Hebrew word · H8152

שִׁנְעָר

shin'ar

Shinar

A geographical name for southern Mesopotamia (Babylonia). Its origin is debated; it may relate to a term used in Egyptian and Hittite texts for the region (Sanhar). In the Bible it is rare and carries an old-fashioned feel.

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

What it means

§ Shinar = "country of two rivers"

the ancient name for the territory later known as Babylonia or Chaldea

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 Daniel 1:2

Range of meaning

A geographical name for southern Mesopotamia (Babylonia). Its origin is debated; it may relate to a term used in Egyptian and Hittite texts for the region (Sanhar). In the Bible it is rare and carries an old-fashioned feel.

Against the English

KJV, ESV, NASB, BSB, WEB keep 'Shinar.' NIV and NLT put 'Babylonia,' which is geographically correct but removes the allusion.

Used elsewhere in the period

Genesis 10:10 (Nimrod's kingdom: Babel, Erech, Akkad 'in the land of Shinar'); Genesis 11:2 (the Tower of Babel built on a plain in Shinar); Genesis 14:1; Joshua 7:21 (a fine 'mantle of Shinar'); Isaiah 11:11; Zechariah 5:11 (the woman called Wickedness is carried in a basket to 'the land of Shinar' to have a house built for her).

From the study of Genesis 10:10

Range of meaning

The biblical name for the land of southern Mesopotamia (Babylonia). It occurs in Gen 10:10; 11:2; 14:1, 9 (Amraphel king of Shinar); Josh 7:21 ("a fine mantle from Shinar"); Isa 11:11; Zech 5:11; Dan 1:2.

Against the English

Most versions keep "Shinar". Some paraphrases (e.g. NLT) put "Babylonia", which helps the modern reader but loses the old name and the echo of 11:2 and Dan 1:2.

Used elsewhere in the period

It most likely corresponds to Šanḫar, a name for Babylonia in 2nd-millennium BC Amarna letters, Hittite texts and Egyptian records (Sngr). An older guess derived it from "Sumer", but most scholars now doubt that.

From the study of Genesis 14:1

Range of meaning

In the Hebrew Bible, always the land of Babylonia (lower Mesopotamia): Genesis 10:10; 11:2; Joshua 7:21 ("a fine cloak from Shinar"); Isaiah 11:11; Daniel 1:2; Zechariah 5:11.

Against the English

Most versions keep "Shinar", which few readers recognise. The NLT's "Babylonia" is geographically accurate but loses the Genesis echo of Babel.

Used elsewhere in the period

A similar name appears outside the Bible in the Late Bronze Age: Sngr in Egyptian texts, Šanḫar in the Amarna letters, Šanḫara in Hittite sources. It is generally taken to refer to Babylonia (then under Kassite rule) or a region of upper Mesopotamia. The Septuagint renders it Σεννααρ (Sennaar). The Targums and the Genesis Apocryphon translate it as "Babel".

Where it appears

Genesis · 4

  1. Genesis 10:10 שִׁנְעָֽר׃ Shinar

    His kingdom began in Babylon, Erech, Accad, and Calneh, in the land of Shinar.

    Here: The Bible's name for the whole southern Mesopotamian plain, roughly Babylonia (Sumer and Akkad together). Gen 11:2 sets the tower story in the same land.

  2. Genesis 11:2 שִׁנְעָ֖ר Shinar

    And as people journeyed eastward, they found a plain in the land of Shinar and settled there.

  3. Genesis 14:1 שִׁנְעָ֔ר Shinar

    In those days Amraphel king of Shinar, Arioch king of Ellasar, Chedorlaomer king of Elam, and Tidal king of Goiim

    Here: The Hebrew name for Babylonia, the southern Mesopotamian plain. It is the land of Nimrod's cities (Genesis 10:10) and of the tower of Babel (11:2), so listeners would hear an echo of those stories here.

  4. Genesis 14:9 שִׁנְעָ֔ר Shinar

    against Chedorlaomer king of Elam, Tidal king of Goiim, Amraphel king of Shinar, and Arioch king of Ellasar—four kings against five.

Joshua · 1

  1. Joshua 7:21 שִׁנְעָר֩ Shinar

    When I saw among the spoils a beautiful cloak from Shinar, two hundred shekels of silver, and a bar of gold weighing fifty shekels, I coveted them and took them. They are hidden in the ground inside my tent, with the silver underneath.”

    Here: The biblical name for southern Mesopotamia (Babylonia), the land of Babel (Gen 11:2). This was an imported luxury textile from far away, found in a Canaanite city.

Isaiah · 1

  1. Isaiah 11:11 וּמִשִּׁנְעָר֙ and from Shinar

    On that day the Lord will extend His hand a second time to recover the remnant of His people from Assyria, from Egypt, from Pathros, from Cush, from Elam, from Shinar, from Hamath, and from the islands of the sea.

    Here: An old name for Babylonia, the land of the tower of Babel (Gen 11:2). It carries overtones of the primeval scattering of peoples.

Daniel · 1

  1. Daniel 1:2 שִׁנְעָ֖ר Shinar

    And the Lord delivered into his hand Jehoiakim king of Judah, along with some of the articles from the house of God. He carried these off to the land of Shinar, to the house of his god, where he put them in the treasury of his god.

    Here: An old, rare name for southern Mesopotamia, best known as the place where the Tower of Babel was built (Genesis 11:2). Using it instead of 'Babylon' casts the empire as Babel again.

Zechariah · 1

  1. Zechariah 5:11 שִׁנְעָ֑ר Shinar

    “To build a house for it in the land of Shinar,” he told me. “And when it is ready, the basket will be set there on its pedestal.”

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