Hebrew word · H8270

שֹׁר

lesharekha

umbilical cord

The navel or umbilical cord. In Ezekiel 16:4 Jerusalem, pictured as an abandoned baby, is told 'your cord (shor) was not cut'. In Song of Songs 7:2 (7:3 in Hebrew) a related form, shorrer, is the beloved's navel, 'a rounded bowl'.

Appears 2 times in 2 verses of the Hebrew Old Testament. · Updated October 24, 2026

What it means

umbilical cord, navel, navel-string

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 Proverbs 3:8

Range of meaning: The navel or umbilical cord. In Ezekiel 16:4 Jerusalem, pictured as an abandoned baby, is told 'your cord (shor) was not cut'. In Song of Songs 7:2 (7:3 in Hebrew) a related form, shorrer, is the beloved's navel, 'a rounded bowl'.
Against the English: KJV and YLT keep 'navel'. BSB, WEB, NASB, NIV and NLT have 'body', and ESV has 'flesh' (as I understand it, with a footnote giving 'navel'). Modern versions turn the image into general meaning, partly because 'navel' sounds odd in English and partly because of the ancient 'body' reading.
How it drifted: Not drift in meaning so much as a loss of the picture. 'Body' is roughly correct in sense but loses the specific centre-of-the-body image, and possibly the link with nourishment that leads into the 'drink' of the next line.
Used elsewhere in the period: Septuagint: tō sōmati sou, 'to your body'. Syriac similar. Vulgate: umbilico tuo, 'to your navel'. Proverbs 4:22 'all his flesh' and the frequent pairing of flesh and bones (Genesis 2:23; Job 2:5) are why some propose the text originally read 'your flesh'.

From the study of Ezekiel 16:4

Range of meaning: The navel, and by extension the umbilical cord. It comes from a root having to do with twisting or binding, a fitting picture for the cord. It appears only here and in Proverbs 3:8 ('healing to your navel', meaning the body's core). The related form שֹׁרֶר is used in Song of Songs 7:2 [Heb. 7:3].
Against the English: KJV/WEB 'thy navel was not cut' sounds odd today, because English 'navel' now means only the belly button. BSB/NIV/ESV 'cord' gives the right picture.
How it drifted: Older English 'navel' could include the navel-string. In modern use the cord sense has disappeared.
Used elsewhere in the period: Cutting the cord is the first act of a midwife in every ancient birth description. The Greek doctor Soranus (2nd century AD, Gynecology 2) gives detailed instructions for cutting and tying it.

Similar words

שָׁרַת lesharet · to minister

Where it appears

Proverbs · 1

Proverbs 3:8 לְשָׁרֶּ֑ךָ to navel your

This will bring healing to your body and refreshment to your bones.

Here: "To your navel". The navel or umbilical cord stands for the soft, central inner part of the body, and perhaps for the channel through which a body is first nourished. That fits the 'drink' of the next line. Ancient translations and some scholars read 'flesh/body' here instead (see textual notes).

Ezekiel · 1

Ezekiel 16:4 שָׁרֵּ֔ךְ umbilical cord your

On the day of your birth your cord was not cut, nor were you washed with water for cleansing. You were not rubbed with salt or wrapped in cloths.

Here: 'Your cord'. The word means both the navel and the cord attached to it. Here the cord is meant, still hanging from the newborn.

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