שָׁבַת
to cease
also: desist, rest fuller range ↓
Full lexicon entry — Brown-Driver-Briggs (BDB)
From Brown-Driver-Briggs (BDB)
Where this word appears
See every Hiphil verb in the Hebrew Bible →
Grammar key — what these labels mean
Part of speech
- Verb
- An action or state-of-being word.
Stem
- Hiphil
- The causative active stem (“he caused / brought about”). Here: ‘cause to cease’
- Qal
- The basic, simple active stem — the plain form of the verb (“he wrote”). Here: ‘cease’
- Niphal
- Usually the simple passive or reflexive of the Qal (“he was written”).
Form
- Sequential Perfect
- A perfect with prefixed waw continuing a preceding imperfect or command (waw-consecutive perfect).
- Perfect
- A completed action or state — Hebrew marks aspect (completeness) more than strict tense (“he wrote”).
- Imperfect
- An incomplete, ongoing, or future action (“he will / would write”).
- Sequential Imperfect
- An imperfect with prefixed waw — the standard past-narrative form (waw-consecutive imperfect).
- Participle Active
- A verbal adjective expressing ongoing or characteristic action (“writing / one who writes”).
- Infinitive Construct
- A bound verbal noun, frequently with prepositions (“to write / in writing”).
- Cohortative
- A first-person volitional form expressing wish or resolve (“let me / let us write”).
- Imperative
- A direct command (“write!”).
State
- Absolute
- The independent form of a noun, not bound to a following word.
Person
- 1st Person
- The speaker (“I / we”).
- 3rd Person
- The one spoken about (“he / she / it / they”).
- 2nd Person
- The one addressed (“you”).
Gender
- Common
- Either gender — not distinguished for this form.
- Masculine
- Grammatically masculine.
- Feminine
- Grammatically feminine.
Number
- Singular
- One.
- Plural
- More than one (in Hebrew, generally three or more).
2 verses where H7673 appears in the Hiphil stem in the Book of Hosea. Filtered view — show all forms. 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.
Hosea
- Hosea 1:4 וְ/הִ֨שְׁבַּתִּ֔י conj + Hiphil wpf 1cs Yahweh said to him, "Call his name Jezreel; for yet a little while, and I will avenge the blood of Jezreel on the house of Jehu, and will cause the kingdom of the house of Israel to cease.
- Hosea 2:11 וְ/הִשְׁבַּתִּי֙ conj + Hiphil wpf 1cs I will also cause all her celebrations to cease: Her feasts, her new moons, her Sabbaths, and all her solemn assemblies.
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.
שבת — transliterated shâbath — is a Hebrew verb carrying the sense “to cease.” Translators differ — “cease” in the King James Version, then “i will put an end” (Berean Standard Bible), as the renderings breakdown shows. With 67 verses in 19 books, it is a moderately common word in the Hebrew Bible. It first appears in Genesis 2:2. Different stems carry different senses — BDB groups them under 3 stems, among them Qal and Niphal. See the sense tree, 67-verse concordance, and the renderings breakdown below.
Gloss history
Strong's 1890 vs modern scholarship
About this word
Strong's H7673 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 →
- 67
- distinct verses
- The word appears in 67 distinct verses.
- 19 / 39
- OT books
- The word appears in 19 of 39 Old Testament books.
- #558
- by frequency
- Top 1000 most frequent Hebrew words (rank 558 of 8,640 Hebrew words by occurrence).
View all 67 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 67 distinct verses.
- Prophets (Nevi'im) 35 verses · 52%
- Torah (Pentateuch) 16 verses · 24%
- Writings (Ketuvim) 16 verses · 24%
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†: Cease 22×, Shall cease 5×, Ceased 4×
- American Standard Version†: Cease 24×, Ceased 4×, Shall cease 4×
- Berean Standard Bible†: I will put an end 8×, Cease 3×, He rested 3×
- unfoldingWord Literal Text†: Cease 10×, And 6×, Has ceased 4×
King James Version Public Domain
Renders H7673 across 73† tagged occurrences — most commonly:
Plus 29 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 H7673 across 73† tagged occurrences — most commonly:
Plus 30 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 H7673 across 71† tagged occurrences — most commonly:
Plus 49 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 H7673 across 94† tagged occurrences — most commonly:
Plus other, less common renderings. Plus 46 renderings that appear only once — usually multi-word phrases or single function words the recovered tagging swept in, not distinct renderings.
