שָׁחָה
to bow down
‘to bow down’ is one of 3 main senses fuller range ↓
Full lexicon entry — Brown-Driver-Briggs (BDB)
From Brown-Driver-Briggs (BDB)
Where this word appears
See every Hishtaphel verb in the Hebrew Bible →
Grammar key — what these labels mean
Part of speech
- Verb
- An action or state-of-being word.
Stem
- Hithpael
- The reflexive or reciprocal stem (the subject acts on itself).
- Hiphil
- The causative active stem (“he caused / brought about”).
- Qal
- The basic, simple active stem — the plain form of the verb (“he wrote”). Here: ‘bow down’
Form
- Sequential Imperfect
- An imperfect with prefixed waw — the standard past-narrative form (waw-consecutive imperfect).
- Infinitive Construct
- A bound verbal noun, frequently with prepositions (“to write / in writing”).
- Imperfect
- An incomplete, ongoing, or future action (“he will / would write”).
- Sequential Perfect
- A perfect with prefixed waw continuing a preceding imperfect or command (waw-consecutive perfect).
- Participle Active
- A verbal adjective expressing ongoing or characteristic action (“writing / one who writes”).
- Imperative
- A direct command (“write!”).
- Jussive
- A third- or second-person volitional form expressing wish or command (“let him write”).
- Perfect
- A completed action or state — Hebrew marks aspect (completeness) more than strict tense (“he wrote”).
- Cohortative
- A first-person volitional form expressing wish or resolve (“let me / let us write”).
State
- Absolute
- The independent form of a noun, not bound to a following word.
Person
- 3rd Person
- The one spoken about (“he / she / it / they”).
- 2nd Person
- The one addressed (“you”).
- 1st Person
- The speaker (“I / we”).
Gender
- Masculine
- Grammatically masculine.
- Feminine
- Grammatically feminine.
- Common
- Either gender — not distinguished for this form.
Number
- Singular
- One.
- Plural
- More than one (in Hebrew, generally three or more).
76 distinct verses where H7812 appears in the Hithpael stem, across 20 books. 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.
Genesis 13 verses
- Genesis 18:2 וַ/יִּשְׁתַּ֖חוּ conj + Hithpael wimpf 3ms He lifted up his eyes and looked, and saw that three men stood opposite him. When he saw them, he ran to meet them from the tent door, and bowed himself to the earth,
- Genesis 19:1 וַ/יִּשְׁתַּ֥חוּ conj + Hithpael wimpf 3ms The two angels came to Sodom at evening. Lot sat in the gate of Sodom. Lot saw them, and rose up to meet them. He bowed himself with his face to the earth,
- Genesis 23:7 וַ/יִּשְׁתַּ֥חוּ conj + Hithpael wimpf 3ms Abraham rose up, and bowed himself to the people of the land, even to the children of Heth.
- Genesis 23:12 וַ/יִּשְׁתַּ֨חוּ֙ conj + Hithpael wimpf 3ms Abraham bowed himself down before the people of the land.
- Genesis 24:26 וַ/יִּשְׁתַּ֖חוּ conj + Hithpael wimpf 3ms The man bowed his head, and worshiped Yahweh.
- Genesis 24:52 וַ/יִּשְׁתַּ֥חוּ conj + Hithpael wimpf 3ms It happened that when Abraham's servant heard their words, he bowed himself down to the earth to Yahweh.
- Genesis 33:3 וַ/יִּשְׁתַּ֤חוּ conj + Hithpael wimpf 3ms He himself passed over in front of them, and bowed himself to the ground seven times, until he came near to his brother.
- Genesis 33:7 וַ/יִּֽשְׁתַּחֲו֑וּ וַ/יִּֽשְׁתַּחֲוֽוּ conj + Hithpael wimpf 3mp conj + Hithpael wimpf 3mp Leah also and her children came near, and bowed themselves. After them, Joseph came near with Rachel, and they bowed themselves.
- Genesis 37:10 לְ/הִשְׁתַּחֲוֺ֥ת prep + Hithpael inf.cs He told it to his father and to his brothers. His father rebuked him, and said to him, "What is this dream that you have dreamed? Will I and your mother and your brothers indeed come to bow ourselves down to you to the earth?"
