Hebrew word · H8058

שָׁמַט

tashmet

to release

The root idea is letting something go or letting it drop. The passive form here means 'be released' or 'be thrown down'.

Appears 9 times in 8 verses of the Hebrew Old Testament. · Updated October 31, 2026

What it means

1) to release, let drop or loose or rest or fall

1a) (Qal) to let drop or fall

1b) (Niphal) to be made to fall down, be thrown down

1c) (Hiphil)

1c1) to cause to let drop

1c2) to release, let drop

Abridged from Brown, Driver and Briggs, A Hebrew and English Lexicon of the Old Testament (1906), via STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0).

Range of meaning: The root idea is letting something go or letting it drop. That covers: (1) letting the ground lie fallow, or cancelling debts in the seventh year (Exod 23:11; Deut 15:1–3, where the noun shemittah means 'release'); (2) letting something fall or throwing it down (2 Sam 6:6, the oxen stumble or let slip; 2 Kgs 9:33, 'throw her down'). The passive form here means 'be released' or 'be thrown down'.
Against the English: KJV 'overthrown' and BSB/ESV/WEB 'thrown down' all choose the physical sense. YLT's 'released' is the most literal, but in English it sounds like being set free, which is almost certainly the wrong picture here.
How it drifted: KJV's 'overthrown' now suggests political overthrow, a coup or a toppled government. The Hebrew pictures bodies actually falling.
Used elsewhere in the period: 2 Kings 9:33 uses this verb when Jezebel is thrown from the window and dies on the pavement. Deuteronomy 15 uses it for the debt-release year. The Septuagint here has katepothēsan, 'they were swallowed up'. That is either a guess at an unclear text or a reading of a different verb.

Range of meaning: Basic meaning: let fall, let drop, let loose (2 Sam 6:6, the oxen 'stumbled/let slip'; 2 Kgs 9:33, Jezebel 'thrown down'). In Israel's law it is the technical verb for the seventh-year 'release': leaving the land unworked (Exod 23:11, 'you shall let it drop'), and the creditor letting go of a debt (Deut 15:2, 'every creditor shall release what his hand lent'). The noun shemittah ('release') comes from it (Deut 15:1, 9; 31:10).
Against the English: KJV/WEB 'discontinue from', BSB 'relinquish', NIV 'lose', NASB 'let go of'. All of these get the loss across. None lets an English reader hear the sabbatical 'release' behind the word, and that legal echo is the sting of the line.
Used elsewhere in the period: Exod 23:11; Deut 15:1–3, 9; 31:10; 2 Sam 6:6; 2 Kgs 9:33; Ps 141:6. The connection between neglected sabbatical years and exile is spelled out in Lev 26:34–35, 43 ('then the land shall enjoy its sabbaths'). 2 Chr 36:21 applies it to the Babylonian exile 'to fulfil the word of the LORD by the mouth of Jeremiah.' Jer 34:8–22 tells how Judah proclaimed a release of slaves in Zedekiah's time and then took it back.

Exodus · 1

Exodus 23:11 תִּשְׁמְטֶ֣נָּה you will let rest it

but in the seventh year you must let it rest and lie fallow, so that the poor among your people may eat from the field and the wild animals may consume what they leave. Do the same with your vineyard and olive grove.

Deuteronomy · 2

Deuteronomy 15:2 שָׁמ֗וֹט he will remit

This is the manner of remission: Every creditor shall cancel what he has loaned to his neighbor. He is not to collect anything from his neighbor or brother, because the LORD’s time of release has been proclaimed.
Deuteronomy 15:3 תַּשְׁמֵ֥ט let it release

You may collect something from a foreigner, but you must forgive whatever your brother owes you.

2 Samuel · 1

2 Samuel 6:6 שָׁמְט֖וּ they had stumbled

When they came to the threshing floor of Nacon, Uzzah reached out and took hold of the ark of God, because the oxen had stumbled.

2 Kings · 2

2 Kings 9:33 שִׁמְט֖וּהָ וַֽיִּשְׁמְט֑וּהָ let fall her, and they let fall her

“Throw her down!” yelled Jehu. So they threw her down, and her blood splattered on the wall and on the horses as they trampled her underfoot.

1 Chronicles · 1

1 Chronicles 13:9 שָֽׁמְט֖וּ they stumbled

When they came to the threshing floor of Chidon, Uzzah reached out and took hold of the ark, because the oxen had stumbled.

Psalms · 1

Psalm 141:6 נִשְׁמְט֣וּ they have been thrown down

When their rulers are thrown down from the cliffs, the people will listen to my words, for they are pleasant.

Here: A passive form: 'they have been let drop / thrown down'. The same verb is used when Jezebel is thrown from the window (2 Kings 9:33). It opens the verse, so the fall comes first and the subject ('their judges') is held back to the end of the line.

Jeremiah · 1

Jeremiah 17:4 וְשָׁמַטְתָּ֗ה and you will let fall

And you yourself will relinquish the inheritance that I gave you. I will enslave you to your enemies in a land that you do not know, for you have kindled My anger; it will burn forever.”

Here: 'And you will let go / let drop.' This is the verb of the sabbatical-year 'release' (Deut 15:1–3; Exod 23:11). Judah, which never gave the land and its debtors their release, will now be made to release the land itself.

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