שֶׂ֫כֶר
wages
Full lexicon entry — Brown-Driver-Briggs (BDB)
From Brown-Driver-Briggs (BDB)
Where this word appears
See every Absolute-state word in the Hebrew Bible →
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
- 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).
Gender
- Masculine
- Grammatically masculine.
Number
- Singular
- One.
Grammatical forms
- Noun, Common, Masculine, Singular, Absolute 1 time (50%)
- Noun, Common, Masculine, Singular, Construct 1 time (50%)
Parsed forms decoded from the imported morphology (morphhb / Westminster Leningrad Codex — WLC text public domain, morphhb tagging CC BY 4.0), counted across 2 parsed occurrences — not distinct verses.
Every verse where H7938 appears — 2 distinct verses across 2 books. 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.
Proverbs 1 verse
Isaiah 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.
The Hebrew noun שכר centers on the idea of “wages.” It occurs a mere 2 verses across Scripture. Proverbs dominates its distribution — 1 of 2 verses. Its earliest occurrence is Proverbs 11:18. Related forms include שכר, משכרת and שכיר. Dig into 2-verse concordance and the renderings breakdown below.
Gloss history
Strong's 1890 vs modern scholarship
About this word
Strong's H7938 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 →
- 2
- distinct verses
- The word appears in 2 distinct verses.
- 2 / 39
- OT books
- The word appears in 2 of 39 Old Testament books.
- #4,807
- by frequency
- Top 5000 most frequent Hebrew words (rank 4,807 of 8,640 Hebrew words by occurrence).
View all 2 occurrences in the concordance →
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 2 distinct verses.
- Prophets (Nevi'im) 1 verse · 50%
- Writings (Ketuvim) 1 verse · 50%
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: Reward 1×, Sluices 1×
- American Standard Version: All they that work for hire 1×, Reward 1×
- Berean Standard Bible: Hired 1×, Reward 1×
- unfoldingWord Literal Text: Hire 1×, Wage of 1×
King James Version Public Domain
Renders H7938 across 2 tagged occurrences — most commonly:
American Standard Version Public Domain
Renders H7938 across 2 tagged occurrences — most commonly:
Berean Standard Bible Public Domain
Renders H7938 across 2 tagged occurrences — most commonly:
unfoldingWord Literal Text CC BY-SA 4.0
Renders H7938 across 2 tagged occurrences — most commonly:
Senses in BDB
The 1 sense BDB distinguishes for this word, in lexicon order (not ranked by frequency or importance). The full entry — with sub-senses — is in the Lexicon Entry tab.
- hire, wages
Word origin
n.[m.] hire, wages;—abs. עֹשֵׂי שׂ׳ Is 19:10 (= שָׂכִיר; cstr. Pr 11:18.
— Brown-Driver-Briggs (Oxford 1906, public domain), digitized via Sefaria, supplemented by the OpenScriptures HebrewLexicon (CC BY 4.0). See Sources.
Derived from שכר (sâkar) (H7936) — to hire.
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.
שָׂכַר
- to hire, engage; to rent. B. Mets. VI, 1 השׂוֹכֵר את וכ׳ if one engages artisans (through an agent). Ib. VIII, 2 שאלה … ושְׂכָרָהּ וכ׳ if he borrowed the cow for half a day, and hired her for half a day. Tosef. ib. IX, 1, sq. השׂוֹכֵר שדה if one rents a field; a. v. fr.—שׂוֹכֵר hirer, employer; tenant. B. Mets. 103ᵃ ש׳ מהימן בשבועה the employer is believed on his oath (that he has paid the wages). Ib. 102ᵇ כוליה לש׳ the whole (rent for the thirteenth month of the leap year) goes to the tenant, i.e. he need not pay extra rent for the intercalated month; a. v. fr.—Esp. שוכר tenant of land for rent payable in money, contrad. to חכיר. Tosef. Dem. VI, 2 ש׳ במעות וכ׳ the sokher pays the rent in cash, the ḥakkir (or ḥokher) in kind; a. fr.—Part. pass. שָׂכוּר; f. שְׂכוּרָה. B. Mets. VIII, 2 if the hirer says, ש׳ מתה it is the hired cow that died; ביום שהיתה ש׳ מתה she died on the day when I used her for hire; בשעה … ש׳ וכ׳ she died at that time of the day when I used her for hire; a. fr.