- Genesis 42:6 וַ/יִּשְׁתַּֽחֲווּ conj + Hithpael wimpf 3mp Joseph was the governor over the land. It was he who sold to all the people of the land. Joseph's brothers came, and bowed themselves down to him with their faces to the earth.
- Genesis 43:26 וַ/יִּשְׁתַּחֲווּ conj + Hithpael wimpf 3mp When Joseph came home, they brought him the present which was in their hand into the house, and bowed down themselves to him to the earth.
- Genesis 47:31 וַ/יִּשְׁתַּ֥חוּ conj + Hithpael wimpf 3ms He said, "Swear to me," and he swore to him. Israel bowed himself on the bed's head.
- Genesis 48:12 וַ/יִּשְׁתַּ֥חוּ conj + Hithpael wimpf 3ms Joseph brought them out from between his knees, and he bowed himself with his face to the earth.
Exodus 4 verses
- Exodus 12:27 וַ/יִּֽשְׁתַּחֲוּֽוּ conj + Hithpael wimpf 3mp that you shall say, 'It is the sacrifice of Yahweh's Passover, who passed over the houses of the children of Israel in Egypt, when he struck the Egyptians, and spared our houses.'" The people bowed their heads and worshiped.
- Exodus 18:7 וַ/יִּשְׁתַּ֨חוּ֙ conj + Hithpael wimpf 3ms Moses went out to meet his father-in-law, and bowed and kissed him. They asked each other of their welfare, and they came into the tent.
- Exodus 32:8 וַ/יִּשְׁתַּֽחֲווּ conj + Hithpael wimpf 3mp They have turned aside quickly out of the way which I commanded them. They have made themselves a molten calf, and have worshiped it, and have sacrificed to it, and said, 'These are your gods, Israel, which brought you up out of the land of Egypt.'"
- Exodus 34:8 וַ/יִּשְׁתָּֽחוּ conj + Hithpael wimpf 3ms Moses hurried and bowed his head toward the earth, and worshiped.
Leviticus 1 verse
Numbers 1 verse
Deuteronomy 1 verse
Joshua 1 verse
Judges 3 verses
- Judges 2:12 וַ/יִּֽשְׁתַּחֲו֖וּ conj + Hithpael wimpf 3mp and they forsook Yahweh, the God of their fathers, who brought them out of the land of Egypt, and followed other gods, of the gods of the peoples who were round about them, and bowed themselves down to them: and they provoked Yahweh to anger.
- Judges 2:17 וַ/יִּֽשְׁתַּחֲו֖וּ conj + Hithpael wimpf 3mp Yet they didn't listen to their judges; for they played the prostitute after other gods, and bowed themselves down to them: they turned aside quickly out of the way in which their fathers walked, obeying the commandments of Yahweh; [but] they didn't do so.
- Judges 7:15 וַ/יִּשְׁתָּ֑חוּ conj + Hithpael wimpf 3ms It was so, when Gideon heard the telling of the dream, and the interpretation of it, that he worshiped; and he returned into the camp of Israel, and said, Arise; for Yahweh has delivered into your hand the host of Midian.
1 Samuel 8 verses
- 1 Samuel 1:3 לְ/הִֽשְׁתַּחֲוֺ֧ת prep + Hithpael inf.cs This man went up out of his city from year to year to worship and to sacrifice to Yahweh of Hosts in Shiloh. The two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, priests to Yahweh, were there.
- 1 Samuel 1:19 וַ/יִּֽשְׁתַּחֲווּ֙ conj + Hithpael wimpf 3mp They rose up in the morning early, and worshiped before Yahweh, and returned, and came to their house to Ramah: and Elkanah knew Hannah his wife; and Yahweh remembered her.
- 1 Samuel 1:28 וַ/יִּשְׁתַּ֥חוּ conj + Hithpael wimpf 3ms therefore also I have granted him to Yahweh; as long as he lives he is granted to Yahweh. He worshiped Yahweh there.
- 1 Samuel 2:36 לְ/הִשְׁתַּחֲוֺ֣ת prep + Hithpael inf.cs It shall happen, that everyone who is left in your house shall come and bow down to him for a piece of silver and a loaf of bread, and shall say, Please put me into one of the priests' offices, that I may eat a morsel of bread.
- 1 Samuel 15:31 וַ/יִּשְׁתַּ֥חוּ conj + Hithpael wimpf 3ms So Samuel turned again after Saul; and Saul worshiped Yahweh.
