צֵל
shadow
‘shadow’ is one of 4 main senses fuller range ↓
Full lexicon entry — Brown-Driver-Briggs (BDB)
From Brown-Driver-Briggs (BDB)
Where this word appears
Grammar key — what these labels mean
Part of speech
- Noun
- A naming word — a person, place, thing, or idea.
Noun type
- Common
- A common noun — a general class of person, place, or thing (“king,” “city,” “water”), not a specific name.
State
- Construct
- A noun bound to a following noun in a possessive / “of” relationship (the construct chain).
- Absolute
- The independent form of a noun, not bound to a following word.
Gender
- Masculine
- Grammatically masculine.
Number
- Singular
- One.
Every verse where H6738 appears in the Book of Jonah — 2 distinct verses. Click any verse to open its interlinear word-by-word view. Verse text shown in the World English Bible for context — . Each verse’s Hebrew form is shown with its reference; the English is not keyword-highlighted, since the data carries no word-level English alignment. Use “Compare translations” on any verse to read it across multiple English versions. This concordance covers the Hebrew Bible; Septuagint (Greek Old Testament) occurrences are not indexed here.
Jonah
- Jonah 4:5 בַּ/צֵּ֔ל prep det + n c ms Then Jonah went out of the city, and sat on the east side of the city, and there made himself a booth, and sat under it in the shade, until he might see what would become of the city.
- Jonah 4:6 צֵל֙ n c ms Yahweh God prepared a vine, and made it to come up over Jonah, that it might be a shade over his head, to deliver him from his discomfort. So Jonah was exceedingly glad because of the vine.
About this entry
At a glance — auto-summarized from this page’s data, not written by a person. Every figure links to its source below. This summary describes the numbers; it doesn’t interpret them.
“shadow” is the headline sense of the Hebrew noun צל (tsêl). Older and newer Bibles part ways — “shadow” in the King James Version, “shade” (Berean Standard Bible) in modern versions. See the renderings breakdown. It appears 47 verses across 15 books of the Hebrew Bible, among its moderately common vocabulary. Scripture first uses it in Genesis 19:8. Carrying more than one sense, it rewards its full sense range. The sections below give every sense, occurrence, and version rendering.
Gloss history
Strong's 1890 vs modern scholarship
About this word
Strong's H6738 catalogs a Hebrew word from the Hebrew Old Testament.
These counts are not copied from any lexicon or concordance. They are computed here, from the morphology-tagged Hebrew Old Testament. What Lemma adds →
- 47
- distinct verses
- The word appears in 47 distinct verses.
- 15 / 39
- OT books
- The word appears in 15 of 39 Old Testament books.
- #752
- by frequency
- Top 1000 most frequent Hebrew words (rank 752 of 8,640 Hebrew words by occurrence).
View all 47 occurrences in the concordance →
By section of the Old Testament
By traditional corpus
Conventional, traditional groupings — biblical authorship is debated, so this is a traditional corpus grouping, not an authorship claim. Each share is this word’s portion of its verses in that division of the Hebrew canon. Each figure is a share of the word’s 47 distinct verses.
- Prophets (Nevi'im) 25 verses · 53%
- Writings (Ketuvim) 20 verses · 43%
- Torah (Pentateuch) 2 verses · 4%
How translations render this word
Counts come from each version’s own published word-to-Strong’s tagging or interlinear alignment — an approximate guide to how each version renders this word, not a word-level alignment the data otherwise carries. Because each total is that version’s own tagged count, the per-version totals vary from one another and need not match the appearance or distinct-verse counts above. These counts may also differ from a printed concordance because Lemma counts each distinctly tagged rendering and does not collapse phrase taggings into a single head-word total. This is a fixed set of word-tagged versions (KJV, ASV, BSB, ULT) and does not change with the reading translation you choose elsewhere. Each version’s license is shown beside its name below (and on Sources).
BDB lists this Strong’s number as 2 distinct words (homographs). Each count above pools all of them and is not split by sense — see the Senses section below. A low-frequency rendering may belong to a different one of those words, not the primary meaning.
- King James Version†: Shadow 20×, Are as a shadow 4×, Under his shadow 4×
- American Standard Version†: Shadow 12×, Shade 7×, Under the shadow 5×
- Berean Standard Bible†: Shade 19×, Shadow 14×, Like a shadow 2×
- unfoldingWord Literal Text†: Shadow 13×, Shadow of 12×, Shade 10×
King James Version Public Domain
Renders H6738 across 49† tagged occurrences — most commonly:
Plus 15 renderings that appear only once — usually multi-word phrases or single function words the recovered tagging swept in, not distinct renderings.