- 1. to lease, let. B. Bath. 110ᵃ לעולם יַשְׂכִּיר אדם את עצמו וכ׳ a man should hire himself out for &c., v. עֲבוֹרָה. B. Mets. VIII, 7 המַשְׂכִּיר … המשכיר וכ׳ if one lets a house …, the landlord has to furnish &c. Ib. 8 ה׳ לו להדשים … למשכיר if he let the house by the month, … the landlord has the benefit of the intercalated month, v. עָבַר. Pes. 4ᵃ על המ׳ לבדוק the landlord is obliged to search the house for leavened matter; a. fr.
- 2. (denom. of שָׂכָר) to cause to profit, to benefit. Tanḥ. ed. Bub., Vayesheb 13 צריך … משכיר אותו (not משביר) a man must pray for the welfare of him that benefits him.
- (denom. of שָׂכָר) to be rewarded, benefited; to have the advantage. Yeb. 92ᵇ אם כן מצינו חוטא נִשְׂכָּר if this be the law, then he that sinned would be at an advantage; Keth. 11ᵃ, a. e. שלא יהא חוטא נ׳ it is done in order that the sinner should not be at an advantage. Pes. 50ᵇ; Tosef. Yeb. IV, 8, v. זָרִיז; a. fr.
- to profit; to deal in. Tanḥ. l. c. לפי … מִשְׂתַּכֵּר מצאנו וכ׳ because Jacob was benefited by his flock &c. Pesik. R. s. 40 ונִשְׂתַּכַּרְתִּי, v. נָצַח. Pes. l. c. המשתכר בקנים וכ׳ he that deals in reeds and vessels. Ib. 54ᵇ ואין אדם יודע במה משתכר and no man knows which of his enterprises will turn out profitable; Mekh. B’shall., Vayass‘a, s. 5. B. Bath. 91ᵃ אין מִשְׂתַּכְּרִין בא"י וכ׳ in Palestine you must not be a dealer in provisions, as wine &c. (serve as middleman between producer and consumer); Tosef. Ab. Zar. IV (V), 1; a. fr.
שָׂכַר ²
- to fill up, dam, v. סָכר, סְכַר.—Snh. 95ᵃ, v. בִּזָּאי, a. שְׂכוֹר.
שָׂכָר
- wages, profit, reward. Shebu. VIII, 1, a. e. נושא ש׳ he that receives wages (for watching), v. שׁוֹמֵר. Succ. 29ᵇ שְׂכַר שכיר, v. עָשַׁק. B. Mets. 112ᵃ כל הכובש שְׂ׳ וכ׳ he that delays the payment of the hired man’s wages, is considered as if taking his life. Ab. V, 11 יצא שְׂכָרוֹ וכ׳, v. הֶפְסֵד. B. Kam. 116ᵃ, a. e. אין לו אלא שְׂכָרוֹ he can claim only the ordinary laborer’s pay, v. שָׁלֵם II; a. fr.—Esp. divine reward. Erub. 22ᵃ (ref. to Deut. VII, 11) היום לעשותם … למחר לקכל שְׂכָרָם ‘to do them to-day’, and not to do them to-morrow (do not procrastinate); ‘to do them to-day’, and to receive the reward for them tomorrow (expect not immediate reward). Ib. 65ᵃ לא נכרא יין … לשלם ש׳ לרשעים wine has been created for the purpose of comforting (cheering up) mourners and paying reward to the wicked (for what good they may do, in this world); Num. R. s. 104. Ab. II, 16 נאמן … שְׂכַר פעולתך thy employer may be trusted that he will pay thee the wages due for thy work. Ib. ודע שמתן שְׂכָרָם וכ׳ but keep in mind that the reward of the righteous is reserved for the hereafter; a. fr.—בִּשְׂכַר as a reward for, on account of (cmp. זְבוּת). Sot. 11ᵇ בש׳ נשים צדקניות וכ׳ for the sake of the righteous women of that generation were the Israelites redeemed; Ex. R. s. 1. Ḥull. 88ᵇ בש׳ שאמר וכ׳ as a reward for what Abraham our father said (Gen. XVIII, 27) &c. Ex. R. s. 45 בש׳ שלש זכה לשלש on account of three things he (Moses) was granted three things; בש׳ ויסתר וכ׳ on account of ‘he hid his face’ (Ex. III, 6) &c.; a. fr.—[Yalk. Is. 371 שכרן, read: שִׂבְרָן, v. סֵבֶר.] e.g. Deuteronomy 7:11