14 senses and sub-senses in the full BDB
Hebrew verbs can shift meaning by stem (binyan): Qal is the basic action, Niphal is often passive or reflexive, Piel often intensifies or makes it factitive, and Hiphil is typically causative. The senses below are grouped under the stem BDB assigns to each.
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 14 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.
שבת I cease, desist, rest (Assyrian šabâtu, prob. cease, be completed DlWB ZimKAT3. 593 (JenZA iv (1889), 277 f. is sceptical)
Qal
- Pf. 3 ms. שׁ׳ Gn 2:3 +; 3 pl. שָׁבָ֑תוּ La 5:14, etc.; Impf. 3 ms. יִשְׁבּוֹת Ho 7:4; יִשְׁבֹּת Pr 22:10 + 2 times; 3 fs. תִּשְׁבֹּת Lv 26:35; תִּשְׁבַּת v 34 Ne 6:3 +, etc.;— e.g. Genesis 2:3
- 1. cease: (abs. 13 times) of seasons Gn 8:22 (J); manna Jos 5:12 (P), etc., Is 14:4(×2) Ne 6:3 +; c. מִן Ho 7:4 + 3 times e.g. Genesis 8:22
- 2. desist from labour, rest:
- a. c. מִן (of God) Gn 2:2, 3 (P) e.g. Genesis 2:2
- b. מִן om., ב temp. Ex 23:12 (E), 16:30; 34:21 (J), 31:17 (P); בֶּחָרִישׁ וּבַקָּצִיר שׁ׳ 34:21 (J.; i.e., even in these busy seasons). e.g. Exodus 23:12
- c. land in 7th year Lv 26:34, 35(×2) (H), 2 Ch 36:21.—Lv 23:32; 25:2 v. [שָׁבַת] vb. denom. Infr. e.g. Leviticus 26:34
Niphal
- Pf. 3 ms. נִשְׁבַּת Is 17:3 + 2 times; pl. נִשְׁבְּתוּ Ez 6:6;—cease: abs. Ez 6:6; 30:18; 33:28; c. מִן Is 17:3. e.g. Isaiah 17:3
Hiphil
- Pf. 3 ms. הִשְׁבִּית Ru 4:14 +; 2 ms. הִשְּׁבַּתָּ ψ 89:45; 119:119, etc.; Impf. 3 ms. יַשְׁבִּית Pr 18:18 Dn 9:27; וַיַּשְׁבֵּת 2 K 23:11 2 Ch 16:5, etc.; Inf. cstr. הַשְׁבִּית ψ 8:3; לַשְׁבִּית Am 8:4 (Ges§ 53 q); Imv. mpl. הַשְׁבִּ֫יתוּ Is 30:11; Pt. מַשְׁבִּית Je 16:9 ψ 46:10;— e.g. Ruth 4:14
- 1. cause to cease, put an end to: c. acc. mirth Ho 2:13, work 2 Ch 16:5; Ne 4:5; sacrifice Dn 9:27; war ψ 46:10, cf. Is 13:11; Ez 7:24; Pr 18:18 + 6 times, + הִשׁ׳ קוֹל שָׂשׂוֹן מִן Je 7:34; 16:9, cf. 48:33. e.g. Hosea 2:13
- 2. = exterminate, destroy: c. acc. 2 K 23:5, 11; Am 8:4 (Now conj. העשׁקים), Ho 1:4 ψ 8:3; 119:119; c. acc. + מִן, Je 36:29, מִן הָאָרֶץ Lv 26:6 (H), Ez 34:25; אלילים 30:13; Dt 32:26. e.g. 2 Kings 23:5
- 3. cause to desist from: c. מִן Ez 16:41; 34:10; Ex 5:5 (E = give rest from); לְבִלְתִּי inf. Jos 22:25 (P). e.g. Ezekiel 16:41