American Standard Version Public Domain
Renders H6738 across 49† tagged occurrences — most commonly:
Plus 16 renderings that appear only once — usually multi-word phrases or single function words the recovered tagging swept in, not distinct renderings.
Berean Standard Bible Public Domain
Renders H6738 across 48† tagged occurrences — most commonly:
Plus 11 renderings that appear only once — usually multi-word phrases or single function words the recovered tagging swept in, not distinct renderings. Not rendered by a distinct English word in 1 further occurrence.
unfoldingWord Literal Text CC BY-SA 4.0
Renders H6738 across 52† tagged occurrences — most commonly:
Plus 11 renderings that appear only once — usually multi-word phrases or single function words the recovered tagging swept in, not distinct renderings.
Senses in the full BDB
What do BDB’s symbols mean?
BDB uses these scholarly abbreviations:
| Symbol | Meaning |
|---|---|
| 𝔊 | the Septuagint (the ancient Greek translation, LXX) |
| 𝔙 | the Vulgate (the Latin translation) |
| 𝔖 | the Syriac version (the Peshitta) |
| 𝔗 | the Targum (the Aramaic translation) |
| ψ | the Psalms |
| √ | root (the underlying root or stem) |
| ‖ | parallel passage (a synonymous or contrasted parallel) |
| † | the dagger: every passage where the word occurs is cited |
The 3 senses and sub-senses the full Brown-Driver-Briggs lexicon distinguishes for this word, in lexicon order (not ranked by frequency), with BDB’s own verbatim wording and sub-sense lettering. Shown in Hebrew script with BDB’s own scholarly abbreviations. The condensed entry is in the Lexicon Entry tab. See also the Forms in the corpus table below.
- 1. shadow on dial 2 K 20:9, 10(×2), 11 ‖ Is 38:8; צִלְלֵי־עָ֑רֶב Je 6:4, cf. Ct 2:17; 4:6; of mt. Ju 9:36. e.g. 2 Kings 20:9
- 2. shadow, shade, as protection (from sun): of branches, Ju 9:15 (in allegory), Ho 4:13; Jb 40:22; Jon 4:5, 6 and (in fig.) Ho 14:8; Ez 17:23; 31:6, 12, 17 ψ 80:11 Ct 2:3 (of refreshment, delight); of rock Is 32:2 (sim.); צ׳ קֹרָתִי Gn 19:8 shadow of my roof; of cloud Is 25:4 and (fig. of י׳’s protection 4:6; 25:4, so prob. 16:3; צ׳ כְּנָפֶיךָ shadow of thy wings, fig. of י׳’s protection ψ 17:8; 36:8; 57:2; 63:8; shade, in gen., Jb 7:2, fig. of י׳ ψ 121:5; hence = protection, defence, of city (wall) Je 48:45; of י׳ Nu 14:9 (JE), ψ 91:1 (v. also n.pr. בְּצַלְאֵל), cf. צֵל יָדוֹ Is 49:2 (covering prophet, under fig. of sword), 51:16 (covering people); of human ally Is 30:2, 3, of king La 4:20; also of wisdom Ec 7:12, money v 12.—בְּצִלָּהּ Is 34:15 appar. ref. to קִפּוֹז, but improb.; read perhaps בֵּצֶיהָ her eggs Du CheHpt. (CheHeb. Hpt. transp. וּבָֽקְעָה וְדָֽגְרָה). e.g. Judges 9:15
- 3. shadow as symb. of transitoriness of life Jb 8:9; 14:2 ψ 144:4 (כְּצֵל עוֹבֵר), Ec 6:12; 8:13; כְּצֵל נָטוּי of an individ. life near its end ψ 102:12, so כְּצֵל כִּנְטוֹתוֹ 109:23; in sim. of emaciated members, וִיצֻרַי כַּצֵּל Jb 17:7. e.g. Job 8:9
Senses from the full Brown-Driver-Briggs lexicon (Brown, Driver, Briggs; Oxford 1906 — public domain), digitized via Sefaria, supplemented by the OpenScriptures HebrewLexicon (CC BY 4.0). Full attribution on Sources.
Word origin
n.m. ψ 144:4 shadow;—צ׳ abs. 2 K 20:9 +, cstr. Gn 19:8 +; sf. צִלְּךָ ψ 121:5, צִלּוֹ Ez 31:6 +, also צִלְלוֹ Jb 40:22, etc.; pl. צְלָלִים Ct 2:17; 4:6; cstr. צִלְלֵי Je 6:4;—
— Brown-Driver-Briggs (Oxford 1906, public domain), digitized via Sefaria, supplemented by the OpenScriptures HebrewLexicon (CC BY 4.0). See Sources.
