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שָׁמַיִם

heaven

also: heavens, sky fuller range ↓

H8064 Strong's Hebrew
shâmayim Transliteration
/shaw-mah'-yim/ Pronunciation
Usage in the Hebrew Bible 421 appearances

Compare with another word →

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 שמים centers on the idea of “heaven.” First canonically at Genesis 1:1, it enters the text early. It turns up in 395 verses across 33 books, a common footprint. Beyond “heaven” it also covers “heavens” and “sky” — see its full sense range. It clusters with שמין under a shared root. Dig into 395-verse concordance and the renderings breakdown below.

Gloss history

Strong's 1890 vs modern scholarship

Strong's · 1890
air
Modern gloss
heaven
Strong's 1890 sometimes compressed multiple senses — or homonymous roots — under one number, and used 19th-century English phrasing that no longer carries the same connotation. The modern gloss reflects current BDB scholarship; open the Lexicon Entry tab for the full sense breakdown. Download share card

About this word

Strong's H8064 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 →

395
distinct verses
The word appears in 395 distinct verses.
33 / 39
OT books
The word appears in 33 of 39 Old Testament books.
Genesis 1:1
first appearance
The earliest occurrence is in Genesis 1:1.
Malachi 3:10
last appearance
The latest occurrence is in Malachi 3:10.
#117
by frequency
Top 250 most frequent Hebrew words (rank 117 of 8,640 Hebrew words by occurrence).

View all 395 occurrences in the concordance →


Most concentrated in

By section of the Old Testament

  • Pentateuch 92 · 23%
  • Historical 93 · 24%
  • Wisdom 104 · 26%
  • Prophets 106 · 27%

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 395 distinct verses.

  • Writings (Ketuvim) 158 verses · 40%
  • Prophets (Nevi'im) 145 verses · 37%
  • Torah (Pentateuch) 92 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: Heaven 227×, Heavens 80×, Air 21×
  • American Standard Version: Heaven 172×, Heavens 133×, Toward heaven 11×
  • Berean Standard Bible: Heaven 154×, Heavens 139×, Air 43×
  • unfoldingWord Literal Text: Heavens 297×, Heaven 47×, Sky 21×

King James Version Public Domain

Renders H8064 across 419 tagged occurrences — most commonly:

  • “Heaven” 227×
  • “Heavens” 80×
  • “Air” 21×
  • “Toward heaven” 9×
  • “Thou in heaven” 7×
  • “Under heaven” 7×
  • “Above the heavens” 6×
  • “Ye heavens” 5×
  • “Is in heaven” 4×
  • “Thou from the heavens” 4×
  • “Under the whole heaven” 4×
  • “Thou from heaven” 3×

Plus other, less common renderings. Plus 33 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 H8064 across 419 tagged occurrences — most commonly:

  • “Heaven” 172×
  • “Heavens” 133×
  • “Toward heaven” 11×
  • “Under heaven” 9×
  • “Thou in heaven” 7×
  • “Thou from heaven” 6×
  • “Above the heavens” 4×
  • “Ye heavens” 4×
  • “Is in heaven” 3×
  • “Under the whole heaven” 3×
  • “Behold” 2×
  • “Heaven and the heaven” 2×

Plus other, less common renderings. Plus 53 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 H8064 across 410 tagged occurrences — most commonly:

  • “Heaven” 154×
  • “Heavens” 139×
  • “Air” 43×
  • “Sky” 31×
  • “Highest heavens” 6×
  • “Skies” 6×
  • “Is in heaven” 4×
  • “Toward heaven” 3×
  • “Highest” 2×
  • “Horizon” 2×
  • “I call heaven” 2×
  • “Let the heavens” 2×

Plus other, less common renderings. Plus 14 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 11 further occurrences.

unfoldingWord Literal Text CC BY-SA 4.0

Renders H8064 across 414 tagged occurrences — most commonly:

  • “Heavens” 297×
  • “Heaven” 47×
  • “Sky” 21×
  • “Skies” 16×
  • “Heavens of” 8×
  • “Is in heaven” 4×
  • “The” 4×
  • “Toward the heavens” 3×
  • “Is in the heavens” 2×

Plus 12 renderings that appear only once — usually multi-word phrases or single function words the recovered tagging swept in, not distinct renderings.


5 senses and sub-senses in the full BDB

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.

  • 1.
    • a. visible heavens, sky, where stars, etc., are
    • b. phrases
  • 2.
    • a. as abode of God
    • b. Elijah taken up הַשּׁ׳ in whirlwind
  • 3. הַשּׁ׳ personified in various relations

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

[ שָׁמַי ] n.m. only pl. שָׁמַיִם 421 heavens, sky

— Brown-Driver-Briggs (Oxford 1906, public domain), digitized via Sefaria, supplemented by the OpenScriptures HebrewLexicon (CC BY 4.0). See Sources.

