Hebrew word · H7973

שֶׁ֫לַח

shelach

missile

Noun from שָׁלַח 'to send'. A weapon, often taken as a missile (something 'sent'), so a javelin or dart. Some lexicons allow a more general 'weapon' or even a sword-like arm. In poetic texts it also stands for violent death ('perish by the šelaḥ', Job 33:18; 36:12).

Appears 8 times in 8 verses of the Hebrew Old Testament. ·

What it means

1) weapon, missile, sprout

1a) missile, weapon

1b) sprout, shoot

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 2 Chronicles 32:5

Range of meaning

Noun from שָׁלַח 'to send'. A weapon, often taken as a missile (something 'sent'), so a javelin or dart. Some lexicons allow a more general 'weapon' or even a sword-like arm. In poetic texts it also stands for violent death ('perish by the šelaḥ', Job 33:18; 36:12).

Against the English

KJV and YLT 'darts' reflect the 'sent, thrown' etymology. WEB and BSB use the general 'weapons'. Modern readers may picture small 'darts', which is too small an image.

How it drifted

In 1611 'dart' meant a light throwing-spear or javelin. Today it suggests a small pub-game dart or a blowgun dart.

Used elsewhere in the period

In Neh 4:17 (Heb 4:11) each builder held the šelaḥ in one hand while working with the other, and in Neh 4:23 (Heb 4:17) each kept his šelaḥ. Joel 2:8 describes locusts falling 'through the šelaḥ', meaning weapons cannot stop them. 2 Chr 23:10 also has 'each man with his šelaḥ in his hand'.

From the study of Song of Songs 4:13

Range of meaning

The noun comes from shālaḥ, 'to send, stretch out, let go.' It names whatever is 'sent out' or 'stretched out.' (1) A thrown weapon or javelin (2 Chr 23:10; 32:5; Neh 4:17, 23; Joel 2:8). (2) A water channel or conduit: the 'Pool of Shelah' in Neh 3:15 is linked with Siloam (Shiloaḥ, Isa 8:6). Some also read Job 33:18 and 36:12 as a 'channel' or river of death. (3) Here, a shoot or sprout, what a plant sends out. HALOT and other modern dictionaries treat these as separate senses, or even separate words.

Against the English

KJV and NIV say 'plants,' BSB 'branches,' WEB, ESV and NASB 'shoots,' and NLT 'thighs.' The Strong's gloss 'missile' fits other verses but not this one. 'Plants' and 'branches' lose the sense that these are hers: things growing or flowing out of her.

Used elsewhere in the period

The LXX renders it ἀποστολαί σου ('your sendings-forth'), and the Vulgate emissiones tuae ('your emissions/out-sendings'). Both keep the root idea 'send' and leave its exact meaning open. Hebrew uses related forms such as shilluḥîm (gifts sent off), and the verb shālaḥ is used of a vine 'sending out' its branches (Ps 80:11; Jer 17:8).

Where it appears

2 Chronicles · 2

  1. 2 Chronicles 23:10 שִׁלְח֣וֹ weapon his

    He stationed all the troops, with their weapons in hand, surrounding the king by the altar and the temple, from the south side to the north side of the temple.

  2. 2 Chronicles 32:5 שֶׁ֛לַח weapon[s]

    Then Hezekiah worked resolutely to rebuild all the broken sections of the wall and to raise up towers on it. He also built an outer wall and reinforced the supporting terraces of the City of David, and he produced an abundance of weapons and shields.

    Here: From the verb 'to send'. It is a weapon, probably a thrown or 'sent' one such as a javelin or dart, though some take it as a general term for hand weapons. The singular is used collectively: 'weaponry'.

Nehemiah · 2

  1. Nehemiah 4:17 הַשָּֽׁלַח׃ the weapon

    who were rebuilding the wall. The laborers who carried materials worked with one hand and held a weapon with the other.

  2. Nehemiah 4:23 שִׁלְח֥וֹ weapon his

    So neither I nor my brothers nor my servants nor the guards with me changed out of our clothes; each carried his weapon, even to go for water.

Job · 2

  1. Job 33:18 בַּשָּֽׁלַח׃ by <the> missile

    to preserve his soul from the Pit and his life from perishing by the sword.

  2. Job 36:12 בְּשֶׁ֣לַח by a missile

    But if they do not obey, then they perish by the sword and die without knowledge.

Song of Songs · 1

  1. Song of Songs 4:13 שְׁלָחַ֙יִךְ֙ shoots your

    Your branches are an orchard of pomegranates with the choicest of fruits, with henna and nard,

    Here: From the verb shālaḥ, 'to send out'. Here it most likely means what grows out of her: her shoots, her growth. The 'your' is feminine. The word may also suggest water channels or, more intimately, her body itself (see debates). It is the subject of the sentence. There is no verb: 'your shoots — a royal park.'

Joel · 1

  1. Joel 2:8 הַשֶּׁ֛לַח the weapon[s]

    They do not jostle one another; each proceeds in his path. They burst through the defenses, never breaking ranks.

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