Hebrew word · H8105

שֶׁ֫מֶר

shemarim

dreg

Lees or dregs: the sediment of dead yeast and grape solids at the bottom of a wine vessel. By extension it means wine left to age on that sediment, which makes it stronger and fuller in flavour. Ps 75:8 uses it for the dregs of the cup of wrath that the wicked must drain.

Appears 5 times in 4 verses of the Hebrew Old Testament. ·

What it means

lees, dregs

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 Isaiah 25:6

Range of meaning

Lees or dregs: the sediment of dead yeast and grape solids at the bottom of a wine vessel. By extension it means wine left to age on that sediment, which makes it stronger and fuller in flavour. Ps 75:8 uses it for the dregs of the cup of wrath that the wicked must drain.

Against the English

KJV 'wines on the lees' is accurate but now opaque. 'Dregs' sounds like the worst part. BSB 'aged wine' and ESV 'well-aged wine' give the sense well.

How it drifted

'Lees' has dropped out of everyday English, and 'dregs' now means leftovers. The Hebrew, in this setting, means the opposite: high quality.

Used elsewhere in the period

Elsewhere the image of wine resting on its lees is turned against people. Moab is 'settled on his lees', undisturbed and complacent (Jer 48:11), and the complacent of Jerusalem 'are thickened on their lees' (Zeph 1:12). Here the image is purely positive: the wine has matured fully.

From the study of Psalm 75:8

Range of meaning

Lees or dregs: the sediment that settles in wine. It can be good: 'well-aged wine on the lees, refined' (Isa 25:6). It can mean being complacent and undisturbed: Moab 'settled on its lees' (Jer 48:11), and those 'thickening on their lees' (Zeph 1:12).

Against the English

'Dregs' is accurate. The phrase 'to the dregs' in English actually comes from this biblical image.

Used elsewhere in the period

Isaiah 51:17 is the closest parallel: Jerusalem 'drank from the LORD's hand the cup of his wrath… the bowl of staggering you drank, you drained (māṣît)'. It has the same verb, māṣāh, as here.

From the study of Jeremiah 48:11

Range of meaning

Lees or dregs: the sediment of fermented wine. The word probably comes from the root 'to keep, preserve' (what 'keeps' at the bottom). It is used for (1) choice aged wine kept on its lees for strength and flavor (Isa 25:6, 'wine on the lees, well refined'), (2) the bitter dregs of the cup of wrath (Ps 75:8), and (3) a figure for stagnant complacency (Zeph 1:12, people 'thickening on their lees' who say God will do nothing).

Against the English

'Lees' (KJV) is accurate but obscure to most readers today. 'Dregs' (WEB, BSB) is clearer but sounds only negative in modern English ('the dregs of society'), when lees could be a mark of quality wine. YLT's 'preserved things' follows the root meaning too literally and loses the picture.

Used elsewhere in the period

Isa 25:6 is positive, Zeph 1:12 is negative, and Ps 75:8 is about judgment. Ancient winemakers left new wine on its lees for a time to deepen its flavor, then decanted it so it would not turn thick, harsh or spoiled (see Walsh, The Fruit of the Vine).

Similar words

Where it appears

Psalms · 1

  1. Psalm 75:8 שְׁ֭מָרֶיהָ dregs its

    For a cup is in the hand of the LORD, full of foaming wine mixed with spices. He pours from His cup, and all the wicked of the earth drink it down to the dregs.

    Here: The sediment at the bottom of the cup. 'Its' is feminine and points back to the cup. To get to the dregs means drinking everything, down to the thickest and most bitter part.

Isaiah · 2

  1. Isaiah 25:6 שְׁמָרִ֑ים שְׁמָרִ֖ים old wine<s>

    On this mountain the LORD of Hosts will prepare a lavish banquet for all the peoples, a feast of aged wine, of choice meat, of finely aged wine.

    Here: Literally 'lees', the sediment of yeast and grape matter that wine sits on while it ages. A 'feast of lees' means a feast of wine left to mature on its sediment: strong, full-flavoured, well aged. It sounds almost the same as šəmānîm (rich foods), and the poet means you to hear the pair.

Jeremiah · 1

  1. Jeremiah 48:11 שְׁמָרָ֔יו lees its

    Moab has been at ease from youth, settled like wine on its dregs; he has not been poured from vessel to vessel or gone into exile. So his flavor has remained the same, and his aroma is unchanged.

    Here: The sediment (dead yeast, bits of skin and pulp) that sinks to the bottom of fermenting wine. 'His lees' turns Moab into a jar of wine that has been left sitting on its sediment.

Zephaniah · 1

  1. Zephaniah 1:12 שִׁמְרֵיהֶ֔ם lees their

    And at that time I will search Jerusalem with lamps and punish the men settled in complacency, who say to themselves, ‘The LORD will do nothing, either good or bad.’

    Here: 'Their lees': the yeast and grape sediment that settles at the bottom of a wine jar. The word is related to shamar, 'to keep', so it is what is left kept in the jar. Wine left on it too long turns thick and syrupy.

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