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שְׁאוֹל

Sheol

also: underworld, grave, hell, pit fuller range ↓

H7585 Strong's Hebrew
shᵉʼôwl Transliteration
/sheh-ole'/ Pronunciation
Usage in the Hebrew Bible 66 appearances

Compare with another word →

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.

At its core, שאול (shᵉʼôwl) means “Sheol.” Scripture first uses it in Genesis 37:35. It appears 64 verses across 17 books of the Hebrew Bible, among its moderately common vocabulary. Each statement above links to its evidence; the full detail follows below.

Gloss history

Strong's 1890 vs modern scholarship

Strong's · 1890
grave
Modern gloss
Sheol
Strong's 1890 sometimes compressed multiple senses — or homonymous roots — under one number, and used 19th-century English phrasing that no longer carries the same connotation. The modern gloss reflects current BDB scholarship; open the Lexicon Entry tab for the full sense breakdown. Download share card

About this word

Strong's H7585 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 →

64
distinct verses
The word appears in 64 distinct verses.
17 / 39
OT books
The word appears in 17 of 39 Old Testament books.
Genesis 37:35
first appearance
The earliest occurrence is in Genesis 37:35.
Habakkuk 2:5
last appearance
The latest occurrence is in Habakkuk 2:5.
#594
by frequency
Top 1000 most frequent Hebrew words (rank 594 of 8,640 Hebrew words by occurrence).

View all 64 occurrences in the concordance →


Most concentrated in

By section of the Old Testament

  • Pentateuch 7 · 11%
  • Historical 4 · 6%
  • Wisdom 34 · 53%
  • Prophets 19 · 30%

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 64 distinct verses.

  • Writings (Ketuvim) 34 verses · 53%
  • Prophets (Nevi'im) 23 verses · 36%
  • Torah (Pentateuch) 7 verses · 11%

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).

  • King James Version: Grave 28×, Hell 28×, Pit 3×
  • American Standard Version: Sheol 55×
  • Berean Standard Bible: Sheol 61×, Like sheol 2×
  • unfoldingWord Literal Text: Sheol 62×, Like sheol 3×

King James Version Public Domain

Renders H7585 across 65 tagged occurrences — most commonly:

  • “Grave” 28×
  • “Hell” 28×
  • “Pit” 3×

Plus 6 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 H7585 across 65 tagged occurrences — most commonly:

  • “Sheol” 55×

Plus 10 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 H7585 across 66 tagged occurrences — most commonly:

  • “Sheol” 61×
  • “Like sheol” 2×

Plus 3 renderings that appear only once — usually multi-word phrases or single function words the recovered tagging swept in, not distinct renderings.

unfoldingWord Literal Text CC BY-SA 4.0

Renders H7585 across 67 tagged occurrences — most commonly:

  • “Sheol” 62×
  • “Like sheol” 3×

Plus 2 renderings that appear only once — usually multi-word phrases or single function words the recovered tagging swept in, not distinct renderings.


8 senses and sub-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 8 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. the underworld, שׁ׳ תַּחְתִּית Dt 32:22, מִתַּחַת Is 14:9; מִשּׁ׳ מָ֑טָּה Pr 15:24; ‖ מָוֶת 5:5; 7:27; Ct 8:6 ψ 89:49; whither men descend at death, Gn 37:35 (E), 42:38; 44:29, 31 (J), 1 S 2:6; 1 K 2:6, 9; Jb 7:9; 21:13; Is 14:11, 15 ψ 88:4, and Ḳoraḥ and associates go down alive by י׳’s judgment, Nu 16:30, 33 (J), cf. ψ 55:16; under mts. and sea Jb 26:6 (cf. v 5), בֶּטֶן שׁ׳ Jon 2:3 (cf. v 7); with bars Jb 17:16 (si vera l.: v. 𝔊 Du); פִּי שׁ׳ ψ 141:7; שַׁעֲרֵי שׁ׳ Is 38:10; personif. Is 28:15, 18 (‖ מות) as insatiable monster 5:14; Hb 2:5; Pr 1:12; 27:20; 30:16; as said (fig.) to have snares, חֶבְלֵי שׁ׳, ψ 18:6 = 2 S 22:6, cf. מְצָרֵי שׁ׳ ψ 116:3; opp. (height of) שָׁמַיִם Am 9:2; Jb 11:8 ψ 139:8 + (opp. לְמָ֑עְלָה) Is 7:11 (v. supra); dark, gloomy, without return Jb 17:13 (cf. v 16; 7:9; 10:21; 16:22; all being alike 3:17–19; 21:23–26); without work or knowledge or wisdom according to Ec 9:5, 6, 10 (cf. Jb 14:21, and v. רְפָאִים sub רפה; yet cf. Is 14:9 f.). e.g. Deuteronomy 32:22
  • 2. condition of righteous and wicked disting. in שׁ׳ (later than 1 S 28, especially in WisdLt):
    • a. wicked יָשׁוּבוּ לִשְׁא֑וֹלָה ψ 9:18, יִדְּמוּ לִשׁ׳ 31:18; death is their shepherd, without power and honour they waste away 49:15(×2); שׁ׳ consumes them as drought water Jb 24:19; righteous dread it because no praise or presence of God there (as in temple) ψ 6:6 (cf. 88:6), Is 38:18; deliverance from it a blessing ψ 30:4; 86:13; Pr 23:14. In Ezek. שׁ׳ is land below, place of reproach, abode of uncircumcised Ez 31:15, 16, 17; 32:21, 27. e.g. Psalms 9:18
    • b. righteous shall not be abandoned, לשׁ׳ ψ 16:10 (‖ שַׁחַת q.v.; opp. אֹרַח הַיִּים, etc., v 11, cf. 17:15), is ransomed from שׁ׳ 49:16 (cf. 73:23, 25; Is 57:1, 2); cf. Job’s expectation and desire Jb 14:13; 17:13 (cf. 10:21; 19:25 f.). e.g. Psalms 16:10
  • 3. later distinction of places in שׁ׳:
    • a. depths of שׁ׳ for sensualist Pr 9:18. e.g. Proverbs 9:18
    • b. שׁ׳ וַאֲבַדּוֹן Pr 15:11, v. אֲבַדּוֹן. [שַׁחַת and בּוֹר, q.v., when ‖ שׁ׳, are usually in bad sense (ψ 88:4); prob. = pit in שׁ׳, > שׁ׳ itself as pit; words at least prepare for local distinctions of postB. Judaism and NT.] e.g. Proverbs 15:11
  • 4. שׁ׳ fig. of extreme degradation in sin Is 57:9; as place of exile for Israel Ho 13:14(×2) (cf. Is 26:19). e.g. Isaiah 57:9