- 4. remove (= הֵסִיר מִן: c. מִן Ez 23:27, 48 ψ 89:45 (text dub.: read הִשְׁבַּתּוֹ [3] 𝔊 Du; מַטֵּה הֹדוֹ Herz Che, v. also sub מֳהָר); leaven מבתים Ex 12:15 (P); הַשׁ׳ אֶח־ק׳ ישׂר׳ מִפָּנֵינוּ Is 30:11. e.g. Ezekiel 23:27
- 5. cause to fail, let be lacking: salt מֵעַל מִנְחָתֶ֑ךָ Lv 2:13 (P); acc. pers. + ל pers. Je 48:35; Ru 4:14. I. שֶׁבֶת v. ישׁב. e.g. Leviticus 2:13
שבת II denom. keep, observe (sabbath)
Qal
- , c. acc. cogn.; Pf. 3 fs. וְשָֽׁבְתָה הָאָרֶץ שַׁבָּת לי׳ Lv 25:2, cf. 2 Ch 36:21; 2 mpl. מֵעֶרֶב עַד־ עֶרֶב תִּשְׁבְּתוּ שַׁבַּתְּכֶ֑ם Lv 23:32 (P). e.g. Leviticus 25:2
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
I. vb. cease, desist, rest (Assyrian šabâtu, prob. cease, be completed DlWB ZimKAT3. 593 (JenZA iv (1889), 277 f. is sceptical); Arabic سَبَتَ cut off, interrupt; NH has שֶׁבֶת neglect, etc., Aramaic שִׁבְתָּא cost of neglect);—
II. vb.denom. keep, observe (sabbath);—
— Brown-Driver-Briggs (Oxford 1906, public domain), digitized via Sefaria, supplemented by the OpenScriptures HebrewLexicon (CC BY 4.0). See Sources.
Origin: a primitive root
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.
שֶׁבֶת I
- c. (v. Löw Pfl., p. 373) dill. Ukts. III, 4 הש׳ משנתן טעמו וכ׳ (Ar. משנתנה טעמה) the dill stalk after having given its taste to a dish; Ber. 39ᵃ. Maasr. IV, 5 הש׳ מתעשרת וכ׳ dill must be tithed as seed &c., v. עָשַׂר; a. fr.
שֶׁבֶת II
- 1. seat. Esth. R. to I, 2 מקום הש׳ the place of the throne. Ib. כדי שיהא המלך יושב בש׳ וכ׳ so that the king might be seated in the chair with the crown &c. Nidd. 16ᵇ, v. מָרוֹם; a. e.
- 2. sitting idle, indemnity for loss of time (Ex. XXI, 19). B. Kam. VIII, 1 ש׳ רואין אותו וכ׳ to estimate indemnity for loss of time, we consider the person concerned, as if he were a watchman in a cucumber field. Ib. 85ᵃ דמי שִׁבְתּוֹ indemnity for his enforced idleness. Ib. שבתו ורפואתו כל שחייב בש׳ וכ׳ the text places on parallel lines indemnity for loss of time and healing expenses: whenever one is bound to pay for loss of time, one is bound to pay for healing. Ib. 86ᵃ ש׳ גדולה וש׳ קטנה the larger indemnity (for the permanent incapacitation, e.g. the value of the earning capacity of a maimed hand), and the smaller indemnity (for the time of sickness); Gitt. 42ᵃ; a. fr.—Pl. (ch.) שִׁבְּתִּין. Y. B. Kam. VIII, 6ᵇ bot. תרין ש׳ אינון there are two kinds of indemnity for incapacitation (the larger and the smaller, v. supra). e.g. Exodus 21:19
שָׁבַת
- (b. h.)
