Hebrew word · H7964
שִׁלּוּחִים
shiluchim
parting gift
A noun from shalach, 'to send (away)'. It means the act of sending someone off, or the gift that goes with the sending-off. The same verb, shalach, is the technical word for sending away a wife in divorce (Deuteronomy 24:1-4).
Appears 3 times in 3 verses of the Hebrew Old Testament. ·
What it means
1) sending away, parting gift
1a) sending away
1b) parting gift
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
- Range of meaning
A noun from shalach, 'to send (away)'. It means the act of sending someone off, or the gift that goes with the sending-off. It occurs only three times: Exodus 18:2 (Moses had 'sent away' Zipporah), 1 Kings 9:16 (the city of Gezer, which Pharaoh gave 'as shillukhim' to his daughter, Solomon's wife, which amounts to a dowry), and here. The same verb, shalach, is the technical word for sending away a wife in divorce (Deuteronomy 24:1-4).
- Against the English
KJV and YLT say 'presents', which sounds like any gift. BSB 'farewell gifts' and WEB, ESV and NIV 'parting gift(s)' capture the sense of departure better. None of them can carry the bridal or dowry overtone without a note.
- How it drifted
In the 1600s 'presents' could still mean a formal gift such as tribute or a dowry. Today it suggests birthday or holiday gifts and loses the idea of permanent loss.
- Used elsewhere in the period
Exodus 18:2; 1 Kings 9:16. Compare the related use of shalach for sending off a bride or a wife (Genesis 24:59; Deuteronomy 24:1). Lexicons (BDB, HALOT) give 'parting gift, dowry' for the noun.
Where it appears
Exodus · 1
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Exodus 18:2 שִׁלּוּחֶֽיהָ׃ dismissal<s> her
After Moses had sent back his wife Zipporah, his father-in-law Jethro had received her,
1 Kings · 1
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1 Kings 9:16 שִׁלֻּחִ֔ים dowri<es>
Pharaoh king of Egypt had attacked and captured Gezer. He had set it on fire, killed the Canaanites who lived in the city, and given it as a dowry to his daughter, Solomon’s wife.
Micah · 1
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Micah 1:14 שִׁלּוּחִ֔ים parting gifts
Therefore, send farewell gifts to Moresheth-gath; the houses of Achzib will prove deceptive to the kings of Israel.
Here: From shalach, 'send away'. It is the gift that goes with someone being sent off for good. In 1 Kings 9:16 it is the dowry Pharaoh gave his daughter when she married Solomon. Judah is pictured handing over its own town like a bride leaving her father's house.
Word data: STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0), main text only.