שָׁחַט
to slaughter
‘to slaughter’ is one of 2 main senses fuller range ↓
Full lexicon entry — Brown-Driver-Briggs (BDB)
From Brown-Driver-Briggs (BDB)
Where this word appears
See every Qal verb in the Hebrew Bible →
Grammar key — what these labels mean
Part of speech
- Verb
- An action or state-of-being word.
Noun type
- Common
- A common noun — a general class of person, place, or thing (“king,” “city,” “water”), not a specific name.
Stem
- Qal
- The basic, simple active stem — the plain form of the verb (“he wrote”). Here: ‘beast for food 1 S 14’
- 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).
- Sequential Imperfect
- An imperfect with prefixed waw — the standard past-narrative form (waw-consecutive imperfect).
- Imperfect
- An incomplete, ongoing, or future action (“he will / would write”).
- Imperative
- A direct command (“write!”).
- Infinitive Construct
- A bound verbal noun, frequently with prepositions (“to write / in writing”).
- Participle Passive
- A verbal adjective expressing action received (“written”).
- Perfect
- A completed action or state — Hebrew marks aspect (completeness) more than strict tense (“he wrote”).
- Participle Active
- A verbal adjective expressing ongoing or characteristic action (“writing / one who writes”).
- Infinitive Absolute
- An unbound verbal noun, often intensifying or standing in for a finite verb.
State
- Absolute
- The independent form of a noun, not bound to a following word.
- Construct
- A noun bound to a following noun in a possessive / “of” relationship (the construct chain).
Person
- 3rd Person
- The one spoken about (“he / she / it / they”).
- 2nd Person
- The one addressed (“you”).
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).
2 distinct verses where H7819 appears in the Niphal stem, across 2 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.
Leviticus 1 verse
Numbers 1 verse
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, שחט (shâchaṭ) means “to slaughter.” The King James Version usually renders it “slew,” while modern versions prefer “slaughter” (Berean Standard Bible) and “he shall slaughter” (unfoldingWord Literal Text) — see the renderings breakdown. With 70 verses in 14 books, it is a moderately common word in the Hebrew Bible. Its uses concentrate in Leviticus (43% of all occurrences). Not a single-sense word: explore its full sense range. Dig into 70-verse concordance and the renderings breakdown below.
Gloss history
Strong's 1890 vs modern scholarship
About this word
Strong's H7819 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 →
- 70
- distinct verses
- The word appears in 70 distinct verses.
- 14 / 39
- OT books
- The word appears in 14 of 39 Old Testament books.
- #487
- by frequency
- Top 500 most frequent Hebrew words (rank 487 of 8,640 Hebrew words by occurrence).
View all 70 occurrences in the concordance →
Most concentrated in
- Leviticus 30 verses 43%
- Exodus 6 verses 9%
- 2 Chronicles 6 verses 9%
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 70 distinct verses.
- Torah (Pentateuch) 41 verses · 59%
- Prophets (Nevi'im) 22 verses · 31%
- Writings (Ketuvim) 7 verses · 10%
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†: Slew 12×, Kill 7×, He shall kill 6×
- American Standard Version†: Kill 9×, Slew 9×, They killed 7×
- Berean Standard Bible†: Slaughter 15×, Slaughtered 13×, They slaughtered 7×
- unfoldingWord Literal Text†: He shall slaughter 17×, They slaughtered 12×, Slaughter 7×
King James Version Public Domain
Renders H7819 across 81† 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.
American Standard Version Public Domain
Renders H7819 across 81† tagged occurrences — most commonly:
Plus 32 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 H7819 across 80† tagged occurrences — most commonly:
Plus 25 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 H7819 across 89† tagged occurrences — most commonly:
Plus other, less common renderings. Plus 23 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.
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 6 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.
שחט I slaughter, beat (orig. beat, flay? cf. Assyrian šaḫâṭu, flay, take off dress
Qal
- Pf. 3 ms. שׁ׳ Je 39:6 +, sf. וּשְׁחָטוֹ consec. Lv 3:2, etc.; Impf. 3 ms. יִשְׁחַט Lv 4:24 +, 2 fs. וַתִּשְׁחֲטִי Ez 16:21, 3 mpl. sf. וַיִּשְׁחָט֫וּהוּ Ju 12:6; Imv. mpl. שַׁחֲטוּ Ex 12:21; 2 Ch 35:6; Inf. abs. שָׁחֹט Is 22:13; cstr. לִשְׁחֹט Gn 22:10, -וֹט Ez 40:39, sf. שַׁחֲטָם (Ges§ 64 a) Ez 23:39; Pt. act. שׁוֹחֵט Is 66:3, etc.; pass. שָׁחוּט 1 K 10:16 +, etc.;—slaughter: e.g. Jeremiah 39:6
