Hebrew word · H8319

שָׁרַק

veyishrok

to whistle

To make a whistling or hissing sound through the lips.

Appears 12 times in 12 verses of the Hebrew Old Testament. · Updated October 25, 2026

What it means

1) to hiss, whistle, pipe

1a) (Qal) to hiss (as a signal)

Abridged from Brown, Driver and Briggs, A Hebrew and English Lexicon of the Old Testament (1906), via STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0).

Range of meaning: To make a whistling or hissing sound through the lips. It is used in two ways: (1) to call or summon, as here and in Isaiah 7:18 ('the LORD will whistle for the fly… and the bee'), and Zechariah 10:8 ('I will whistle for them and gather them'); (2) to show horror or scorn at a ruin, as in 1 Kings 9:8, Jeremiah 19:8 and Lamentations 2:15–16.
Against the English: The KJV's 'hiss' was a fair rendering of the sound in 1611. Today it suggests a snake or a crowd jeering, and here it means neither. 'Whistle' (BSB, NIV, ESV, WEB) correctly conveys the summoning.
How it drifted: In modern English 'hiss' has narrowed to the sound of snakes, steam and booing. Readers of the KJV can mistake a summons for contempt.
Used elsewhere in the period: Isaiah 7:18 is the closest parallel. There the LORD whistles for 'the bee in the land of Assyria.' Ancient Christian interpreters, and many modern commentators following them, connect the image to beekeepers whistling to call bees out of or back to the hive. This explains the picture well, but direct ancient evidence for the practice is limited.

Range of meaning: To whistle or hiss. As a social gesture it was made at a ruined place or a disgraced person, expressing derision, astonishment, and horror. It may also have had a protective sense of 'may this not happen to me'.
Against the English: 'Hiss' suits a snake or a stage villain for modern readers. The ancient act was more like a long, low whistle of contempt and shock at a ruin.
Used elsewhere in the period: 1 Kgs 9:8 (anyone passing the ruined temple 'will be astonished and hiss'). Jer 18:16, 19:8, 49:17 (Edom), 50:13 (Babylon). Zeph 2:15. Lam 2:15. It is often paired with 'be appalled' (shamem) in the curse language of the prophets.

Range of meaning: To whistle or hiss. It is used of whistling to call someone (Isaiah 5:26; 7:18, where God 'whistles' for the nations), and much more often of the sharp whistle people give at a ruined place.
Against the English: English 'hiss' suggests a snake or an audience booing a villain. The Hebrew is closer to a low whistle of shock: 'phew!' mixed with a jeer.
How it drifted: The KJV used 'hiss' for this gesture, and in modern English the word now suggests theatrical booing.
Used elsewhere in the period: 1 Kings 9:8: passers-by at the ruined temple 'will be astonished and whistle'. Jeremiah 19:8; 49:17 (Edom); 50:13 (Babylon); Lamentations 2:15 (Jerusalem: 'they whistle and wag their heads'). Nahum 3:19, on Nineveh, has a parallel gesture: 'all who hear the news about you clap their hands over you'.

1 Kings · 1

1 Kings 9:8 וְשָׁרָ֑ק and he will hiss

And when this temple has become a heap of rubble, all who pass by it will be appalled and will hiss and say, ‘Why has the LORD done such a thing to this land and to this temple?’

Here: 'And he will whistle'. A sharp whistle or hiss through the teeth was a gesture of shock mixed with derision, and possibly a way of warding off the same fate. It is not a snake's hiss or a crowd booing.

Job · 1

Job 27:23 וְיִשְׁרֹ֥ק so he may hiss

It claps its hands at him and hisses him out of his place.

Isaiah · 2

Isaiah 5:26 וְשָׁ֥רַק and he will whistle

He lifts a banner for the distant nations and whistles for those at the ends of the earth. Behold—how speedily and swiftly they come!

Here: 'And he will whistle.' A short, sharp sound made through the lips to call or summon, the way a herder or beekeeper calls animals. It shows how little effort it takes: one whistle and an empire comes.
Isaiah 7:18 יִשְׁרֹ֤ק he will whistle

On that day the LORD will whistle to the flies at the farthest streams of the Nile and to the bees in the land of Assyria.

Jeremiah · 3

Jeremiah 19:8 וְיִשְׁרֹ֖ק and he may hiss

I will make this city a desolation and an object of scorn. All who pass by will be appalled and will scoff at all her wounds.

Here: "And will whistle." Same root as shereqah: the city is made a whistling, and the onlooker whistles. The sound is a stock reaction to a ruin (1 Kgs 9:8; Lam 2:15).
Jeremiah 49:17 וְיִשְׁרֹ֖ק and he may hiss

“Edom will become an object of horror. All who pass by will be appalled and will scoff at all her wounds.
Jeremiah 50:13 וְיִשְׁרֹ֖ק and he may hiss

Because of the wrath of the LORD, she will not be inhabited; she will become completely desolate. All who pass through Babylon will be horrified and will hiss at all her wounds.

Lamentations · 2

Lamentations 2:15 שָֽׁרְקוּ֙ they have hissed

All who pass by clap their hands at you in scorn. They hiss and shake their heads at the Daughter of Jerusalem: “Is this the city that was called the perfection of beauty, the joy of all the earth?”

Here: “They whistle/hiss”: a sharp sound made through the lips at the sight of a ruin. It carries both astonishment and contempt.
Lamentations 2:16 שָֽׁרְקוּ֙ they have hissed

All your enemies open their mouths against you. They hiss and gnash their teeth, saying, “We have swallowed her up. This is the day for which we have waited. We have lived to see it!”

Here: A whistle or hiss people made at the sight of a ruin. It expressed scorn and horror together, and perhaps warded off the same fate. It repeats the passers-by's gesture from verse 15.

Ezekiel · 1

Ezekiel 27:36 שָׁרְק֖וּ they have hissed

Those who trade among the nations hiss at you; you have come to a horrible end and will be no more.’”

Here: A sharp whistle drawn through the teeth, a set gesture people made at a ruined place or person. Next to v. 35 ('appalled', 'shudder'), it mainly voices shock and the wish to keep away from such a fate, though the same gesture can also carry scorn.

Zephaniah · 1

Zephaniah 2:15 יִשְׁרֹ֖ק he will hiss

This carefree city that dwells securely, that thinks to herself: “I am it, and there is none besides me,” what a ruin she has become, a resting place for beasts. Everyone who passes by her hisses and shakes his fist.

Here: 'He will whistle'. A sharp intake or whistle of breath, a set gesture of shock and derision at a ruined place (Jeremiah 19:8; Lamentations 2:15).

Zechariah · 1

Zechariah 10:8 אֶשְׁרְקָ֥ה I will whistle

I will whistle for them to gather, for I have redeemed them; and they will be as numerous as they once were.

Here: A sharp whistle used as a signal, as a herdsman or beekeeper calls his animals. The long form with the -ah ending expresses resolve: "I will whistle," "let me whistle." God is the one giving the call.

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