- 1. to rest, cease; esp. to observe the Sabbath, Lam. R. to V, 14 (expl. מנגינתם, ib.) מזמריהון שָׁבְתוּ they ceased from their songs. Ib. to I, 7 (ref. to משבתיה, ib.) זה … שש׳ מתוכה this refers to R. J. b. Z. who ceased from staying within her (who left Jerusalem during the siege). Snh. 58ᵇ נכרי שש׳ וכ׳ a gentile that rests from work (on any day) deserves death. Y. Ber. IV, 7ᶜ bot. כבר ש׳ וכ׳ R. Ḥ. has already begun the Sabbath observance in his town. Y. Sabb. XV, 15ᵃ bot. שבת לה׳ שְׁבוֹת כה׳ מה הקב"ה ש׳ ממאמר אף את שבות ממאמר ‘a Sabbath unto the Lord’ (Ex. XX, 10), rest like the Lord, as God rested from speech, so do thou rest from speech (planning work). Ned. III, 10 הנודר משׁוֹבְתֵי שבת וכ׳ he who forswears benefit at the hands of those who rest on the Sabbath, is forbidden to receive benefits from Jews and from Samaritans; a. fr.—Pes. 54ᵃ אור שש׳ a light which burned during the entire Sabbath (having been kindled on the Sabbath eve). Men. 21ᵃ (ref. to תשבית, Lev. II, 13) מלח שאינה שׁוֹבֶתֶת וכ׳ Ms. M. (ed. שובתה) a kind of salt which has no Sabbath (is generated at all times), which is Sodom salt (v. מֶלַח). e.g. Exodus 20:10
- 2. to stay over the Sabbath; (of scholars) to deliver the Sabbath lecture. Peah VIII, 7 ש׳ נותנין לו מזון וכ׳ where the transient poor makes his Sabbath station, you must give him food for three meals; Sabb. 118ᵃ; B. Bath. 9ᵃ. Mekh. Bo, s. 16 כבר שָׂבְתוּ … ולא ש׳ וכ׳ once the disciples made their Sabbath station at Jabneh, but R. J. did not stay there. Ib. ומי ש׳ שם and who lectured there?; אפשר שש׳ ר׳ וכ׳ is it possible that R. El. b. Az. lectured without sayîng something novel?; Y. Ḥag. I, beg. 75ᵈ; Y. Sot. III, 18ᵈ bot.; a. fr.
- 3. (v. שְׁבִיתָה) to appoint a Sabbath camp as the center for Sabbath movements. Pes. III, 7 (49ᵃ) ההולך … לִשְׁבּוֹת שביתת הרשות if a person goes away from home … in order to transfer his Sabbath camp for some secular (social) purpose. Erub. 51ᵃ לשׁוֹבְתֵי שבת for those who appoint a Sabbath camp (when on the road near the beginning of the Sabbath), v. פֵּאָה; a. fr.—Part. pass. שָׁבוּת allowed to rest, abandoned. Sifra B’har, Par. 1, ch. I (ref. to שבת הארץ, Lev. XXV, 6) מן הש׳ בארץ … מן השמור thou mayest (in the Sabbatical year) eat of what is abandoned in the earth (that which grows without special cultivation, manuring &c.), but not of what is watched in the earth (of a field more than ordinarily ploughed); Yalk. Lev. 659. e.g. Leviticus 25:6
- to cause to cease, remove. Y. Ber. IV, 7ᵈ bot. שתשבור ותַשְׁבִּית עולו וכ׳ that thou mayest break and remove the yoke of the evil inclination &c.; ib. שתַּשְׁבִּיתֵהוּ מעלינו וכ׳ that thou mayest remove it (the leaven of evil) from within us &c.—V. הַשְׁבָּתָה.
שְׁבַת
- , to rest; to observe the Sabbath. Targ. Ex. XXXI, 17. Targ. O. ib. XVI, 30 ed. Berl. (oth. ed. נחו). Targ. Y. Lev. XXIII, 32.—Y. Maas. Sh. V, 56ᵃ top ונחית שָׁבֵית בבייתיה and went down to observe the Sabbath in his own house; ib. הוו סלקון שַׁבְתוּן וכ׳ went up and celebrated the Sabbath at the Temple; Lam. R. to III, 9 ושבחן (read: ושַׁבְתָן).—[Y. Maas. Sh. l. c. סליק ש׳, read: שבח, v. שְׁבַח I.]
