Hebrew word · H8366

שָׁתַן

mashtin

to urinate

Literally "one who urinates against a wall". In every occurrence it is an idiom for a male person. The verb šātan is found only in this expression.

Appears 6 times in 6 verses of the Hebrew Old Testament. · Updated October 25, 2026

What it means

1) (Hiphil) to urinate

1a) one who urinates (used as a designation of a male)

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: Literally "one who urinates against a wall". In every occurrence it is an idiom for a male person. The verb šātan is found only in this expression.
Against the English: KJV and WEB keep the image ("him that pisseth against the wall", "everyone who urinates on a wall"). BSB, NIV, ESV and NASB turn it into "every male", which is accurate in meaning but drops the coarse, scornful tone.
Used elsewhere in the period: 1 Sam 25:22, 34 (David's oath against Nabal's men); 1 Kgs 16:11 (Baasha's house); 1 Kgs 21:21 and 2 Kgs 9:8 (Ahab's house). It is always found in threats to wipe out a household. The Greek has ourōn pros toichon, a literal rendering. Some medieval Jewish interpreters suggested it could include dogs ("not even a dog will be left"), but the ordinary reading is "male".

Range of meaning: The verb šātan occurs in the Hebrew Bible only in this participle form and only in this idiom. It is related to the noun for urine (שַׁיִן, šayin, used in the written text of 2 Kgs 18:27 // Isa 36:12). The phrase 'one who pisses against a wall' is a coarse way of saying 'male,' since a man or boy relieves himself standing.
Against the English: KJV keeps the vulgarity ('him that pisseth against the wall'), and WEB softens the verb only slightly ('urinates'). BSB, NIV, ESV and most modern versions reduce it to 'every male.' That gives the meaning but loses the tone: the phrase is contemptuous, almost spat out.
How it drifted: The English word 'piss' was ordinary, not obscene, in 1611. It became vulgar later, so today the KJV can sound shockingly crude or comic to modern ears. Modern translations go the other way and erase the coarseness completely. Neither captures it exactly: the Hebrew is blunt, insulting talk, but it is a recognized idiom.
Used elsewhere in the period: Six times, always in threats to wipe out a man's or a dynasty's males: David's oath against Nabal's household (1 Sam 25:22, 34); Ahijah against Jeroboam (1 Kgs 14:10); the fulfilment against Baasha's house (1 Kgs 16:11); Elijah against Ahab (1 Kgs 21:21); and here. The Greek Septuagint renders it literally ('one urinating against a wall'), and so does the Latin Vulgate (mingentem ad parietem).

1 Samuel · 2

1 Samuel 25:22 מַשְׁתִּ֥ין [one who] urinates

May God punish David, and ever so severely, if I let one male belonging to Nabal survive until morning.”
1 Samuel 25:34 מַשְׁתִּ֥ין [one who] urinates

Otherwise, as surely as the LORD, the God of Israel, lives, who has restrained me from harming you, if you had not come quickly to meet me, then surely no male belonging to Nabal would have been left alive by morning light.”

1 Kings · 3

1 Kings 14:10 מַשְׁתִּ֣ין [one who] urinates

Because of all this, behold, I am bringing disaster on the house of Jeroboam: I will cut off from Jeroboam every male, both slave and free, in Israel; I will burn up the house of Jeroboam as one burns up dung until it is gone!

Here: "One who pisses". This crude participle occurs only in this idiom. It is a vulgar, contemptuous way of saying "male".
1 Kings 16:11 מַשְׁתִּ֣ין [one who] urinates

As soon as Zimri began to reign and was seated on the throne, he struck down the entire household of Baasha. He did not leave a single male, whether a kinsman or friend.
1 Kings 21:21 מַשְׁתִּ֣ין [one who] urinates

This is what the LORD says: ‘I will bring calamity on you and consume your descendants; I will cut off from Ahab every male in Israel, both slave and free.

2 Kings · 1

2 Kings 9:8 מַשְׁתִּ֣ין [one who] urinates

The whole house of Ahab will perish, and I will cut off from Ahab every male, both slave and free, in Israel.

Here: A participle, 'one who pisses.' The phrase it begins means every male. It is deliberately crude and contemptuous, the kind of language soldiers and angry men used, not polite speech.

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