שָׁמַיִם
heaven
also: heavens, sky fuller range ↓
Full lexicon entry — Brown-Driver-Briggs (BDB)
From Brown-Driver-Briggs (BDB)
Where this word appears
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
- Plural
- More than one (in Hebrew, generally three or more).
- Dual
- Exactly two — for natural pairs and some measures of time.
Every verse where H8064 appears in the Book of Jeremiah — 33 distinct verses. 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.
Jeremiah
- Jeremiah 2:12 שָׁמַ֖יִם n c mp Be astonished, you heavens, at this, and be horribly afraid, be you very desolate, says Yahweh.
- Jeremiah 4:23 הַ/שָּׁמַ֖יִם ptcl def.art + n c mp I saw the earth, and, behold, it was waste and void; and the heavens, and they had no light.
- Jeremiah 4:25 הַ/שָּׁמַ֖יִם ptcl def.art + n c mp I saw, and, behold, there was no man, and all the birds of the sky were fled.
- Jeremiah 4:28 הַ/שָּׁמַ֖יִם ptcl def.art + n c mp For this shall the earth mourn, and the heavens above be black; because I have spoken it, I have purposed it, and I have not repented, neither will I turn back from it.
- Jeremiah 7:18 הַ/שָּׁמַ֗יִם ptcl def.art + n c mp The children gather wood, and the fathers kindle the fire, and the women knead the dough, to make cakes to the queen of the sky, and to pour out drink-offerings to other gods, that they may provoke me to anger.
- Jeremiah 7:33 הַ/שָּׁמַ֖יִם ptcl def.art + n c mp The dead bodies of this people shall be food for the birds of the sky, and for the animals of the earth; and none shall frighten them away.
- Jeremiah 8:2 הַ/שָּׁמַ֗יִם ptcl def.art + n c mp and they shall spread them before the sun, and the moon, and all the host of the sky, which they have loved, and which they have served, and after which they have walked, and which they have sought, and which they have worshiped: they shall not be gathered, nor be buried, they shall be for dung on the surface of the earth.
- Jeremiah 8:7 בַ/שָּׁמַ֗יִם prep det + n c md Yes, the stork in the sky knows her appointed times; and the turtle-dove and the swallow and the crane observe the time of their coming; but my people don't know Yahweh's law.
- Jeremiah 9:10 הַ/שָּׁמַ֨יִם֙ ptcl def.art + n c mp For the mountains will I take up a weeping and wailing, and for the pastures of the wilderness a lamentation, because they are burned up, so that none passes through; neither can men hear the voice of the cattle; both the birds of the sky and the animals are fled, they are gone.
- Jeremiah 10:2 הַ/שָּׁמַ֖יִם ptcl def.art + n c mp Thus says Yahweh, "Don't learn the way of the nations, and don't be dismayed at the signs of the sky; for the nations are dismayed at them.
- Jeremiah 10:12 שָׁמָֽיִם n c mp He has made the earth by his power, he has established the world by his wisdom, and by his understanding has he stretched out the heavens:
- Jeremiah 10:13 בַּ/שָּׁמַ֔יִם prep det + n c mp when he utters his voice, there is a tumult of waters in the heavens, and he causes the vapors to ascend from the ends of the earth; he makes lightnings for the rain, and brings forth the wind out of his treasuries.
- Jeremiah 14:22 הַ/שָּׁמַ֖יִם ptcl def.art + n c mp Are there any among the vanities of the nations that can cause rain? or can the sky give showers? Aren't you he, Yahweh our God? therefore we will wait for you; for you have made all these things.
- Jeremiah 15:3 הַ/שָּׁמַ֛יִם ptcl def.art + n c mp I will appoint over them four kinds, says Yahweh: the sword to kill, and the dogs to tear, and the birds of the sky, and the animals of the earth, to devour and to destroy.