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.f. ψ 86:13 (appar. m. Jb 26:6 cf. Is 14:9, v. AlbrZAW xvi (1896), 51) Sheʾôl, underworld (√ dub.; שׁאל, i.e. place of inquiry (ref. to necromancy) JastrAm. J. Sem. Lang. xiv. 170, cf. JBL xix (1900), 88 ff. (JeremLeben n. d. Tode 109 ‘Ort der Entscheidung’); Thes BöDe Inf. § 158 Di al. cp. √ שׁעל, whence שֹׁעַל hollow hand, etc.; שׁ׳ then = hollow place, ‘Hölle’, hell; other conj. v. Hup Ps. 6:6; De Is. 5:14 BeerBibl. Hades in HoltzmannFestgabe, 1902, 15; most now refrain from positive etymology (e.g. Buhl); Old Aramaic שאול, Syriac ܫܝܽܘܠ; Assyrian šu-alu is dub.: so read and interpr. DlPa 121; Prol. 47, 145 JastrAm. J. Sem. Lang. xiv. 165 ff. Ency. Bib.s.v.; opp. by BertinTSBA viii. 269 JenKosmol. 223 ff. ZimKAT 3. 636 al.; v. also Muss-ArnoltJBL xi (1892), 169 and reff.);—always abs., שְׁאוֹל Dt 32:22 + 52 times, ה—ָ Gn 42:38 ψ 9:18; שְׁאֹל 1 K 2:6; Jb 17:16, ה—ָ Gn 37:35 + 7 times; + Is 7:11 (so read for שְׁאָ֫לָה Aq Σ Θ Du Che and now most);—

— Brown-Driver-Briggs (Oxford 1906, public domain), digitized via Sefaria, supplemented by the OpenScriptures HebrewLexicon (CC BY 4.0). See Sources.

Derived from שאל (shâʼal) (H7592) — to ask.

Part of speech: Noun Feminine TWOT: 2303c


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.

שָׁאוּל

  • (b. h.) pr. n. m. Shaul, Saul,
  • 1. king of Israel. Meg. 14ᵃ ש׳ ויהוא וכ׳ Saul and Jehu, who were anointed out of a flask. Yoma 22ᵇ; Yalk. Sam. 117, v. עָנָה II. Sot. 10ᵃ ש׳ בצוארו Saul (bore a divine appearance) by reason of his neck (high stature); a. fr.
  • 2. אַבָּא שָׁ׳ Abba Shaul, a Tannai (v. Fr. Darkhé, p. 176 sq.). Tosef. Ter. VII, 2. Tosef. Kil. IV, 10. Yeb. 3ᵃ. Sabb. 133ᵇ; a. fr.
  • 3. Gen. R. s. 94 ר׳ יוחנן בר ש׳ ed. Wil. (oth. ed. שְׁאוּלָה).

