שְׁלֵט
to rule
‘to rule’ 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 Qal 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”).
- Qal
- The basic, simple active stem — the plain form of the verb (“he wrote”).
Form
- 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”).
Person
- 3rd Person
- The one spoken about (“he / she / it / they”).
- 2nd Person
- The one addressed (“you”).
Gender
- Masculine
- Grammatically masculine.
- Feminine
- Grammatically feminine.
Number
- Singular
- One.
- Plural
- More than one (in Hebrew, generally three or more).
Grammatical forms
- Verb, Hiphil, Perfect, 3rd Person, Masculine, Singular 2 times (29%)
- Verb, Qal, Imperfect, 2nd Person, Masculine, Singular 1 time (14%)
- Verb, Qal, Imperfect, 3rd Person, Feminine, Singular 1 time (14%)
- Verb, Qal, Imperfect, 3rd Person, Masculine, Singular 1 time (14%)
- Verb, Qal, Perfect, 3rd Person, Masculine, Plural 1 time (14%)
- Verb, Qal, Perfect, 3rd Person, Masculine, Singular 1 time (14%)
Parsed forms decoded from the imported morphology (morphhb / Westminster Leningrad Codex — WLC text public domain, morphhb tagging CC BY 4.0), counted across 7 parsed occurrences — not distinct verses.
Every verse where H7981 appears — 7 distinct verses across 1 book. 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.
Daniel 7 verses
- Daniel 2:38 וְ/הַשְׁלְטָ֖/ךְ conj + Hiphil pf 3ms + sfx pers 2ms and wherever the children of men dwell, the animals of the field and the birds of the sky has he given into your hand, and has made you to rule over them all: you are the head of gold.
- Daniel 2:39 תִשְׁלַ֖ט Qal impf 3fs After you shall arise another kingdom inferior to you; and another third kingdom of brass, which shall bear rule over all the earth.
- Daniel 2:48 וְ/הַ֨שְׁלְטֵ֔/הּ conj + Hiphil pf 3ms + sfx pers 3ms Then the king made Daniel great, and gave him many great gifts, and made him to rule over the whole province of Babylon, and to be chief governor over all the wise men of Babylon.
- Daniel 3:27 שְׁלֵ֨ט Qal pf 3ms The satraps, the deputies, and the governors, and the king's counselors, being gathered together, saw these men, that the fire had no power on their bodies, nor was the hair of their head singed, neither were their pants changed, nor had the smell of fire passed on them.
- Daniel 5:7 יִשְׁלַֽט Qal impf 3ms The king cried aloud to bring in the enchanters, the Chaldeans, and the soothsayers. The king spoke and said to the wise men of Babylon, Whoever shall read this writing, and show me the interpretation of it, shall be clothed with purple, and have a chain of gold about his neck, and shall be the third ruler in the kingdom.
- Daniel 5:16 תִּשְׁלַֽט Qal impf 2ms But I have heard of you, that you can give interpretations, and dissolve doubts; now if you can read the writing, and make known to me the interpretation of it, you shall be clothed with purple, and have a chain of gold about your neck, and shall be the third ruler in the kingdom.
- Daniel 6:24 שְׁלִ֤טֽוּ Qal pf 3mp The king commanded, and they brought those men who had accused Daniel, and they cast them into the den of lions, them, their children, and their wives; and the lions had the mastery of them, and broke all their bones in pieces, before they came to the bottom of the den.
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.
“to rule” is the headline sense of the Hebrew verb שלט (shᵉlêṭ). It clusters heavily in Daniel, which alone accounts for 100% of its uses. It turns up in 7 verses across 1 book, an uncommon footprint. It first appears in Daniel 2:38. As a verb its force shifts by stem, across 2 stems (Peal, Haphel, and more). See the sense tree, 7-verse concordance, and the renderings breakdown below.
Gloss history
Strong's 1890 vs modern scholarship
About this word
Strong's H7981 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 →
- 7
- distinct verses
- The word appears in 7 distinct verses.
- 1 / 39
- OT books
- The word appears in 1 of 39 Old Testament books.
- #2,835
- by frequency
- Top 5000 most frequent Hebrew words (rank 2,835 of 8,640 Hebrew words by occurrence).
View all 7 occurrences in the concordance →
Most concentrated in
- Daniel 7 verses 100%
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 7 distinct verses.
- Writings (Ketuvim) 7 verses · 100%
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: Ruler 2×
- American Standard Version: Ruler 2×
- Berean Standard Bible: Highest ruler 2×
- unfoldingWord Literal Text: Ruler 2×
King James Version Public Domain
Renders H7981 across 6 tagged occurrences — most commonly:
Plus 4 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.
American Standard Version Public Domain
Renders H7981 across 6 tagged occurrences — most commonly:
Plus 4 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 H7981 across 7 tagged occurrences — most commonly:
Plus 5 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 H7981 across 10 tagged occurrences — most commonly:
Plus 8 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 Peal (the basic Aramaic stem, parallel to Qal) and Haphel (the causative Aramaic stem, parallel to Hiphil).
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 2 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.
Peal
- . have power upon
Haphel
- . make ruler
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
שְׁלֵט vb. have power, rule (BH (q.v.) late)
— Brown-Driver-Briggs (Oxford 1906, public domain), digitized via Sefaria, supplemented by the OpenScriptures HebrewLexicon (CC BY 4.0). See Sources.
Derived from שלט (shâlaṭ) (H7980) — to dominate.
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.
