the feminine form of the word for "drunkard", which apparently appears nowhere else in the Hebrew Bible. Eli's verdict is not just that she has had some wine. It puts her in a disgraceful category: a drunk woman in the house of the LORD.

  2. 1 Samuel 25:36 שִׁכֹּ֖ר [was] drunk

    When Abigail returned to Nabal, there he was in the house, holding a feast fit for a king, in high spirits and very drunk. So she told him nothing until morning light.

    Here: "Drunk". The same word Eli wrongly used of Hannah (1 Sam 1:13). Here it is true and nobody disputes it.

1 Kings · 2

  1. 1 Kings 16:9 שִׁכּ֔וֹר drunken

    However, while Elah was in Tirzah getting drunk in the house of Arza the steward of his household there, Elah’s servant Zimri, the commander of half his chariots, conspired against him.

    Here: "Drunk." Paired with shoteh it gives the idiom "drinking himself drunk," a king helpless with drink at the worst possible moment.

  2. 1 Kings 20:16 שִׁכּ֜וֹר drunken

    They marched out at noon while Ben-hadad and the 32 kings allied with him were in their tents getting drunk.

Job · 1

  1. Job 12:25 כַּשִּׁכּֽוֹר׃ like <the> drunkard

    They grope in the darkness without light; He makes them stagger like drunkards.

Psalms · 1

  1. Psalm 107:27 כַּשִּׁכּ֑וֹר like <the> drunkard

    They reeled and staggered like drunkards, and all their skill was useless.

    Here: 'Like the drunkard': the stock figure of a man who cannot control his own legs. The comparison is about helpless bodily motion. It says nothing about the sailors' morals.

Proverbs · 1

  1. Proverbs 26:9 שִׁכּ֑וֹר a drunkard

    Like a thorn that goes into the hand of a drunkard is a proverb in the mouth of a fool.

Isaiah · 4

  1. Isaiah 19:14 שִׁכּ֖וֹר a drunkard

    The LORD has poured into her a spirit of confusion. Egypt has been led astray in all she does, as a drunkard staggers through his own vomit.

    Here: Someone overcome by shēkhār, strong fermented drink such as beer. Here this is the picture of a nation's sages who can no longer walk straight.

  2. Isaiah 24:20 כַּשִּׁכּ֔וֹר like <the> drunkard

    The earth staggers like a drunkard and sways like a shack. Earth’s rebellion weighs it down, and it falls, never to rise again.

    Here: 'Like the drunk', meaning any drunk you have ever watched. The picture is humiliating as well as frightening: the ground everyone relies on behaves like a man who cannot stand.

  3. Isaiah 28:1 שִׁכֹּרֵ֣י [the] drunkards of

    Woe to the majestic crown of Ephraim’s drunkards, to the fading flower of his glorious splendor, set on the summit above the fertile valley, the pride of those overcome by wine.

    Here: Habitual drunkards, not people who are merely cheerful. The crown 'belongs to' them: it is the pride of the elite who drink.

  4. Isaiah 28:3 שִׁכּוֹרֵ֥י [the] drunkards of

    The majestic crown of Ephraim’s drunkards will be trampled underfoot.

    Here: People who are habitually drunk. It points first to the real carousing of Samaria's ruling class (compare Amos 6:6; Hos 7:5). It also becomes a picture of a leadership too dull to see the judgment coming (compare Isa 28:7; 29:9).

Jeremiah · 1

  1. Jeremiah 23:9 שִׁכּ֔וֹר drunken

    As for the prophets: My heart is broken within me, and all my bones tremble. I have become like a drunkard, like a man overcome by wine, because of the LORD, because of His holy words.

    Here: Drunk: staggering, unable to walk straight or think clearly. It is a shameful public picture, and elsewhere in Jeremiah it is a picture of judgment (13:13; 25:27).

Joel · 1

  1. Joel 1:5 שִׁכּוֹרִים֙ O drunkards

    Wake up, you drunkards, and weep; wail, all you drinkers of wine, because of the sweet wine, for it has been cut off from your mouth.

    Here: People who are drunk or often get drunk. It is a word for a state and a habit, not a medical label. Addressed first, with an edge of irony: the people who care most about wine are the first to feel it gone.

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