שַׁבָּת
- preced.)
- 1. day of rest, Sabbath.—שַׁבַּת בראשית, v. בְּרֵאשִׁית. Sabb. I, 1 יציאות הש׳ the laws concerning the carrying of objects from one territory (רָשׁוּת) to another on the Sabbath, v. הוֹצָאָה. Ib. 2ᵇ הכא דעיקר ש׳ הוא here where the Sabbath law is the main subject. Ib. 10ᵇ מתנה … וש׳ שמה I have a precious gift in my treasury, its name is Sabbath. Ib. 119ᵃ תבלין … וש׳ שמו וכ׳ we (Jews) have a certain spice, its name is Sabbath, which we put into it (the Sabbath dish), and its flavor spreads, Ib. 117ᵇ בש׳ חייב אדם לבצוע וכ׳ on the Sabbath one must break bread (say the blessing) over two loaves. Ib. לעולם … להוצאת ש׳ one should always be early in making the purchases for the Sabbath. Ib. 118ᵃ עשה שַׁבַּתְּךָ וכ׳, v. צָרַךְ. Ib. 119ᵃ בואו … ש׳ המלכה come ye, and let us go forth to meet queen Sabbath. Ib.ᵇ שני … בערב ש׳ מבית וכ׳ two ministering angels escort man on the Sabbath eve from the synagogue to his house; מלאך … שתהא לש׳ אחרת כך וכ׳ the good angel says, may it be thus the next Sabbath, and the evil angel says Amen against his will. Ib. לא חרבה … את הש׳ Jerusalem was destroyed for no other reason than because they desecrated the Sabbath there. Mekh. Ki Thissa לכם ש׳ מסורה וכ׳, v. מָסַר. R. Hash. IV, 1 שחל להיות בש׳ which falls on a Sabbath day; a. v. fr.—Ber. 28ᵃ, a. e. ש׳ של מי היתה whose Sabbath was it, i.e. whose turn to preach was it?—Pl. שַׁבָּתוֹת. Sabb. l. c. אילמלי … שתי ש׳ וכ׳ if Israel were to observe two Sabbaths properly, they would at once be redeemed. Yeb. 93ᵃ ש׳ וימים טובים Sabbaths and festivals; Keth. 110ᵇ; a. v. fr.
- 2. week. Ned. VIII, 1 ש׳ זו אסור בכל הש׳ וש׳ שעברה (if one says on a Sabbath day, ‘I vow abstinence from wine) this Sabbath’, he is forbidden to drink wine the whole (incoming) week and the week just expiring. Men. 65ᵇ באמצע ש׳ during the week, opp. בשבת on the Sabbath day; a. fr.—Pl. as ab. Is. 66ᵃ אימתי … שבע ש׳ תמימות וכ׳ when do you find seven complete weeks (between Passover and Shabuoth)? When you begin to count from the evening. Pesik. Haʿom., p. 69ᵇ באלו שבע ש׳ וכ׳ during those seven weeks between Passover &c.; a. fr.—שַׁבָּת Sabbath, name of a treatise, of the Order of Moʿed, of the Mishnah, Tosefta, Talmud Babli and Y’rushalmi.
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 56 distinct written forms H7673 takes in the Hebrew Bible, most frequent first — each parse links to that stem’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 H7673, 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.
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.
Compare all same-root words → 1 of the same-root words is a proper name (a person or place). They share a root, not necessarily a meaning.
Septuagint verse parallels
This word appears in 60 verses that also exist in the Greek Old Testament (Septuagint), out of the 67 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 2:2
- Exodus 5:5
- Leviticus 2:13
- Deuteronomy 32:26
- Joshua 5:12
- Ruth 4:14
- 2 Kings 23:5
- 2 Chronicles 16:5
- Job 32:1
- Psalms 8:2
- Proverbs 18:18
- Isaiah 13:11
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.
