שָׁפַךְ

From the study of Proverbs 1:16

Range of meaning

Shapak means to pour out (water, liquid offerings, the blood of an animal at the altar, anger). 'Pour out blood' is the fixed phrase for taking human life by violence, which is murder.

Against the English

'Shed blood' is a faithful old English phrase, though it can now sound poetic or remote. NLT's 'commit murder' makes the meaning plain but loses the vivid picture of blood poured on the ground.

Used elsewhere in the period

Gen 9:6, 'Whoever sheds the blood of man, by man shall his blood be shed'. Deut 21:7, 'our hands did not shed this blood'. Ezek 22 repeatedly calls Jerusalem a city that sheds blood. In Israelite law, innocent blood that was shed polluted the land and had to be answered for (Num 35:33).

From the study of Proverbs 6:17

Range of meaning

To pour out or spill: water, drink offerings, the blood of sacrifices at the altar base, dust, wrath, the heart in prayer (1 Sam 1:15), one's soul. With "blood" (shāphak dām) it is the standard Hebrew phrase for killing a person (Gen 9:6; Num 35:33).

Against the English

"Shed" (BSB, KJV, ESV, NIV, NASB, WEB) is the right idiom. NLT's "kill" gives the result but loses the picture of blood poured onto the ground. The supplied gloss "kill" is a meaning taken from context; the verb itself means "pour out."

Used elsewhere in the period

Gen 9:6 ("whoever sheds the blood of man, by man shall his blood be shed"). Num 35:33 (blood pollutes the land, and no atonement is possible except by the blood of the one who shed it). Deut 12:16, 24 (animal blood "poured out on the ground like water"). Prov 1:16 ("they hurry to shed blood").

From the study of Psalm 62:8

Range of meaning

To pour out or spill a liquid: water (Exod 4:9), blood shed in violence or poured at the base of the altar (Lev 4:7), molten metal. Figuratively: to pour out wrath, the Spirit (Joel 2:28 [3:1]), the soul or a complaint before God.

Against the English

"Pour out" is an accurate rendering. What English can lose is how complete and physical the image is. A poured vessel is emptied, and what is spilled cannot be gathered back.

Used elsewhere in the period

Close parallels: Hannah, "I have been pouring out my soul before YHWH" (1 Sam 1:15). "Pour out your heart like water before the face of the Lord" (Lam 2:19). "I pour out my soul" (Ps 42:4 [Heb 42:5]). "I pour out my complaint before him" (Ps 142:2 [Heb 142:3]). The heading of Psalm 102 speaks of one who "pours out his complaint before YHWH".