Origin: from an unused root meaning to be lofty

Part of speech: Noun Masculine TWOT: 2407a


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.

שָׁמַיִם

  • du. m. du. (b. h.)
  • 1. heaven; trnsf. Heaven, God. Gen. R. s. 1 הש׳ נבראו תחלה the heaven was first created. Tam. 32ᵃ top מן הש׳ לארץ וכ׳ is it farther from heaven to earth, or from east to west? Lam. R. introd. (R. Joh. 1) מִשְּׁמֵי מרום from the high heavens. Ned. XI, 12 (90ᵇ) ש׳ ביני לביניך heaven is between me and thee (I have an unconquerable aversion to associating with thee, v. Y. ib. 42ᵈ bot., quot. s. v. רָחִיק II; differ. in comment.). R. Hash. 19ᵃ אי ש׳ by Heaven! B. Mets. 37ᵃ לצאת ידי ש׳ to do his duty towards God (v. יָצָא).—Kidd. 40ᵃ, a. e. רע לש׳, v. רַע.—Snh. XI, 5, a. e. בידי ש׳, v. מִיתָה.—ירא ש׳, יראת ש׳, מלכות ש׳ &c., v. respective determinants.

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 97 distinct written forms H8064 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
הַ/שָּׁמַ֔יִם Noun, Common, Masculine, Plural, Absolute Amos 9:2 56
הַ/שָּׁמָ֑יִם Noun, Common, Masculine, Plural, Absolute Daniel 8:10 37
הַ/שָּׁמַ֖יִם Noun, Common, Masculine, Plural, Absolute Deuteronomy 1:10 35
הַ/שָּׁמָֽיִם Noun, Common, Masculine, Plural, Absolute Daniel 8:8 26
הַ/שָּׁמַ֨יִם֙ Noun, Common, Masculine, Plural, Absolute Deuteronomy 11:17 22
שָׁמַ֣יִם Noun, Common, Masculine, Plural, Absolute Isaiah 13:13 19
הַ/שָּׁמַ֣יִם Noun, Common, Masculine, Plural, Absolute Deuteronomy 4:26 18
הַ/שָּׁמַ֗יִם Noun, Common, Masculine, Plural, Absolute Deuteronomy 26:15 12
שָׁמַ֨יִם֙ Noun, Common, Masculine, Plural, Absolute Deuteronomy 33:13 12
שָׁ֭מַיִם Noun, Common, Masculine, Plural, Absolute Job 11:8 10
שָׁמַ֥יִם Noun, Common, Masculine, Plural, Absolute Genesis 14:19 10
הַ/שָּׁמַ֛יִם Noun, Common, Masculine, Plural, Absolute Deuteronomy 4:36 9
הַ/שָּׁמַ֜יִם Noun, Common, Masculine, Plural, Absolute Ezekiel 38:20 9
שָׁמַ֖יִם Noun, Common, Masculine, Plural, Absolute Deuteronomy 32:40 8
בַּ/שָּׁמַ֣יִם Noun, Common, Masculine, Plural, Absolute Deuteronomy 3:24 7
בַּ/שָּׁמַ֔יִם Noun, Common, Masculine, Plural, Absolute Ezekiel 32:8 6
שָׁ֝מַ֗יִם Noun, Common, Masculine, Plural, Absolute Job 22:14 6
שָׁמָ֑יִם Noun, Common, Masculine, Plural, Absolute Genesis 1:8 6
בַּ/שָּׁמָֽיִם Noun, Common, Masculine, Plural, Absolute Deuteronomy 4:17 5
שָׁמָֽיִם Noun, Common, Masculine, Plural, Absolute Jeremiah 10:12 4
בַּ/שָּׁמַ֨יִם֙ Noun, Common, Masculine, Plural, Absolute Deuteronomy 5:8 3
הַ/שָּׁמָֽיְמָ/ה Noun, Common, Masculine, Plural, Absolute 2 Chronicles 6:13 3
שָׁמַ֔יִם Noun, Common, Masculine, Plural, Absolute Ezekiel 32:7 3
שָׁמַ֜יִם Noun, Common, Masculine, Plural, Absolute 2 Chronicles 6:18 3
בַ/שָּׁמַ֖יִם Noun, Common, Masculine, Dual, Absolute Deuteronomy 30:12 2
בַ/שָּׁמַ֣יִם Noun, Common, Masculine, Dual, Absolute Job 16:19 2
בַ/שָּׁמָ֑יִם Noun, Common, Masculine, Plural, Absolute Psalms 73:25 2
בַּ/שָּׁמַ֖יִם Noun, Common, Masculine, Plural, Absolute 2 Chronicles 6:14 2
