Hebrew word · H8132

שָׁנָא

veshina'

to change

To change, alter, make different. In the intensive form used here it means to alter something or swap it for something else. The ordinary spelling ends in -he (שׁנה). This verse spells it with a final aleph (שׁנא), a spelling found in later Hebrew and in Aramaic.

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

What it means

1) to change, alter

1a) (Qal) to change

1b) (Piel) to change, alter

1c) (Pual) to be changed

Aramaic equivalent: she.na (שְׁנָא "to change" H8133)

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 Kings 25:29

Range of meaning

To change, alter, make different. In the intensive form used here it means to alter something or swap it for something else. The ordinary spelling ends in -he (שׁנה). This verse spells it with a final aleph (שׁנא), a spelling found in later Hebrew and in Aramaic.

Against the English

KJV, WEB and YLT keep 'changed' and leave the subject open. BSB and others add 'Jehoiachin' as the subject. NLT and the Latin Vulgate make the Babylonian king the one who changes or supplies the clothes.

Used elsewhere in the period

The same aleph spelling shows up in Lamentations 4:1, 'How the gold has grown dim, how the fine gold is changed!' There the change is a fall from glory. Here it is a partial restoration. Changing clothes as a sign of a change in status is a known biblical pattern: Joseph is shaved and changes his clothes before standing in front of Pharaoh (Gen 41:14, with a different verb), the high priest Joshua has his filthy garments taken off (Zech 3:3–5), and Mordecai is dressed in royal robes (Esth 6:11; 8:15).

From the study of Ecclesiastes 8:1

Range of meaning

To change, alter, be different. The pual (passive) means 'be changed'. It is spelled here with a final aleph, a late or Aramaic-influenced spelling of šānâ.

Against the English

All the major English versions say 'changed'. The real choice is whether the hard face 'is changed' (passive, as in the Hebrew text) or wisdom 'changes' it (active, as in NIV and NLT, and what some scholars propose). The sense is close either way.

Used elsewhere in the period

Lamentations 4:1: 'how the fine gold is changed' (yišneʾ), spelled with aleph. 1 Samuel 21:13: David 'changed his behaviour/sense' (wayšanneh ʾet-ṭaʿmô), putting on a mask of madness before a king. Job 14:20: God 'changes his face' at death. Ben Sira 13:25: the heart 'changes the face'.

Similar words

Where it appears

2 Kings · 1

  1. 2 Kings 25:29 וְשִׁנָּ֕א and he changed

    So Jehoiachin changed out of his prison clothes, and he dined regularly at the king’s table for the rest of his life.

    Here: An intensive form meaning to change or alter something, here swapping one set of clothes for another. The Hebrew does not name who did the changing. It could be Jehoiachin, or the Babylonian king who had him re-clothed. Either way the moment marks a change of status.

Ecclesiastes · 1

  1. Ecclesiastes 8:1 יְשֻׁנֶּֽא׃ it is changed

    Who is like the wise man? Who knows the interpretation of a matter? A man’s wisdom brightens his face, and the sternness of his face is changed.

    Here: A passive form of 'change' (the usual verb šānâ, spelled here with a final aleph, as in Lamentations 4:1). The hard face is altered, softened or transformed. The ancient Greek translators read a near-identical word meaning 'is hated'.

Lamentations · 1

  1. Lamentations 4:1 יִשְׁנֶ֖א it is changed

    How the gold has become tarnished, the pure gold has become dull! The gems of the temple lie scattered on every street corner.

    Here: "Is changed." The word is plain and leaves the result unstated, which makes it all the more bleak: the gold is no longer what it was. The spelling with a final aleph is a variant of the usual Hebrew verb and resembles Aramaic.

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