שָׁלַט
- (b. h.) to handle; ש׳ ב־ (cmp. מָשַׁל) to rule, have power over. Y. Ter. VIII, 45ᵈ top כאן האור שׁוֹלֵט וכ׳ here (in the case of bread) the fire comes in direct contact with it (and kills the poison of the serpent), there (in the case of water that has been warmed) the fire does not &c. Y. Maasr. I, 49ᵇ top כאן היד שׁוֹלֶטֶת וכ׳ here (in the case of a vessel into which a boiling dish has been put) the hand can handle it; there (in the case of a vessel taken directly from the fire) the hand cannot handle it; כאן וכאן אין היד שולטת בו in both cases the dish may be too hot for the hand to handle it; Y. Sabb. III, 6ᵇ top. Ib. במקום שהיד שולטת in a place (in the stove) which the hand can get at (to handle the dish placed there); ib. 5ᶜ מפני שהוא שַׁלִּיט במקום שהיד שולטת because he keeps control (to regulate the temperature of the dish) there where the handling is possible. Y. B. Mets. X, beg. 12ᶜ ששולטת היד מצר אחד that the hand can reach it from one side. Ḥull. 16ᵇ; Sabb. 82ᵃ דבר שהאור שולטת בו a thing over which fire has power (which is combustible). Ib. רוח רעה שולטת בו an evil spirit (smell of the mouth) will seize him; רוח זוהמא ש׳ בו (v. Rabb. D. S. a. l. note 30) the spirit of zohăma (internal decay) will seize him. Gen. R. s. 45) שָׁלְטוּ בעצמן they controlled themselves (interrupted their gratification). Y. Ber. IX, 13ᵇ top שולט באיפרכיא וכ׳ if he rules over one province, he does not rule over another province. Gen. R. s. 3 ביום אני שולט I want to rule (have the guard) in day time; (Y. Ber. VIII, 12ᶜ top משמש). Pesik. R. s. 31 אתם שְׁלַטְתֶּם בעצמיכם וכ׳ (not באצבעותיכם) you had power over yourselves and cut your fingers off; a. v. fr.
- same. Y. Naz. IV, 53ᵇ במְשַׁלֶּטֶת על נכסיו when she manages her husband’s property (has power of attorney).
- to give power to, make a ruler. Gen. R. s. 59 (ref. to Gen. XXIV, 1) שהִשְׁלִיטוֹ ביצרו God made him master over his inclinations; Yalk. ib. 103. Num. R. s. 146 השליטו על ארץ וכ׳ the Lord made him governor of the land of Egypt; a. e. e.g. Genesis 24:1
- to be given power; to be empowered to manage. Y. Keth. IX, 33ᵃ bot. נכסים שׁנִשְׁתַּלְּטָה בהן בחיי וכ׳ property which she had been authorized to manage during her husband’s lifetime; ib. 33ᵇ top.
שְׁלַט
- Targ. Gen. I, 16. Targ. O. Ex. XXI, 8 (h. text בבגדו). Targ. Jud. VIII, 21 (h. text פגע); a. fr.
- same, to handle.—Part. pass. מְשַׁלַּט; pl. מְשַׁלְּטֵי. Kidd. 73ᵇ top מש׳ הדמיה if the limbs of the infant have been manipulated, v. שְׁלַב.
- to give power, appoint. Targ. II Chr. XIII, 5. Targ. Am. IV, 1. Targ. Koh. VI, 2; a. fr.
- to be made, or make one’s self a ruler. Targ. Prov. XVII, 2.
שֶׁלֶט
- preced.), pl. שְׁלָטִים (cmp. כֶּלִי) armor, shields; trnsf. arm-bearers; (homilet.) the righteous as the protectors of their generation. Cant. R. to IV, 4 כל שִׁלְטֵי … שהוא עומד וישלט וכ׳ ‘all armors of the mighty’, this includes all those who control their inclinations &c.; Yalk. ib. 988. Cant. R. l. c. ולא אתם … אלא כל שלטי וכ׳ and not you yourselves (directly) are suspended on it (enjoy the protection of the Law), but only ‘all the shields of the mighty’ … as Moses in his time &c.
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 7 distinct written forms H7981 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.
| Form | Parsing | Example | Uses |
|---|---|---|---|
| וְ/הַ֨שְׁלְטֵ֔/הּ | Verb, Hiphil, Perfect, 3rd Person, Masculine, Singular | Daniel 2:48 | 1 |
| וְ/הַשְׁלְטָ֖/ךְ | Verb, Hiphil, Perfect, 3rd Person, Masculine, Singular | Daniel 2:38 | 1 |
| יִשְׁלַֽט | Verb, Qal, Imperfect, 3rd Person, Masculine, Singular | Daniel 5:7 | 1 |
| שְׁלִ֤טֽוּ | Verb, Qal, Perfect, 3rd Person, Masculine, Plural | Daniel 6:24 | 1 |
| שְׁלֵ֨ט | Verb, Qal, Perfect, 3rd Person, Masculine, Singular | Daniel 3:27 | 1 |
| תִשְׁלַ֖ט | Verb, Qal, Imperfect, 3rd Person, Feminine, Singular | Daniel 2:39 | 1 |
| תִּשְׁלַֽט | Verb, Qal, Imperfect, 2nd Person, Masculine, Singular | Daniel 5:16 | 1 |
Same root — word family
Other BDB entries built from the same root as H7981, 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
- שלט sheleṭ H7982 shield
- שלטון shilṭôwn H7983 mastery
- שלטת shalleṭeth H7986 domineering
- שליט shallîyṭ H7989 ruler
Derived from this word
Compare all same-root words → Showing 4 of 7 — not the complete family. They share a root, not necessarily a meaning.
Septuagint verse parallels
This word appears in 7 verses that also exist in the Greek Old Testament (Septuagint), out of the 7 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.