בַּ/שָּׁמַ֥יִם Noun, Common, Masculine, Plural, Absolute Psalms 113:6 2
בַּ/שָּׁמָ֑יִם Noun, Common, Masculine, Plural, Absolute Deuteronomy 1:28 2
הַ/שָּׁמַ֔יְמָ/ה Noun, Common, Masculine, Plural, Absolute Joshua 8:20 2
הַ/שָּׁמַ֗יְמָ/ה Noun, Common, Masculine, Plural, Absolute Deuteronomy 4:19 2
הַ/שָּׁמַ֥יִם Noun, Common, Masculine, Plural, Absolute Genesis 2:1 2
הַ/שָּׁמָ֑יְמָ/ה Noun, Common, Masculine, Plural, Absolute Exodus 9:10 2
הַ֭/שָּׁמַיִם Noun, Common, Masculine, Plural, Absolute Psalms 96:11 2
וְ/שָׁמָֽיִם Noun, Common, Masculine, Plural, Absolute Genesis 2:4 2
וּ/שְׁמֵ֤י Noun, Common, Masculine, Plural, Construct 1 Kings 8:27 2
לַ/שָּׁמָֽיִם Noun, Common, Masculine, Plural, Absolute Ezra 9:6 2
מִ/שָּׁמַ֣יִם Noun, Common, Masculine, Plural, Absolute Nehemiah 9:27 2
מִ/שָּׁמַ֨יִם֙ Noun, Common, Masculine, Plural, Absolute Isaiah 63:15 2
מִ/שָּׁמַיִם֮ Noun, Common, Masculine, Plural, Absolute Psalms 14:2 2
מִ֭/שָּׁמַיִם Noun, Common, Masculine, Plural, Absolute Psalms 33:13 2
שָׁמַ֨יִם Noun, Common, Masculine, Plural, Absolute Proverbs 30:4 2
בַ/שָּׁמַ֔יִם Noun, Common, Masculine, Dual, Absolute Genesis 11:4 1
בַ/שָּׁמַ֗יִם Noun, Common, Masculine, Dual, Absolute Jeremiah 8:7 1
בַ/שָּׁמַ֨יִם֙ Noun, Common, Masculine, Dual, Absolute Amos 9:6 1
בְּ/הַ/שָּׁמַ֣יִם Noun, Common, Masculine, Plural, Absolute Psalms 36:5 1
בִּ/שְׁמֵ֣י Noun, Common, Masculine, Plural, Construct Psalms 68:33 1
בַּ/שָּׁמַ֨יִם Noun, Common, Masculine, Plural, Absolute Psalms 18:13 1
בַּ/שָּׁמַ֪יִם Noun, Common, Masculine, Plural, Absolute Psalms 11:4 1
בַּ/שָּׁמַיִם֮ Noun, Common, Masculine, Plural, Absolute Proverbs 30:19 1
בַּ֭/שָּׁמַיִם Noun, Common, Masculine, Plural, Absolute Psalms 103:19 1
הַ/שָּׁמַ֑יִם Noun, Common, Masculine, Plural, Absolute Psalms 148:1 1
הַ/שָּׁמַ֖יְמָ/ה Noun, Common, Masculine, Plural, Absolute Exodus 9:8 1
הַ/שָּׁמַ֡יִם Noun, Common, Masculine, Plural, Absolute Ezekiel 8:3 1
הַ/שָּׁמַ֧יִם Noun, Common, Masculine, Plural, Absolute Jeremiah 23:24 1
הַ/שָּׁמַ֨יְמָ/ה֙ Noun, Common, Masculine, Plural, Absolute Deuteronomy 30:12 1
הַ/שָּׁמַ֨יִם Noun, Common, Masculine, Plural, Absolute Psalms 19:6 1
הַ/שָּׁמַיִם֒ Noun, Common, Masculine, Plural, Absolute Exodus 9:23 1
הַ/שָּׁמַיִם֩ Noun, Common, Masculine, Plural, Absolute Nehemiah 9:6 1

The 60 most common forms are shown; 37 rarer forms follow in the full concordance.


Same root — word family

Other BDB entries built from the same root as H8064, 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 362 verses that also exist in the Greek Old Testament (Septuagint), out of the 395 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.

Reading settings

Reading text

Shown beneath each verse's original-language words.

Old Testament
Old Testament edition

Read the OT as the Masoretic Hebrew (MT) or the Greek Septuagint (LXX).

English shown for the Greek Septuagint (in the Hebrew ↔ Greek comparison).

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