Hebrew word · H8371

שָׁתַת

shatu

to appoint

To put, set, place, station; to fix something in a position. It is a rare by-form of the very common verb shit ("set, put"). The verb is about placing, not merely aiming: something is put in a location and left there.

Appears 2 times in 2 verses of the Hebrew Old Testament. ·

What it means

(Qal) to set, appoint

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 Psalm 73:9

Range of meaning

To put, set, place, station; to fix something in a position. It is a rare by-form of the very common verb shit ("set, put"). The verb is about placing, not merely aiming: something is put in a location and left there.

Against the English

"Set their mouth against" (KJV, BSB) suggests aiming hostile words at heaven. "Have set their mouth in the heavens" (WEB, YLT) keeps the spatial picture: their mouth is planted up in the sky. The NIV's "lay claim to" goes further and reads it as a claim of ownership, which is an interpretation and not the plain verb.

Used elsewhere in the period

BDB and HALOT list only two occurrences of this form: Psalm 49:14 (15 in Hebrew), where the proud are "appointed/set" for Sheol like sheep, and here. Some lexicons file both under shit. The Septuagint translates it ethento ("they placed").

Where it appears

Psalms · 2

  1. Psalm 49:14 שַׁתּוּ֮ they have been appointed

    Like sheep they are destined for Sheol. Death will be their shepherd. The upright will rule them in the morning, and their form will decay in Sheol, far from their lofty abode.

    Here: 'They are set / placed / penned.' The verb is active with no stated subject ('they put them'), which Hebrew often uses where English uses a passive. It may also be read as 'they set themselves' (YLT). Either way it pictures sheep put into a fold, and it implies a fate fixed for them.

  2. Psalm 73:9 שַׁתּ֣וּ they set

    They set their mouths against the heavens, and their tongues strut across the earth.

    Here: "They have set / planted." A completed action (perfect tense) describing their settled stance: they have deliberately put their mouth somewhere it does not belong. The same verb appears in Psalm 49:14, where the arrogant are "set" like sheep for Sheol, an ironic echo for readers who know both psalms.

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