Hebrew word · H7939

שָׂכָר

sakhar

wages

Wages for labor (Gen 31:8; Exod 2:9; Zech 8:10), a hiring fee or fare (Jon 1:3), and payment or recompense more broadly, including God's recompense (Gen 15:1, "your reward shall be very great"; Isa 40:10).

Appears 28 times in 25 verses of the Hebrew Old Testament. ·

What it means

1) hire, wages

1a) wages

1b) reward, pay

1c) fare, fee, passage-money

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 127:3

Range of meaning

Wages for labor (Gen 31:8; Exod 2:9; Zech 8:10), a hiring fee or fare (Jon 1:3), and payment or recompense more broadly, including God's recompense (Gen 15:1, "your reward shall be very great"; Isa 40:10).

Against the English

Every major version uses "reward". In modern English that word often suggests a prize earned by merit or good behavior. The Hebrew word comes from the world of pay. Here, though, the line parallels it with "inheritance", which nobody earns.

How it drifted

"Reward" in English drifted toward "prize for performance". Read that way, the verse can sound as though children are handed out for good conduct and childlessness is a penalty.

Used elsewhere in the period

Genesis 30:18 is a close parallel. Leah names her son Issachar, saying "God has given me my śākār", and the name puns on the word. Children as God's payment was a familiar idea. In Gen 15:1–5, Yahweh's promised "reward" turns out to be offspring.

From the study of Deuteronomy 24:15

Range of meaning

Wages, hire, payment for work. Also used figuratively for a reward (Gen 15:1). It shares a root with śākîr, 'hired worker' (v.14), a free laborer hired by the day or for a fixed term, as distinct from a slave or a family member.

Against the English

'Hire' (KJV, YLT) is archaic for 'wages'. Translations are otherwise accurate.

Used elsewhere in the period

Lev 19:13: 'the wages (pĕʿullat) of a hired worker shall not remain with you overnight until morning.' Jer 22:13 condemns a king who 'makes his neighbor work for nothing and does not give him his wages.' Mal 3:5: God will witness against 'those who oppress the hired worker in his wages.' The Laws of Hammurabi (§§257–261, 273) set wage rates for hired field hands and laborers, which shows wage labor was common in the ancient Near East.

From the study of 2 Chronicles 15:7

Range of meaning

Wages, hire, the pay due to a hired worker (Gen 30:28, 32–33; 31:8). Fare or hire price (Jonah 1:3, 'he paid its fare'). Then, more broadly, the return or reward God gives (Gen 15:1, 'your reward shall be very great'; Ps 127:3, children as 'a reward'; Isa 40:10; 62:11).

Against the English

'Reward' can suggest a bonus, a prize, or something postponed to heaven. The Hebrew word rests on the picture of wages: what labour actually earns, paid by an employer who keeps faith. 'Will be rewarded' (most versions) also turns a statement that something exists ('there is a wage') into a future passive.

How it drifted

Modern English 'reward' leans toward an extra, optional gift or an afterlife prize. The concrete wage picture fades.

Used elsewhere in the period

Jeremiah 31:16 has the identical clause, ki yesh sakhar lif'ullatekh, 'for there is a wage for your work', said to Rachel weeping for her exiled children. Zechariah 8:10 says of the years before the temple was rebuilt: 'there was no wage for man… and no peace for the one going out or coming in.' 2 Chronicles 15:5 repeats that second phrase almost word for word.

Similar words

Where it appears

Genesis · 7

  1. Genesis 15:1 שְׂכָרְךָ֖ reward your

    After these events, the word of the LORD came to Abram in a vision: “Do not be afraid, Abram. I am your shield, your very great reward.”

    Here: 'Your wage / your pay.' This means payment owed for service, here coming right after Abram refused any share of the war spoils.

  2. Genesis 30:18 שְׂכָרִ֔י reward my

    Then Leah said, “God has rewarded me for giving my maidservant to my husband.” So she named him Issachar.

  3. Genesis 30:28 שְׂכָרְךָ֛ wage[s] your

    And he added, “Name your wages, and I will pay them.”

  4. Genesis 30:32 שְׂכָרִֽי׃ wage[s] my

    Let me go through all your flocks today and remove from them every speckled or spotted sheep, every dark-colored lamb, and every spotted or speckled goat. These will be my wages.

  5. Genesis 30:33 שְׂכָרִ֖י wage[s] my

    So my honesty will testify for me when you come to check on my wages in the future. If I have any goats that are not speckled or spotted, or any lambs that are not dark-colored, they will be considered stolen.”

  6. Genesis 31:8 שְׂכָרֶ֔ךָ שְׂכָרֶ֔ךָ wage[s] your

    If he said, ‘The speckled will be your wages,’ then the whole flock bore speckled offspring. If he said, ‘The streaked will be your wages,’ then the whole flock bore streaked offspring.

Exodus · 2

  1. Exodus 2:9 שְׂכָרֵ֑ךְ wage[s] your

    Pharaoh’s daughter said to her, “Take this child and nurse him for me, and I will pay your wages.” So the woman took the boy and nursed him.

  2. Exodus 22:15 בִּשְׂכָרֽוֹ׃ ס for hire its

    If the owner was present, no restitution is required. If the animal was rented, the fee covers the loss.

Numbers · 1

  1. Numbers 18:31 שָׂכָ֥ר [is] wage[s]

    And you and your households may eat the rest of it anywhere; it is the compensation for your work at the Tent of Meeting.

Deuteronomy · 2

  1. Deuteronomy 15:18 שְׂכַ֣ר [the] hire of

    Do not regard it as a hardship to set your servant free, because his six years of service were worth twice the wages of a hired hand. And the LORD your God will bless you in all you do.