- 1 Samuel 20:41 וַ/יִּשְׁתַּ֖חוּ conj + Hithpael wimpf 3ms As soon as the boy was gone, David arose out of [a place] toward the South, and fell on his face to the ground, and bowed himself three times: and they kissed one another, and wept one with another, until David exceeded.
- 1 Samuel 24:8 וַ/יִּשְׁתָּֽחוּ conj + Hithpael wimpf 3ms David also arose afterward, and went out of the cave, and cried after Saul, saying, My lord the king. When Saul looked behind him, David bowed with his face to the earth, and did obeisance.
- 1 Samuel 28:14 וַ/יִּשְׁתָּֽחוּ conj + Hithpael wimpf 3ms He said to her, What form is he of? She said, An old man comes up; and he is covered with a robe. Saul perceived that it was Samuel, and he bowed with his face to the ground, and did obeisance.
2 Samuel 10 verses
- 2 Samuel 1:2 וַ/יִּשְׁתָּֽחוּ conj + Hithpael wimpf 3ms it happened on the third day, that behold, a man came out of the camp from Saul, with his clothes torn, and earth on his head: and so it was, when he came to David, that he fell to the earth, and did obeisance.
- 2 Samuel 9:6 וַ/יִּשְׁתָּ֑חוּ conj + Hithpael wimpf 3ms Mephibosheth, the son of Jonathan, the son of Saul, came to David, and fell on his face, and did obeisance. David said, Mephibosheth. He answered, Behold, your servant!
- 2 Samuel 9:8 וַ/יִּשְׁתַּ֕חוּ conj + Hithpael wimpf 3ms He did obeisance, and said, "What is your servant, that you should look on such a dead dog as I am?"
- 2 Samuel 12:20 וַ/יִּשְׁתָּ֑חוּ conj + Hithpael wimpf 3ms Then David arose from the earth, and washed, and anointed himself, and changed his clothing; and he came into the house of Yahweh, and worshiped: then he came to his own house; and when he required, they set bread before him, and he ate.
- 2 Samuel 14:22 וַ/יִּשְׁתַּ֖חוּ conj + Hithpael wimpf 3ms Joab fell to the ground on his face, and did obeisance, and blessed the king: and Joab said, Today your servant knows that I have found favor in your sight, my lord, king, in that the king has performed the request of his servant.
- 2 Samuel 14:33 וַ/יִּשְׁתַּ֨חוּ conj + Hithpael wimpf 3ms So Joab came to the king, and told him; and when he had called for Absalom, he came to the king, and bowed himself on his face to the ground before the king: and the king kissed Absalom.
- 2 Samuel 15:5 לְ/הִשְׁתַּחֲוֺ֖ת prep + Hithpael inf.cs It was so, that when any man came near to do him obeisance, he put forth his hand, and took hold of him, and kissed him.
- 2 Samuel 18:21 וַ/יִּשְׁתַּ֧חוּ conj + Hithpael wimpf 3ms Then said Joab to the Cushite, Go, tell the king what you have seen. The Cushite bowed himself to Joab, and ran.
- 2 Samuel 18:28 וַ/יִּשְׁתַּ֧חוּ conj + Hithpael wimpf 3ms Ahimaaz called, and said to the king, All is well. He bowed himself before the king with his face to the earth, and said, Blessed be Yahweh your God, who has delivered up the men who lifted up their hand against my lord the king.
- 2 Samuel 24:20 וַ/יִּשְׁתַּ֧חוּ conj + Hithpael wimpf 3ms Araunah looked forth, and saw the king and his servants coming on toward him: and Araunah went out, and bowed himself before the king with his face to the ground.
1 Kings 6 verses
- 1 Kings 1:23 וַ/יִּשְׁתַּ֧חוּ conj + Hithpael wimpf 3ms They told the king, saying, Behold, Nathan the prophet. When he was come in before the king, he bowed himself before the king with his face to the ground.
- 1 Kings 1:47 וַ/יִּשְׁתַּ֥חוּ conj + Hithpael wimpf 3ms Moreover the king's servants came to bless our lord king David, saying, Your God make the name of Solomon better than your name, and make his throne greater than your throne: and the king bowed himself on the bed.
