Hebrew word · H8352

שֵׁת

shet

Seth

Elsewhere the name of Adam's third son, Seth (Gen 4:25). Here it parallels Moab, so it likely names a regional people. A similar-sounding noun šēʾt means 'devastation' or 'uproar' (Lam 3:47).

Appears 9 times in 9 verses of the Hebrew Old Testament. · Updated October 31, 2026

What it means

A man living at the time before the Flood, first mentioned at Gen.4.25;

son of: Adam (H0121) and Eve (H2332);

brother of: Cain (H7014B) and Abel (H1893);

father of: Enosh (H0583); also called Sheth (Ketiv: buttock) at Num.24.17;

§ Seth = "compensation"

1) the 3rd son of Adam by Eve

1a) also 'Sheth'

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 Numbers 24:17

Range of meaning: Elsewhere the name of Adam's third son, Seth (Gen 4:25). Here it parallels Moab, so it likely names a regional people. A similar-sounding noun šēʾt means 'devastation' or 'uproar' (Lam 3:47).
Against the English: KJV 'children of Sheth' and others' 'sons of Sheth' keep the name but give no help. Readers often assume it means Seth's descendants, which would be all humanity after the Flood. That would make the line a threat against the whole world, which does not fit a couplet about Moab.
How it drifted: Readers matched the name with the familiar Seth of Genesis.
Used elsewhere in the period: Egyptian Execration Texts, curse lists from about the 19th–18th centuries BCE, name the Shutu (šwtw), and later Egyptian and Akkadian sources (the Amarna letters) mention Sutu/Shutu nomads. Some scholars place them in or near Moab. Jeremiah 48:45 reads 'sons of tumult' (bənê šāʾôn), probably playing on šēʾt. Onqelos interprets it as 'all mankind', and the Septuagint keeps 'sons of Sēth'.

Where it appears

Genesis · 7

Genesis 4:25 שֵׁ֑ת Seth

And Adam again had relations with his wife, and she gave birth to a son and named him Seth, saying, “God has granted me another seed in place of Abel, since Cain killed him.”
Genesis 4:26 וּלְשֵׁ֤ת and to Seth

And to Seth also a son was born, and he called him Enosh. At that time men began to call upon the name of the LORD.

Here: Seth's name means something like 'appointed, granted.' Eve chose it because God had 'set' (šāt) another seed in place of Abel (4:25). Putting 'to Seth' first in the sentence shifts attention from Cain's line, which filled verses 17–24, to Seth's.
Genesis 5:3 שֵֽׁת׃ Seth

When Adam was 130 years old, he had a son in his own likeness, after his own image; and he named him Seth.
Genesis 5:4 שֵׁ֔ת Seth

And after he had become the father of Seth, Adam lived 800 years and had other sons and daughters.
Genesis 5:6 שֵׁ֕ת Seth

When Seth was 105 years old, he became the father of Enosh.

Here: Adam's third named son. Genesis 4:25 links his name to the verb shit, 'to set, appoint': God 'appointed' him in place of the murdered Abel. Through Seth the line runs on toward Noah.
Genesis 5:7 שֵׁ֗ת Seth

And after he had become the father of Enosh, Seth lived 807 years and had other sons and daughters.

Here: Adam and Eve's third named son. Genesis 4:25 explains the name with a pun on shat, 'he appointed/granted': God 'granted' him in place of Abel. The genealogy carries the family line through him.
Genesis 5:8 שֵׁ֔ת Seth

So Seth lived a total of 912 years, and then he died.

Numbers · 1

Numbers 24:17 שֵֽׁת׃ Sheth

I see him, but not now; I behold him, but not near. A star will come forth from Jacob, and a scepter will arise from Israel. He will crush the skulls of Moab and strike down all the sons of Sheth.

Here: 'Sheth'. Because the name stands parallel to Moab, it most likely refers to a nomadic people of the Transjordan region east of the Jordan (possibly the Shutu of Egyptian texts), not to Seth son of Adam and so all humanity. Jeremiah's version has 'sons of tumult' in its place.

1 Chronicles · 1

1 Chronicles 1:1 שֵׁ֖ת Seth

Adam, Seth, Enosh,

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