  2. Deuteronomy 24:15 שְׂכָר֜וֹ wage[s] his

    You are to pay his wages each day before sunset, because he is poor and depends on them. Otherwise he may cry out to the LORD against you, and you will be guilty of sin.

    Here: "His wage." This is the agreed pay of the hired man (śākîr, v.14) from the same root. The "his" marks it as his property from the moment the work is done.

1 Kings · 1

  1. 1 Kings 5:6 וּשְׂכַ֤ר and [the] wage[s] of

    Now therefore, order that cedars of Lebanon be cut down for me. My servants will be with your servants, and I will pay your servants whatever wages you set, for you know that there are none among us as skilled in logging as the Sidonians.”

    Here: The pay for hired work, the same word used for Jacob's wages from Laban. This is a commercial deal, not tribute or a gift.

2 Chronicles · 1

  1. 2 Chronicles 15:7 שָׂכָ֖ר [is] reward

    But as for you, be strong; do not be discouraged, for your work will be rewarded.”

    Here: Basically a worker's pay, what labour earns (Gen 30:28; Zech 8:10). Here it is the return God gives for faithful effort. In the following verses that return is concrete: God lets himself be found, and the land gets rest and peace (15:15, 19).

Psalms · 1

  1. Psalm 127:3 שָׂ֝כָ֗ר [is] a reward

    Children are indeed a heritage from the LORD, and the fruit of the womb is His reward.

    Here: Basically a worker's pay or a hiring fee. It stands in parallel with "inheritance", so here it means what Yahweh pays out of his own hand, in contrast to the bread that anxious toil tries to earn in verse 2.

Ecclesiastes · 2

  1. Ecclesiastes 4:9 שָׂכָ֥ר [is] a reward

    Two are better than one, because they have a good return for their labor.

    Here: The pay or yield that work brings. It is an economic word (a hired man's wage, a fare, the hire of an animal), used here for the real return two people get from working together.

  2. Ecclesiastes 9:5 שָׂכָ֔ר a reward

    For the living know that they will die, but the dead know nothing. They have no further reward, because the memory of them is forgotten.

    Here: The pay a worker earns, the return on labour. In a book obsessed with what a person gains from all their toil, the dead no longer draw any earnings from life. It sounds very like zikhram ('their remembrance') at the end of the verse.

Isaiah · 2

  1. Isaiah 40:10 שְׂכָרוֹ֙ reward his

    Behold, the Lord GOD comes with might, and His arm establishes His rule. His reward is with Him, and His recompense accompanies Him.

    Here: 'His wages.' This is the pay earned by labour, and in Ezek 29:18–20 it means the plunder a king's army earns on campaign. Here it is the prize the divine warrior has won and now carries home.

  2. Isaiah 62:11 שְׂכָרוֹ֙ reward his

    Behold, the LORD has proclaimed to the ends of the earth, “Say to Daughter Zion: See, your Savior comes! Look, His reward is with Him, and His recompense goes before Him.”

    Here: The ordinary word for a worker's pay or a soldier's earnings. 'His' points to the arriving one, so these are the wages he has earned and carries with him.

Jeremiah · 1

  1. Jeremiah 31:16 שָׂכָ֤ר [will be] a reward

    This is what the LORD says: “Keep your voice from weeping and your eyes from tears, for the reward for your work will come, declares the LORD. Then your children will return from the land of the enemy.

    Here: A wage: the pay owed for work done. In Rachel's own story this word names the 'hire' Leah paid to spend a night with Jacob and the son born from it (Gen 30:16–18), and Ps 127:3 calls children 'a wage' from the LORD. The pay Rachel is promised turns out to be her children (v. 16b–17).

Ezekiel · 2

  1. Ezekiel 29:18 וְ֠שָׂכָר and wage[s]

    “Son of man, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon caused his army to labor strenuously against Tyre. Every head was made bald and every shoulder made raw. But he and his army received no wages from Tyre for the labor they expended on it.

  2. Ezekiel 29:19 שָׂכָ֖ר wage[s]

    Therefore this is what the Lord GOD says: I will give the land of Egypt to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, who will carry off its wealth, seize its spoil, and remove its plunder. This will be the wages for his army.

Jonah · 1

  1. Jonah 1:3 שְׂכָרָ֜הּ fare its

    Jonah, however, got up to flee to Tarshish, away from the presence of the LORD. He went down to Joppa and found a ship bound for Tarshish. So he paid the fare and went aboard to sail for Tarshish, away from the presence of the LORD.

    Here: The feminine "her" refers to the ship. It is the payment owed for the ship, meaning his passage. Jewish tradition read it as the hire of the whole ship (see debates).

Zechariah · 4

  1. Zechariah 8:10 שְׂכַ֤ר וּשְׂכַ֥ר [the] wage[s] of, and [the] wage[s] of

    For before those days neither man nor beast received wages, nor was there safety from the enemy for anyone who came or went, for I had turned every man against his neighbor.

  2. Zechariah 11:12 שְׂכָרִ֖י שְׂכָרִ֖י wage[s] my

    Then I told them, “If it seems right to you, give me my wages; but if not, keep them.” So they weighed out my wages, thirty pieces of silver.

    Here: The pay owed to a hired worker. Here it is a hired shepherd's pay, as with Jacob and Laban (Genesis 29–31). The shepherd is closing his account with his employers.

Malachi · 1

  1. Malachi 3:5 שְׂכַר־ <of> [the] hire of

    “Then I will draw near to you for judgment. And I will be a swift witness against sorcerers and adulterers and perjurers, against oppressors of the widowed and fatherless, and against those who defraud laborers of their wages and deny justice to the foreigner but do not fear Me,” says the LORD of Hosts.

    Here: The pay owed for work. The wrong is cheating or holding back a day-labourer's pay, which the Torah required to be paid before sunset.

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