- 1 Kings 1:53 וַ/יִּשְׁתַּ֖חוּ conj + Hithpael wimpf 3ms So king Solomon sent, and they brought him down from the altar. He came and did obeisance to king Solomon; and Solomon said to him, Go to your house.
- 1 Kings 2:19 וַ/יִּשְׁתַּ֣חוּ conj + Hithpael wimpf 3ms Bathsheba therefore went to king Solomon, to speak to him for Adonijah. The king rose up to meet her, and bowed himself to her, and sat down on his throne, and caused a throne to be set for the king's mother; and she sat on his right hand.
- 1 Kings 11:33 וַ/יִּֽשְׁתַּחֲווּ֮ conj + Hithpael wimpf 3mp because that they have forsaken me, and have worshiped Ashtoreth the goddess of the Sidonians, Chemosh the god of Moab, and Milcom the god of the children of Ammon; and they have not walked in my ways, to do that which is right in my eyes, and [to keep] my statutes and my ordinances, as did David his father.
- 1 Kings 16:31 וַ/יִּשְׁתַּ֖חוּ conj + Hithpael wimpf 3ms It happened, as if it had been a light thing for him to walk in the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, that he took as wife Jezebel the daughter of Ethbaal king of the Sidonians, and went and served Baal, and worshiped him.
2 Kings 5 verses
- 2 Kings 2:15 וַ/יִּשְׁתַּחֲווּ conj + Hithpael wimpf 3mp When the sons of the prophets who were at Jericho over against him saw him, they said, The spirit of Elijah does rest on Elisha. They came to meet him, and bowed themselves to the ground before him.
- 2 Kings 5:18 לְ/הִשְׁתַּחֲוֺ֨ת וְ/הִֽשְׁתַּחֲוֵ֨יתִי֙ בְּ/הִשְׁתַּחֲוָיָ֨תִ/י֙ prep + Hithpael inf.cs conj + Hishtaphel wpf 1cs prep + Hishtaphel inf.cs + sfx pers 1cs In this thing Yahweh pardon your servant: when my master goes into the house of Rimmon to worship there, and he leans on my hand, and I bow myself in the house of Rimmon, when I bow myself in the house of Rimmon, Yahweh pardon your servant in this thing.
- 2 Kings 17:16 וַ/יִּֽשְׁתַּחֲווּ֙ conj + Hithpael wimpf 3mp They forsook all the commandments of Yahweh their God, and made them molten images, even two calves, and made an Asherah, and worshiped all the host of the sky, and served Baal.
- 2 Kings 21:3 וַ/יִּשְׁתַּ֨חוּ֙ conj + Hithpael wimpf 3ms For he built again the high places which Hezekiah his father had destroyed; and he reared up altars for Baal, and made an Asherah, as did Ahab king of Israel, and worshiped all the host of the sky, and served them.
- 2 Kings 21:21 וַ/יִּשְׁתַּ֖חוּ conj + Hithpael wimpf 3ms He walked in all the way that his father walked in, and served the idols that his father served, and worshiped them:
1 Chronicles 2 verses
- 1 Chronicles 21:21 וַ/יִּשְׁתַּ֧חוּ conj + Hithpael wimpf 3ms As David came to Ornan, Ornan looked and saw David, and went out of the threshing floor, and bowed himself to David with his face to the ground.
- 1 Chronicles 29:20 וַ/יִּֽשְׁתַּחֲו֛וּ conj + Hithpael wimpf 3mp David said to all the assembly, Now bless Yahweh your God. All the assembly blessed Yahweh, the God of their fathers, and bowed down their heads, and worshiped Yahweh, and the king.
2 Chronicles 7 verses
- 2 Chronicles 7:3 וַ/יִּֽשְׁתַּֽחֲו֔וּ conj + Hithpael wimpf 3mp All the children of Israel looked on, when the fire came down, and the glory of Yahweh was on the house; and they bowed themselves with their faces to the ground on the pavement, and worshiped, and gave thanks to Yahweh, [saying], For he is good; for his loving kindness endures for ever.
- 2 Chronicles 7:22 וַ/יִּשְׁתַּחֲו֥וּ conj + Hithpael wimpf 3mp They shall answer, Because they forsook Yahweh, the God of their fathers, who brought them forth out of the land of Egypt, and laid hold on other gods, and worshiped them, and served them: therefore has he brought all this evil on them.