שְׁאוֹל

  • c. (b. h.) nether world, grave, depth. Erub. 54ᵃ (fr. Ben Sira) שאין בש׳ תענוג וכ׳ for there is no pleasure in the grave, and death knows no tarrying. Ib. ואם תאמר … בש׳ מי יודה לך Ms. M. (ed. יגיד) and if you will say, I will leave my children a settlement: who will thank thee for it in the grave? Y. Yeb. I, 3ᵃ bot., v. דְּיֵיטָא. Yalk. Is. 261 ואם … שנפל עד ש׳ וכ׳ and when he (the Lord) sees a man fallen even to the grave, he raises him up (ref. to Ps. CXIII, 7 מקימי מעפר). Sot. 10ᵇ נבקע ש׳ מתחתיו the deep burst open under him (Absalom). Ab. IV, 22 ואל … שהש׳ בית מנוס לך let not thy passion reassure thee that the grave is a house of refuge (from responsibility) to thee; a. fr. e.g. Psalms 113:7

שְׁאוֹל ²

  • Targ. Is. XIV, 9; 11; 15. Targ. O. Deut. XXXII, 22; a. e.—V. שְׁיוֹל

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 34 distinct written forms H7585 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.

Form Parsing Example Uses
שְׁא֣וֹל Noun, Proper Deuteronomy 32:22 15
שְׁא֖וֹל Noun, Proper Ezekiel 32:21 5
שְׁא֛וֹל Noun, Proper Isaiah 14:11 4
שְׁאֹ֑לָ/ה Noun, Proper Numbers 16:30 3
מִ/שְּׁא֥וֹל Noun, Proper Proverbs 15:24 3
שְׁאֽוֹל Noun, Proper 1 Kings 2:9 3
שְׁ֝א֗וֹל Noun, Proper Job 7:9 2
שְׁא֑וֹל Noun, Proper Isaiah 38:10 2
שְׁא֖וֹלָ/ה Noun, Proper Ezekiel 31:16 2
שְׁא֗וֹל Noun, Proper Isaiah 14:9 2
שְׁאֹֽלָ/ה Noun, Proper Genesis 44:29 2
בִ/שְׁא֔וֹל Noun, Proper Amos 9:2 1
בִּ/שְׁא֕וֹל Noun, Proper Ecclesiastes 9:10 1
בִּ/שְׁא֬וֹל Noun, Proper Job 14:13 1
בִּ֝/שְׁא֗וֹל Noun, Proper Psalms 6:5 1
כִ/שְׁא֖וֹל Noun, Proper Song of Solomon 8:6 1
כִּ/שְׁא֜וֹל Noun, Proper Habakkuk 2:5 1
כִּ/שְׁא֣וֹל Noun, Proper Proverbs 1:12 1
לִ/שְׁא֑וֹל Noun, Proper Psalms 16:10 1
לִ/שְׁא֑וֹלָ/ה Noun, Proper Psalms 9:17 1
לִ/שְׁא֥וֹל Noun, Proper Psalms 88:3 1
לִ/שְׁאֽוֹל Noun, Proper Psalms 31:17 1
לִֽ/שְׁא֣וֹל Noun, Proper Psalms 49:14 1
מִ֝/שְּׁא֗וֹל Noun, Proper Job 11:8 1
שְׁא֔וֹל Noun, Proper Hosea 13:14 1
שְׁא֨וֹלָ/ה֙ Noun, Proper Ezekiel 31:15 1
שְׁאָ֔לָה Verb, Qal, Infinitive Construct Isaiah 7:11 1
שְׁאֹ֣ל Noun, Proper Job 17:16 1
שְׁאֹֽל Noun, Proper 1 Kings 2:6 1
שְׁאֽוֹלָ/ה Noun, Proper Genesis 42:38 1
שְׁאוֹל֙ Noun, Proper Hosea 13:14 1
שְׁאוֹל֮ Noun, Proper Proverbs 30:16 1
שְּׁא֣וֹל Noun, Proper Psalms 139:8 1
שְּׁאוֹל֙ Noun, Proper Isaiah 5:14 1

Same root — word family

Other BDB entries built from the same root as H7585, 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

Proper names from this root

People and places named from this root — a name, not an additional meaning of the word.

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.


Bible dictionary

Public-domain dictionary articles matched to this entry by name (Sheol). A biblical name can be shared by more than one person or place, so an article may treat several.

Easton's Bible Dictionary · M. G. Easton, 1897

(Heb., "the all-demanding world" = Gr. Hades, "the unknown region"), the invisible world of departed souls. (See HELL.)

Classic public-domain reference works; full attribution on Sources.


Septuagint verse parallels

This word appears in 59 verses that also exist in the Greek Old Testament (Septuagint), out of the 64 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

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.

Reading settings

Reading text

Shown beneath each verse's original-language words.

Old Testament
Old Testament edition

Read the OT as the Masoretic Hebrew (MT) or the Greek Septuagint (LXX).

English shown for the Greek Septuagint (in the Hebrew ↔ Greek comparison).

Comparing translations? Open the Compare panel on any verse page to stack up to four side by side.