- 1. beast for food 1 S 14:32, 34(×2); Is 22:13 (‖ הָרַג), cf. Lv 17:3(×2), for blood Gn 37:31 (E). e.g. 1 Samuel 14:32
- 2. us. (51 times; Hex chiefly P, 38 times) term. techn. of killing sacrifice (BJacobZAW xvii (1897), 51), 1 S 1:25; Ex 29:11; 34:25 (J), Lv 1:5, 11; 4:24; 9:8; Nu 19:3; 2 Ch 29:22(×2), 24 +; abs. Ez 40:41 (אֶל loc.); bird Lv 14:5, 6, 50, 51; beast in illicit sacrifice Is 66:3; c. acc. of sacrifice (עוֹלָה, אָשָׁם, חַטָּאת, etc.) Ez 40:39 (אֶל loc.), v 42; 44:11; Lv 4:24; 7:2; 14:13 +; passover lamb †Ex 12:6, acc. הַפֶּסַח †v 21; 2 Ch 30:15; 35:1, 6, 11; Ezr 6:20. e.g. 1 Samuel 1:25
- 3. slaughter pers. Ju 12:6 1 K 18:40; 2 K 10:7, 14 (אֶל loc.), 2 K 25:7 = Je 39:6a = 52:10a; Je 39:6b = 52:10b; 41:7; י׳ subj. Nu 14:16 (JE); in human sacrifice Gn 22:10 (E), to false gods Ez 16:21; 23:39; Is 57:5. e.g. Judges 12:6
- 4. pt. pass. = beaten, hammered, זָהָב שָׁחוּט 1 K 10:16, 17 = 2 Ch 9:15a, 16, of shekels 2 Ch 9:15b; so also Je 9:7 Qr חֵץ שָׁחוּט (> Kt שׁוֹחֵט) hammered (i.e. sharpened) arrow. e.g. 1 Kings 10:16
Niphal
- Impf. 3 ms. יִשָּׁחֵט Nu 11:22 (J) be slaughtered for food (subj. beast); 3 fs. תִּשָּׁחֵט Lv 6:18(×2) (P) be slain, of sacrifice. e.g. Numbers 11:22
שחט II (Qal Inf. cstr. Köi. 263) doubtful word
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. slaughter, beat (orig. beat, flay? cf. Assyrian šaḫâṭu, flay, take off dress; Arabic سَحَطَ slay (but ح = ḫ; is this loan-word in Arabic?); NH = BH, especially in ritual);—
I. n.f. (Qal Inf. cstr. Köi. 263) doubtful word;—וְשׁ׳ שֵׂטִים הֶעְמִיקוּ Ho 5:2 RV (cf. AV) the revolters are gone deep in slaughtering [‘Opferschlächterei’ Köii 1. 590, n. 1], Ew Now (formerly), Che in corrupting (read then שַׁחֲתָה); We Now GASm Marti שַׁחַת הַשִּׁטִּים have made deep the pit of Shiṭṭim (as place of idolatry).
— 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.
שָׁחַט I
- to draw, stretch. Part. pass. שָׁחוּט. Y. Yoma IV, 41ᵈ top (expl. זהב שׁחוט, I Kings X, 17) שהיה משוך כשעוה it was drawn out like wax; Cant. R. to III, 10; Yoma 45ᵃ שנטוה כחוט it was spun like a thread; Ḥull. 30ᵇ. Ib. (to prove that in slaughtering you must draw the knife over the animal’s throat and not chop) אין ושחט אלא ומשך וכ׳ v’shaḥaṭ (Lev. I, 5) means and ‘he shall draw’, and so it says zahab shaḥuṭ (v. supra) and also ḥets shaḥuṭ (Jer. IX, 7; Keri שוחט). e.g. 1 Kings 10:17
שָׁחַט II
- to cut the throat, esp. to slay an animal by cutting the throat according to ritual laws. Ḥull. I, 1 הכל שׁוֹחֲטִין וכ׳ all persons are fit to do the ritual slaughtering, and their act is legal, except &c.; וכולן ששָׁחֲטוּ וכ׳ and all those (mentioned as unfit), if they cut under the supervision of others &c. Ib. II, 3 היה שׁוֹחֵט והתיז וכ׳ if he was cutting (drawing the knife across the throat, v. preced.) and cut the head off with one movement. Ib. 1 השוחט … ושנים וכ׳ if one cuts one organ (windpipe or gullet, v. סִימָן) of a bird, and two &c.; ib. עד שיִשְׁחוֹט וכ׳, v. וָרִיד; a. fr.—Part. pass. שָׁחוּט; f. שְׁחוּטָה &c. Nidd. 15ᵃ שור ש׳ לפניך the ox lies slaughtered before thee, i.e. the evidence is before you. Ḥull. 95ᵃ בְּשַׂר ש׳ meat of an animal ritually cut, opp. בשר נבלה; a. fr.
- to be cut, killed according to ritual. Ib. 9ᵃ עד … במה נִשְׁחֲטָה, v. חֲזָקָה. Ib. נשחטה הרי היא וכ׳ if it has been properly slaughtered, it is presumed to be permitted until &c.; a. fr.
- to cause to slaughter. Ib. V, 4 בארבע … מַשְׁחִיטִין את הטבח וכ׳ at these four periods we force the butcher to slaughter (provide meat); Erub. 81ᵇ
שְׁחַט
- —[Targ. O. Num. XI, 32 ed. Vien., v. שְׁטַח.]—Ḥull. 28ᵃ sq. היכי נעביד נִשְׁחֲטֵיה … קשְׁחִיט how shall we proceed? shall we cut it and then examine (the gullet)? Maybe it was cut at a perforated spot. Meg. 7ᵇ שַׁחֲטֵיה לר׳ וכ׳ he cut R. Zera’s throat; a. fr.—Part. pass. שְׁחִיט, v. supra. Ḥull. 4ᵃ הוה ש׳ שפיר was properly cut.
- to be cut. Gitt. 69ᵇ
שָׂחַט
- , v. סָחַט
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 66 distinct written forms H7819 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; 6 rarer forms follow in the full concordance.
Same root — word family
Other BDB entries built from the same root as H7819, 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 69 verses that also exist in the Greek Old Testament (Septuagint), out of the 70 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 22:10
- Exodus 12:6
- Leviticus 1:5
- Numbers 11:22
- Judges 12:6
- 1 Samuel 1:25
- 1 Kings 18:40
- 2 Kings 10:7
- 2 Chronicles 29:22
- Ezra 6:20
- Isaiah 22:13
- Jeremiah 9:8
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.