- 2 Chronicles 20:18 לְ/הִֽשְׁתַּחֲוֺ֖ת prep + Hithpael inf.cs Jehoshaphat bowed his head with his face to the ground; and all Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem fell down before Yahweh, worshipping Yahweh.
- 2 Chronicles 24:17 וַ/יִּֽשְׁתַּחֲו֖וּ conj + Hithpael wimpf 3mp Now after the death of Jehoiada came the princes of Judah, and made obeisance to the king. Then the king listened to them.
- 2 Chronicles 29:29 וַ/יִּֽשְׁתַּחֲוֽוּ conj + Hithpael wimpf 3mp When they had made an end of offering, the king and all who were present with him bowed themselves and worshiped.
- 2 Chronicles 29:30 וַ/יִּֽשְׁתַּחֲוֽוּ conj + Hithpael wimpf 3mp Moreover Hezekiah the king and the princes commanded the Levites to sing praises to Yahweh with the words of David, and of Asaph the seer. They sang praises with gladness, and they bowed their heads and worshiped.
- 2 Chronicles 33:3 וַ/יִּשְׁתַּ֨חוּ֙ conj + Hithpael wimpf 3ms For he built again the high places which Hezekiah his father had broken down; and he reared up altars for the Baals, and made Asheroth, and worshiped all the host of the sky, and served them.
Nehemiah 1 verse
Job 1 verse
Psalms 1 verse
Isaiah 3 verses
- Isaiah 2:20 לְ/הִֽשְׁתַּחֲוֺ֔ת prep + Hithpael inf.cs In that day, men shall cast away their idols of silver, And their idols of gold, Which have been made for themselves to worship, To the moles and to the bats;
- Isaiah 44:15 וַ/יִּשְׁתָּ֔חוּ conj + Hithpael wimpf 3ms Then shall it be for a man to burn; and he takes of it, and warms himself; yes, he kindles it, and bakes bread: yes, he makes a god, and worships it; he makes it an engraved image, and falls down to it.
- Isaiah 66:23 לְ/הִשְׁתַּחֲוֺ֥ת prep + Hithpael inf.cs It shall happen, that from one new moon to another, and from one Sabbath to another, shall all flesh come to worship before me, says Yahweh.
Jeremiah 5 verses
- Jeremiah 1:16 וַ/יִּֽשְׁתַּחֲו֖וּ conj + Hithpael wimpf 3mp I will utter my judgments against them touching all their wickedness, in that they have forsaken me, and have burned incense to other gods, and worshiped the works of their own hands.
- Jeremiah 7:2 לְ/הִֽשְׁתַּחֲוֺ֖ת prep + Hithpael inf.cs Stand in the gate of Yahweh's house, and proclaim there this word, and say, Hear the word of Yahweh, all you of Judah, who enter in at these gates to worship Yahweh.
- Jeremiah 16:11 וַ/יִּשְׁתַּחֲו֣וּ conj + Hithpael wimpf 3mp Then shall you tell them, Because your fathers have forsaken me, says Yahweh, and have walked after other gods, and have served them, and have worshiped them, and have forsaken me, and have not kept my law;
- Jeremiah 22:9 וַ/יִּֽשְׁתַּחֲו֛וּ conj + Hithpael wimpf 3mp Then they shall answer, Because they forsook the covenant of Yahweh their God, and worshiped other gods, and served them.
- Jeremiah 26:2 לְ/הִשְׁתַּחֲוֺ֣ת prep + Hithpael inf.cs Thus says Yahweh: Stand in the court of Yahweh's house, and speak to all the cities of Judah, which come to worship in Yahweh's house, all the words that I command you to speak to them; don't diminish a word.
Ezekiel 1 verse
Zechariah 2 verses
- Zechariah 14:16 לְ/הִֽשְׁתַּחֲוֺת֙ prep + Hithpael inf.cs It will happen that everyone who is left of all the nations that came against Jerusalem will go up from year to year to worship the King, Yahweh of Hosts, and to keep the feast of tents.
- Zechariah 14:17 לְ/הִֽשְׁתַּחֲוֺ֔ת prep + Hithpael inf.cs It will be, that whoever of all the families of the earth doesn't go up to Jerusalem to worship the King, Yahweh of Hosts, on them there will be no rain.
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.