Derived from צלל (tsâlal) (H6751) — to be dark.
Jastrow Dictionary
A second Hebrew/Aramaic lexicon for comparison, covering Aramaic and post-biblical (Talmudic, Targumic, Midrashic) usage that the biblical-Hebrew BDB does not. Matched by lemma rather than by Strong’s number, so a lemma may carry more than one Jastrow headword (shown separately below), and the entries cover usage well beyond the Bible.
צַל
- , v. צְלַל
צֵל
- , v. טְלָלָא) shade, shadow; protection. Succ. 2ᵃ עד … אדם יושב בצל סוכה up to a height (of the walls) of twenty cubits one sits in the shade of the ceiling of the booth; למעלה … בצל רפנות above twenty cubits, one sits no longer shaded by the ceiling, but shaded by the walls. Ib.ᵇ כיון דרויחא איכא צל סוכה when the Succah is very large, there is the shade of the ceiling (even when the walls are higher than twenty cubits). Koh. R. to I, 2 (ref. to ib. VI, 12) כאיזה צל אם כצִלּוֹ של כותל וכ׳ like what shadow? if like the shadow of a wall, there is some reality in it; ib. כצִלָּן של דבורים וכ׳ like the shadow cast by flying bees &c.; Gen. R. s. 96 כצִילּוֹ וכ׳. Pes. 114ᵃ אכול בָּצֵל ושב בַּצֵּל וכ׳ eat onions and sit in the shade (of thy house in contentment) rather than &c. Y. Ab. Zar. III, 43ᵇ bot. צִיּלָּהּ אסור צל צילה מותר the shade of a worshipped tree is forbidden (to be enjoyed), the shade of the shade is permitted; כל שאילן … זהו צילה וכ׳ as far as the tree would reach if felled, so far is its shadow; what is beyond, is the shadow of the shadow; Bab. Ab. Zar. 48ᵇ צל קומתה the extent of the shadow corresponding to the height of the tree. Midr. Sam. ch. XIV; Yalk. Sam. 109, v. צַח. Ex. R. s. 34 (ref. to Ps. XCI, 1) בצל שעשה בצלאל in the shade which Bezalel has made (the Tabernacle). Ber. 55ᵃ (play on בצלאל) שמא בצל אל היית וכ׳ hast thou been in the shade of God that thou knowest it?; a. v. fr. e.g. Psalms 91:1
A Dictionary of the Targumim, the Talmud Babli and Yerushalmi, and the Midrashic Literature (Marcus Jastrow; London, Luzac, 1903) — Public Domain. Digitized via Sefaria. Digitized via Sefaria. Full attribution on Sources.
Forms in the corpus
The 36 distinct written forms H6738 takes in the Hebrew Bible, most frequent first — each parse links to that state’s occurrences in the concordance. Hebrew forms include their vowel points and cantillation, so a single lemma takes many written forms.
Same root — word family
Other BDB entries built from the same root as H6738, grouped by Strong’s listed origin. These share a root / origin per the lexicon — not necessarily a shared meaning. Each links to that word’s own entry.
Derives from
Shares the same root
Derived from this word
Proper names from this root
People and places named from this root — a name, not an additional meaning of the word.
- בצלאל Bᵉtsalʼêl H1212 Bezaleel
- צלה Tsillâh H6741 Zillah
- צלמנע Tsalmunnâʻ H6759 Zalmunna
- צלצח Tseltsach H6766 Zelzah
- צלתי Tsillᵉthay H6769 Zilthai
Compare all same-root words → Showing 4 of 10 — not the complete family. 5 of the same-root words are proper names (people or places). They share a root, not necessarily a meaning.
Septuagint verse parallels
This word appears in 45 verses that also exist in the Greek Old Testament (Septuagint), out of the 47 Hebrew verses it occurs in. You can read those verses in Greek by switching the Old Testament edition to the Septuagint.
Read these verses in the Septuagint
- Genesis 19:8
- Numbers 14:9
- Judges 9:15
- 2 Kings 20:9
- 1 Chronicles 29:15
- Job 7:2
- Psalms 17:8
- Ecclesiastes 6:12
- Song of Solomon 2:3
- Isaiah 4:6
- Lamentations 4:20
- Ezekiel 17:23
This is a verse-level parallel only — the same verses exist in both the Hebrew and Greek Old Testaments. No word-level Hebrew↔Greek correspondence is claimed: the data carries no such alignment, so no Greek word is shown as this Hebrew word’s translation. Coverage is not total — the Septuagint omits the deuterocanon and renumbers the Psalms, so some Hebrew verses have no direct Greek parallel.
