Hebrew word · H8239

שָׁפַת

shefot

to set

A rare verb meaning 'to set, place', specifically to put a pot on the fire or hearth. Its few uses: setting a cooking pot on the fire (2 Kings 4:38; Ezekiel 24:3), God laying the sufferer 'in the dust of death' (Psalm 22:15), and here God 'setting' peace.

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

What it means

1) to set, place, put, ordain

1a) (Qal)

1a1) to set

1a2) to ordain, establish

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 26:12

Range of meaning

A rare verb meaning 'to set, place', specifically to put a pot on the fire or hearth. Its few uses: setting a cooking pot on the fire (2 Kings 4:38; Ezekiel 24:3), God laying the sufferer 'in the dust of death' (Psalm 22:15), and here God 'setting' peace. Lexicons (BDB, HALOT) list the cooking sense as basic and give 'establish, bestow' for this verse.

Against the English

English versions use 'ordain' (KJV, WEB), 'establish' (BSB, NASB, NIV), 'appoint' (YLT) or 'grant' (NLT). All are fair. None keeps the ordinary, kitchen-hearth feel of the Hebrew: God puts peace in place the way you set the pot on the fire.

How it drifted

'Ordain' has narrowed in modern English toward church ordination or formal decree. When the KJV was made it also meant 'arrange, set in order', which fits the Hebrew better.

Used elsewhere in the period

2 Kings 4:38 (Elisha: 'set on the great pot'); Ezekiel 24:3 ('set on the pot, set it on'); Psalm 22:15. The Septuagint here simply says 'give' (dos), and the Latin Vulgate 'you will give' (dabis). Both translators heard the verb as 'bestow'.

From the study of Psalm 22:15

Range of meaning

To set, put, place. It is used specifically of setting a cooking pot on the fire (2 Kgs 4:38; Ezek 24:3), and more generally of 'ordaining, establishing' (Isa 26:12, 'you establish peace for us'). It is a rare verb (5 uses).

Against the English

BSB/ESV/NASB 'you lay me' keep the present sense of the Hebrew imperfect. KJV/WEB 'thou hast brought me' turn it into a completed past, and add a sense of movement ('brought') that the verb does not really carry.

Used elsewhere in the period

2 Kgs 4:38 and Ezek 24:3 ('set on the pot'); Isa 26:12. The Septuagint uses katēgages, 'you led down', interpreting it as descent.

From the study of Ezekiel 24:3

Range of meaning

To set or place, especially a cooking pot on the fire or hearth stones. It is rare and almost always tied to pots or to setting something firmly in place.

Against the English

'Set on' (KJV, ESV), 'put on' (NASB, NIV), 'put the pot on the fire' (BSB, WEB, which add 'fire' to bring out the verb's sense). YLT turns it into an infinitive, 'to set on'. None distorts it, though the doubled command is sometimes smoothed away.

Used elsewhere in the period

2 Kgs 4:38: Elisha says, 'Set on the great pot (shefot hassir haggedolah) and boil stew for the sons of the prophets.' This is the same phrase, and the pot in that story turns out to contain 'death'. Ps 22:16 (Eng 22:15): 'you set me in the dust of death'. Isa 26:12: 'you will establish peace for us'.

Similar words

Where it appears

2 Kings · 1

  1. 2 Kings 4:38 שְׁפֹת֙ put on

    When Elisha returned to Gilgal, there was a famine in the land. As the sons of the prophets were sitting at his feet, he said to his attendant, “Put on the large pot and boil some stew for the sons of the prophets.”

    Here: A rare word for setting a pot on the fire or on its hearth-stones. Ezekiel 24:3 uses exactly the same phrase, 'set on the pot'.

Psalms · 1

  1. Psalm 22:15 תִּשְׁפְּתֵֽנִי׃ you put me

    My strength is dried up like a potsherd, and my tongue sticks to the roof of my mouth. You lay me in the dust of death.

    Here: 'You set me / you are laying me down'. Grammatically 'you' is God. The verb is used for setting a cooking pot down on the fire (2 Kgs 4:38; Ezek 24:3). The imperfect form presents it as something happening now.

Isaiah · 1

  1. Isaiah 26:12 תִּשְׁפֹּ֥ת you will establish

    O LORD, You will establish peace for us. For all that we have accomplished, You have done for us.

    Here: An uncommon, homely verb. Elsewhere it means setting a cooking pot on the fire (2 Kings 4:38; Ezekiel 24:3). Here it means God puts peace in place for his people. Its form is incomplete action: 'you will set' (confidence) or 'you set' (what he habitually does). It could also be heard as a request: 'may you set'.

Ezekiel · 2

  1. Ezekiel 24:3 שְׁפֹ֤ת שְׁפֹ֔ת put on

    Now speak a parable to this rebellious house and tell them that this is what the Lord GOD says: ‘Put the pot on the fire; put it on and pour in the water.

    Here: A rare, specific kitchen word for setting a cooking pot over the fire or hearth stones. The word itself implies the fire, so 'on the fire' in English only spells out what the verb means.

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