Language Studies

Hebrew Thoughts

Shîn / Sîn - ש (Strong's #8127)
Sh/s, teeth, sharp, repeat

This letter s[h]în (a dot on the top right of the letter as opposed to top left distinguishes between the two pronunciations: שׁ shîn / sîn) originally seems to have represented a pair of sharp front teeth. The Hebrew word for 'teeth' is שֵׁן shên (Strong's #8127) from a verb 'to sharpen'. Ancient Hebrew scripts represented the letter by a much sharper picture of the letter: W.

שֵׁן shên is used for "ivory tusk" and a compounded derivative is more specific still: שֶׁנְהַבִּים shen'habbîym (Strong's #8143) meaning "tooth of elephant" from שֵׁן shên with a possibly African word for elephant, habbîym (1 Kings 10:22; 2 Chronicles 9:21).

שֵׁן shên is also used of the prong or tine of a fork, especially a 3 pronged fork (e.g., 1 Samuel 2:13), just as the 3-pronged shape of the letter. Similarly it visually represented a pair of sharp rocky outcrops or crags as in 1 Samuel 14:4 [Heb. v5] and Job 39:28. The Ancient Greek form of this letter was upside down compared to the Hebrew (looking like a capital M) and resembled "twin peaks".

The root verb of שֵׁן shên is שָׁנַן shânan "to rub something in, making it sharp, by repetition, to whet" (Strong's #8150). Arabic has the same verb as sanna. It is used literally of whetting a sword, of sharpened arrows and metaphorically of the tongue (Psalm 64:4; 140:4) and teaching (Deuteronomy 6:7) which "by repetition" produced a sharpened, pricked or quickened understanding.

Just as the verb "to sharpen" is used of arrows, swords and teaching, so a derived word came to be used for "sharp words": שְׁנִינַה sh^enîynâh (Strong's #8148). We still speak of "pointed sayings". An English equivalent might well be sarcasm, a cutting remark, from the Greek sarkazô, literally meaning "to gnash the teeth" or "tear the flesh like a dog", also beginning with 's'.

The principal word for "scarlet" or deep crimson is שָׁנִי shânîy (Strong's #8144), perhaps as in drawing blood by something sharp, although its unknown origins have also been founded upon the following root verb, שָׁנָה shânâh "to repeat", as in a garment twice dyed, or "be bright" (Strong's #8138). It was used of the colour of luxury fabric and of the dye produced by a worm. Its 42 occurrences are significant and include the tying of a scarlet thread to indicate the firstborn (Genesis 38:28), the colour of the tabernacle curtain and door furnishings, the rite for cleansing a leper (Leviticus 14:4f.), the salvation of Rahab by hanging a scarlet thread from her window (Joshua 2:18,21) and the cleansing of our crimson sins to be as white as snow (Isaiah 1:18).

Proverbs 31:21 speaks of the virtuous wife who clothes her family in "scarlet", and thus do not fear the winter. Since scarlet was this colour associated with expensive clothing it may imply quality and thickness in keeping out the cold. Interestingly, though, the Greek and other foreign language versions of the Old Testament often render it by "double garments" rather than "scarlet garments". This may be mistaken, for the word is plural (not dual as it would be for a "double" item), but it does indicate the confusion or alternate origin of שָׁנִי shânîy possibly from שָׁנָה shânâh "to repeat".

The Hebrew שָׁנָה shânâh, meaning "to repeat", may derive perhaps from the idea that tusks and teeth, like most body parts often occur in pairs, certainly the older forms of the letter have an element of dualistic symmetry (two repeated halves).

שָׁנָה shânâh (Strong's #8138) "to repeat" gives rise to more words along similar lines, such as, שְׁנַיִם sh^enayîm "two" (Strong's #8147) and מִשְׁנֶה mish'neh "second, double, repetition" (Strong's #4932), hence the Mishnah, the Jewish oral tradition initially recorded by oral repetition and sometimes seen as a second edition of the Law and put into writing from the 2nd century onwards. Oddly, Judaism has sometimes seen the oral law and Mishnah as superior to the written, however mish'neh literally means "repeated, double", i.e., "a copy", not the original and could also be used of something that was "second in rank or order". So no intrinsic superiority or inferiority should be strongly adhered to. In fact, Joshua 8:32 records Joshua's writing a mish'neh of the law again on stones for the people.

From the idea of repetition, שָׁנָה shânâh (Strong's #8141) also means "year", that which repeats itself. As in Rosh Ha-Shanah, the Jewish new year, literally "head/chief [of] the year".

The letter ש shîn also gives rise to words meaning '2', '3' and '6': שֵׁנִי shênîy (Strong's #8145) is used for '2' or "second"; שָׁלַשׁ shâlash (Strong's #8027) means "to repeat a 3rd time" and the number '3' שָׁלוּשׁ shâlôsh (Strong's #7969) is thus derived, as is a 3-stringed musical instrument, a שָׁלִישׁ shâlîysh (Strong's #7991). Two שs give us the word for '6', שֵׁשׁ shêsh (Strong's #8337) or שִׁשָּׁה shishshâh.

To end, another word that sounds very like the letter name of shîn itself or shên, a "tooth", is the word for "sleep". The Hebrew is שֵׁנָא shên⒠(Strong's #8142), although it could also be spelt שֵׁנָה shênâh and שֶׁנָת shenâth. These derive from the root verb יָשַׁן yâshan "to be weary" (Strong's #3462). One example of the first spelling is in Psalm 127:2, "It is vain to rise up early, or to go to bed late, . . . for He gives His beloved sleep".

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