שָׁכַר
- (b. h.) to fill, saturate; to drink freely.—Part. pass. שָׁכוּר; f. שְׁכוּרָה. Taan. 22ᵇ לא ש׳ ולא צמאה וכ׳ that the soil be neither soaked nor thirsty, but between the two extremes. Midr. Till. to Ps. XXXV (ref. to Is. LI, 21) וממה את ש׳ מן הצרות וכ׳ and wherefrom art thou drunk? From the troubles, but not from too much wine; a. e. e.g. Isaiah 51:21
- to make drunk, intoxicate. Erub. 64ᵇ דרך … מְשַׁכַּרְתּוֹ walking (after drinking) makes him unsteady, and sleep makes him drunk; Taan. 17ᵇ. Erub. l. c. רביעית … מְשַׁכֵּר one fourth of a Log of Italian wine intoxicates. Cant. R. to I, 4 ועשו … ושִׁכְּרַתּוֹ וכ׳ they made a great feast, and she made him drink more than enough; Yalk. Gen. 15; a. e.
- to be, become intoxicated. Keth. 8ᵇ התחילו … ומִשְׁתַּכְּרִין וכ׳ when they began to drink (at the mourners’ meals) and get intoxicated &c. Snh. 42ᵃ אל יִשְׁתַּכְּרוּ, v. רָז. Esth. R. to III, 9 אכלו ושתו ונִשְׁתַּכְּרוּ וכ׳ they ate and drank, and became drunk, and acted disgracefully. Num. R. s. 108 דברים שלא יִשְׁתַּכֵּר מהם things from which one cannot become intoxicated; a. fr.
שְׁכַר
- to make drunk. Lev. R. s. 12 אשקוניה ושַׁכְּרוּנֵיה וכ׳ they gave him drink, and made him drunk, and carried him out &c.
- to drink freely. Ber. 9ᵃ אִשְׁתַּכּוּר בהלולא וכ׳ they drank freely at the wedding of &c. (and slept beyond the time of prayer).
שֵׁכָר
- preced.) intoxicating drink. Num. R. s. 108 (ref. to Num. VI, 3) והלא יין הוא ש׳ וש׳ וכ׳ are not yayin and shekhar the same?; יין זה חי וש׳ זה מזוג yayin is unmixed wine, and shekhar is mixed wine; a. e.—Esp. beer of dates or barley. Pes. III, 1 ש׳ המדי Median beer, expl. ib. 42ᵇ דרמו ביה מי שערי date beer into which they put a concoction of barley. Ib. 107ᵃ אין מקדשין על הש׳ you must not pronounce the Ḳiddush (קִידּוּשׁ) over beer; a. fr. e.g. Numbers 6:3
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 2 distinct written forms H7938 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| שֶׂ֖כֶר | Noun, Common, Masculine, Singular, Absolute | Isaiah 19:10 | 1 |
| שֶׂ֣כֶר | Noun, Common, Masculine, Singular, Construct | Proverbs 11:18 | 1 |
Same root — word family
Other BDB entries built from the same root as H7938, 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
Compare all same-root words → Showing 4 of 5 — not the complete family. They share a root, not necessarily a meaning.
Septuagint verse parallels
This word appears in 2 verses that also exist in the Greek Old Testament (Septuagint), out of the 2 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.