The Hebrew verb שחה centers on the idea of “to bow down.” Its English rendering has broadened — “worship” classically, “bow down” (unfoldingWord Literal Text) in modern versions; see the renderings breakdown. The Hebrew Bible uses it across 166 verses — common. Its earliest occurrence is Genesis 18:2. Across 3 stems, its meaning turns on the binyan (Qal, Hiphil). For the data behind this summary, explore the sense tree and the renderings breakdown below.
Gloss history
Strong's 1890 vs modern scholarship
About this word
Strong's H7812 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 →
- 166
- distinct verses
- The word appears in 166 distinct verses.
- 25 / 39
- OT books
- The word appears in 25 of 39 Old Testament books.
- #266
- by frequency
- Top 500 most frequent Hebrew words (rank 266 of 8,640 Hebrew words by occurrence).
View all 166 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 166 distinct verses.
- Prophets (Nevi'im) 84 verses · 51%
- Torah (Pentateuch) 43 verses · 26%
- Writings (Ketuvim) 39 verses · 23%
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: Worship 31×, Worshipped 27×, Bowed 23×
- American Standard Version: Worshipped 26×, Worship 20×, Bowed 14×
- Berean Standard Bible: Worship 29×, Bow down 22×, Worshiped 17×
- unfoldingWord Literal Text: Bow down 31×, He prostrated himself 13×, Bowed down 12×
King James Version Public Domain
Renders H7812 across 172 tagged occurrences — most commonly:
Plus other, less common renderings. Plus 38 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 H7812 across 172 tagged occurrences — most commonly:
Plus other, less common renderings. Plus 47 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 H7812 across 171 tagged occurrences — most commonly:
Plus other, less common renderings. Plus 38 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 H7812 across 193 tagged occurrences — most commonly:
Plus other, less common renderings. Plus 29 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
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. This entry also uses one or more reduplicated stems (the Pōlēl/Pilpēl type), which for hollow or geminate roots behave much like Piel — often intensive or iterative.
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 5 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.
Qal
- bow down
Hiphil
- . fig., anxiety depresses it
Hithpa‛lēl
- 1. bow down, prostrate oneself, before a monarch or superior, in homage, etc.
- 2. before God, in worship
- 3. before other gods
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
[ שָׁחָה ] 172 vb. bow down
— 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.
שָׁחָה
- , v. שחי
שחי
- to curve; to bend, bow; to lower one’s self. Tosef. Ber. I, 9; Ber. 34ᵃ; Gen. R. s. 39, a. e., v. שָׁחַח. Pesik. Shek., p. 11ᵇ (ref. to Is. II, 9) יודע אני ששָׁחוּ … והָשְׁפַּלְתִּי אני והם I know that Israel lowered themselves by bowing to the calf, and I and they were humbled; Yalk. Ex. 386; Yalk. Is. 260; Tanḥ. Ki Thissa 4; Pesik. R. s. 10 אימתי שחו ונשפלו when was it that they bent and were lowered?; a. fr. e.g. Isaiah 2:9
- to prostrate one’s self. Snh. VII, 6 (60ᵇ) המִשְׁתַּחֲוֶה he that prostrates himself (before an idol). Ib. 62ᵃ זיבח … וה׳ וכ׳ if a person sacrificed, burnt incense, offered libation, and prostrated himself, all in one act. Yoma 69ᵃ כיון שראה … וה׳ לפניו when he (king Alexander) saw Simon the righteous, he alighted from his chariot and threw himself down before him; מלך … יִשְׁתַּחֲוֶה וכ׳ should a great king like thee prostrate himself before this Jew?; a. fr.
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 110 distinct written forms H7812 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.
The 60 most common forms are shown; 50 rarer forms follow in the full concordance.
Same root — word family
Other BDB entries built from the same root as H7812, 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
Compare all same-root words → They share a root, not necessarily a meaning.
Septuagint verse parallels
This word appears in 157 verses that also exist in the Greek Old Testament (Septuagint), out of the 166 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 18:2
- Exodus 4:31
- Leviticus 26:1
- Numbers 22:31
- Deuteronomy 4:19
- Joshua 5:14
- Judges 2:12
- Ruth 2:10
- 1 Samuel 1:3
- 2 Samuel 1:2
- 1 Kings 1:16
- 2 Kings 2:15
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.
