Hebrew word · H7943

שִׁכָּרוֹן

shikaron

drunkenness

Drunkenness, intoxication. It comes from the root shakar, 'to be drunk', the same root as shekar, 'strong drink'. It is rare and appears mostly in prophets.

Appears 3 times in 3 verses of the Hebrew Old Testament. ·

What it means

drunkenness

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 Ezekiel 39:19

Range of meaning

Drunkenness, intoxication. It comes from the root shakar, 'to be drunk', the same root as shekar, 'strong drink'. It is rare and appears mostly in prophets.

Against the English

'Until you are drunk' is accurate. Like 'to fullness' in the first half of the verse, it describes excess, not a moderate meal.

Used elsewhere in the period

Ezekiel 23:33 says "you will be filled with drunkenness and sorrow, a cup of horror". Jeremiah 13:13 says God will fill the people 'with drunkenness'. Both use drunkenness as a picture of judgment.

Where it appears

Jeremiah · 1

  1. Jeremiah 13:13 שִׁכָּרֽוֹן׃ drunkenness

    then you are to tell them that this is what the LORD says: ‘I am going to fill with drunkenness all who live in this land—the kings who sit on David’s throne, the priests, the prophets, and all the people of Jerusalem.

Ezekiel · 2

  1. Ezekiel 23:33 שִׁכָּר֥וֹן drunkenness

    You will be filled with drunkenness and grief, with a cup of devastation and desolation, the cup of your sister Samaria.

  2. Ezekiel 39:19 לְשִׁכָּר֑וֹן to drunkenness

    At the sacrifice I am preparing, you will eat fat until you are gorged and drink blood until you are drunk.

    Here: "To the point of drunkenness." Blood takes the place of wine, and there is so much of it that the guests reel. Ezekiel uses the same word for the "cup of drunkenness" of judgment (23:33).

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