Hebrew word · H8322

שְׁרֵקָה

velishrekah

hissing

A whistling or hissing sound. It is the gesture of onlookers at a scene of ruin, expressing shock, horror and derision together.

Appears 7 times in 7 verses of the Hebrew Old Testament. ·

What it means

hissing, whistling

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 Jeremiah 25:9

Range of meaning

A whistling or hissing sound. It is the gesture of onlookers at a scene of ruin, expressing shock, horror and derision together.

Against the English

KJV/WEB/YLT 'hissing'. BSB 'contempt' and NIV 'scorn' turn it into an attitude. NASB keeps 'hissing'.

How it drifted

'Hissing' in modern English suggests a snake or a theatre audience booing. The Hebrew is the long low whistle someone gives at a disaster site.

Used elsewhere in the period

Jer 18:16; 19:8 ('everyone passing by will be appalled and whistle'); 1 Kgs 9:8; Lam 2:15–16; Zeph 2:15. It is often paired with shammah, horror.

From the study of Jeremiah 19:8

Range of meaning

Probably imitates the sound itself: a sharp whistle or hiss made through the lips. It is used for (a) a herdsman's or signaller's whistle (Judg 5:16; Isa 5:26; 7:18, God "whistling" for the nations like bees); and (b) the reaction of onlookers at a ruin, as here. The noun shereqah means "a whistling," i.e. a thing people whistle at.

Against the English

KJV, WEB, YLT "hissing / hiss"; ESV "a thing to be hissed at… hiss"; BSB "object of scorn… scoff"; NIV "scorn… scoff." "Hiss" keeps the sound but today suggests a snake or a booing crowd. "Scorn / scoff" names one possible meaning of the gesture (contempt) and removes the sound entirely.

How it drifted

English "hiss" became tied to snakes and to theatre audiences booing a villain. The ancient gesture was a recognised reaction to a cursed ruin, and its exact meaning is debated (see debates).

Used elsewhere in the period

The same pairing of šmm and šrq in a passer-by scene occurs in 1 Kgs 9:8 (of the temple, if Israel turns away); Jer 18:16; 49:17 (Edom); 50:13 (Babylon); Zeph 2:15 (Nineveh: "everyone who passes by her whistles and shakes his fist"); Lam 2:15–16 (passers-by clap, whistle, wag their heads and mock Jerusalem). The LXX uses syrigmos/syrizō (piping, whistling); the Vulgate sibilus/sibilo.

From the study of Jeremiah 25:18

Range of meaning

A whistling or hissing. The verb sharaq means to whistle, whether to call someone (Isa 5:26; 7:18; Zech 10:8) or in shock and derision at a disaster (1 Kgs 9:8; Lam 2:15–16; Zeph 2:15; Ezek 27:36). As a noun it is the object people whistle at.

Against the English

KJV, WEB and ESV use 'hissing', which today makes people think of snakes or of booing an actor off stage. BSB uses 'contempt', which gives the attitude but loses the gesture. Neither shows the picture: travellers passing the rubble, shaking their heads and letting out a low whistle.

How it drifted

'Hiss' in modern English mainly means a snake's noise or theatrical disapproval. The Hebrew gesture combined shock, mockery and perhaps a gesture to ward off evil, which has no exact English equivalent.

Used elsewhere in the period

Lam 2:15: 'All who pass along the way clap their hands at you; they whistle and wag their heads at the daughter of Jerusalem: Is this the city that was called the perfection of beauty?' Jeremiah uses it in the same way in 18:16, 19:8, 29:18, 49:17, 50:13 and 51:37. Some scholars think the whistle was meant to keep the bad luck of the ruined place from spreading to the person passing it, but that is a suggestion, not something the evidence proves.

Where it appears

2 Chronicles · 1

  1. 2 Chronicles 29:8 וְלִשְׁרֵקָ֔ה and into a hissing

    Therefore, the wrath of the LORD has fallen upon Judah and Jerusalem, and He has made them an object of terror, horror, and scorn, as you can see with your own eyes.

Jeremiah · 5

  1. Jeremiah 19:8 וְלִשְׁרֵקָ֑ה and into a hissing

    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 into a whistling": the city becomes a thing people whistle at, a sound of shock and contempt made through the lips.

  2. Jeremiah 25:9 וְלִשְׁרֵקָ֔ה and into a hissing

    behold, I will summon all the families of the north, declares the LORD, and I will send for My servant Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, whom I will bring against this land, against its residents, and against all the surrounding nations. So I will devote them to destruction and make them an object of horror and contempt, an everlasting desolation.

    Here: 'For a whistling': the sound passers-by make at a ruin, a low whistle of shock mixed with scorn.

  3. Jeremiah 25:18 לִשְׁרֵקָ֥ה into a hissing

    to make them a ruin, an object of horror and contempt and cursing, as they are to this day—Jerusalem and the cities of Judah, its kings and officials;

    Here: The whistle or hiss of passers-by at a ruin, a gesture of shock and mockery and possibly a way of warding off bad luck. Jerusalem becomes something people whistle at.

  4. Jeremiah 29:18 וְלִשְׁרֵקָ֣ה and into a hissing

    I will pursue them with sword and famine and plague. I will make them a horror to all the kingdoms of the earth—a curse, a desolation, and an object of scorn and reproach among all the nations to which I banish them.

    Here: 'And into a hissing': the whistle or hiss that passers-by make when they see a ruin. It shows shock and contempt, and possibly an attempt to ward off the same fate.

  5. Jeremiah 51:37 וּשְׁרֵקָ֖ה and a hissing

    Babylon will become a heap of rubble, a haunt for jackals, an object of horror and scorn, without inhabitant.

    Here: 'And a whistling': the sharp whistle that passers-by gave at a ruin, a gesture of shock and scorn. Babylon becomes something people whistle at.

Micah · 1

  1. Micah 6:16 לִשְׁרֵקָ֔ה into hissing

    You have kept the statutes of Omri and all the practices of Ahab’s house; you have followed their counsel. Therefore I will make you a desolation, and your inhabitants an object of contempt; you will bear the scorn of the nations.”

    Here: The whistle onlookers gave at a spectacular ruin, half shock and half scorn. The people become what others whistle at.

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