Hebrew word · H8148

שְׁנִינָה

velishninah

taunt

A sharp, cutting word; a taunt or jibe. It comes from 'shanan', to sharpen (a sword, an arrow, a tongue: Ps 64:3; 140:3).

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

What it means

sharp word, sharp (cutting) word, taunt, gibe

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 1 Kings 9:7

Range of meaning

A sharp, cutting word; a taunt or jibe. It comes from 'shanan', to sharpen (a sword, an arrow, a tongue: Ps 64:3; 140:3).

Against the English

KJV/WEB/ESV 'byword', BSB 'ridicule'. In modern English 'byword' often means a model ('a byword for quality'), so readers can miss that the word is a barb.

How it drifted

Older English 'byword' meant an object of scorn. In modern usage it more often means a standard example, which is frequently positive.

Used elsewhere in the period

Found only in Deut 28:37, 1 Kgs 9:7, 2 Chr 7:20 and Jer 24:9. That makes it a fixed piece of covenant-curse vocabulary.

From the study of Deuteronomy 28:37

Range of meaning

From shanan, "to sharpen, whet" (Deut 32:41 "I whet my flashing sword"; Ps 64:3 "who sharpen their tongues like swords"). So a sharp or cutting word: a jibe, a taunt, a sneer. Rare: only Deut 28:37; 1 Kgs 9:7; 2 Chr 7:20; Jer 24:9.

Against the English

KJV/WEB/ESV "byword" is gentler than the Hebrew; NASB "taunt" and NIV "object of ridicule" catch the hostility better. The picture of a blade in the root is lost in every English version.

Used elsewhere in the period

Its four uses are all in this same curse formula or its echoes (1 Kings, 2 Chronicles, Jeremiah), so it seems to have been fixed covenant-curse language.

Where it appears

Deuteronomy · 1

  1. Deuteronomy 28:37 וְלִשְׁנִינָ֑ה and <into> a taunt

    You will become an object of horror, scorn, and ridicule among all the nations to which the LORD will drive you.

    Here: "And into a taunt": from the root "to sharpen" (as a sword or arrow), so a cutting, wounding word aimed at Israel. It is the harshest of the three: open mockery.

1 Kings · 1

  1. 1 Kings 9:7 וְלִשְׁנִינָ֖ה and <into> a taunt

    then I will cut off Israel from the land that I have given them, and I will banish from My presence this temple I have sanctified for My Name. Then Israel will become an object of scorn and ridicule among all peoples.

    Here: From a root meaning 'to sharpen'. A cutting remark, a jibe aimed at someone. The word is rare and appears only in this covenant-curse formula.

2 Chronicles · 1

  1. 2 Chronicles 7:20 וְלִשְׁנִינָ֖ה and into a taunt

    then I will uproot Israel from the soil I have given them, and I will banish from My presence this temple I have sanctified for My Name. I will make it an object of scorn and ridicule among all the peoples.

    Here: 'And a taunt.' The word comes from the root for 'sharpen', so it means a cutting jibe. Together with mashal it is a stock pair taken from Deuteronomy's list of covenant curses.

Jeremiah · 1

  1. Jeremiah 24:9 לִשְׁנִינָ֣ה into a taunt

    I will make them a horror and an offense to all the kingdoms of the earth, a disgrace and an object of scorn, ridicule, and cursing wherever I have banished them.

    Here: 'Into a taunt.' From a root meaning 'to sharpen', so a pointed, cutting jibe. It is paired with 'byword' in Deuteronomy 28:37 and 1 Kings 9:7.

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