- Jeremiah 16:4 הַ/שָּׁמַ֖יִם ptcl def.art + n c mp They shall die grievous deaths: they shall not be lamented, neither shall they be buried; they shall be as dung on the surface of the ground; and they shall be consumed by the sword, and by famine; and their dead bodies shall be food for the birds of the sky, and for the animals of the earth.
- Jeremiah 19:7 הַ/שָּׁמַ֖יִם ptcl def.art + n c mp I will make void the counsel of Judah and Jerusalem in this place; and I will cause them to fall by the sword before their enemies, and by the hand of those who seek their life: and their dead bodies will I give to be food for the birds of the sky, and for the animals of the earth.
- Jeremiah 19:13 הַ/שָּׁמַ֔יִם ptcl def.art + n c mp and the houses of Jerusalem, and the houses of the kings of Judah, which are defiled, shall be as the place of Topheth, even all the houses on whose roofs they have burned incense to all the host of the sky, and have poured out drink-offerings to other gods.
- Jeremiah 23:24 הַ/שָּׁמַ֧יִם ptcl def.art + n c mp Can any hide himself in secret places so that I shall not see him? says Yahweh. Don't I fill heaven and earth? says Yahweh.
- Jeremiah 31:37 שָׁמַ֨יִם֙ n c mp Thus says Yahweh: If heaven above can be measured, and the foundations of the earth searched out beneath, then will I also cast off all the seed of Israel for all that they have done, says Yahweh.
- Jeremiah 32:17 הַ/שָּׁמַ֨יִם֙ ptcl def.art + n c mp Ah Lord Yahweh! behold, you have made the heavens and the earth by your great power and by your outstretched arm; there is nothing too hard for you,
- Jeremiah 33:22 הַ/שָּׁמַ֔יִם ptcl def.art + n c mp As the host of the sky can't be numbered, neither the sand of the sea measured; so will I multiply the seed of David my servant, and the Levites who minister to me.
- Jeremiah 33:25 שָׁמַ֥יִם n c mp Thus says Yahweh: If my covenant of day and night fails, if I have not appointed the ordinances of heaven and earth;
- Jeremiah 34:20 הַ/שָּׁמַ֖יִם ptcl def.art + n c mp I will even give them into the hand of their enemies, and into the hand of those who seek their life; and their dead bodies shall be for food to the birds of the sky, and to the animals of the earth.
- Jeremiah 44:17 הַ/שָּׁמַיִם֮ ptcl def.art + n c mp But we will certainly perform every word that is gone forth out of our mouth, to burn incense to the queen of the sky, and to pour out drink-offerings to her, as we have done, we and our fathers, our kings and our princes, in the cities of Judah, and in the streets of Jerusalem; for then had we plenty of food, and were well, and saw no evil.
- Jeremiah 44:18 הַ/שָּׁמַ֛יִם ptcl def.art + n c mp But since we left off burning incense to the queen of the sky, and pouring out drink-offerings to her, we have wanted all things, and have been consumed by the sword and by the famine.
- Jeremiah 44:19 הַ/שָּׁמַ֔יִם ptcl def.art + n c mp When we burned incense to the queen of the sky, and poured out drink-offerings to her, did we make her cakes to worship her, and pour out drink-offerings to her, without our husbands?
- Jeremiah 44:25 הַ/שָּׁמַ֔יִם ptcl def.art + n c mp Thus says Yahweh of Hosts, the God of Israel, saying, You and your wives have both spoken with your mouths, and with your hands have fulfilled it, saying, We will surely perform our vows that we have vowed, to burn incense to the queen of the sky, and to pour out drink-offerings to her: establish then your vows, and perform your vows.
- Jeremiah 49:36 הַ/שָּׁמַ֔יִם ptcl def.art + n c mp On Elam will I bring the four winds from the four quarters of the sky, and will scatter them toward all those winds; and there shall be no nation where the outcasts of Elam shall not come.
- Jeremiah 51:9 הַ/שָּׁמַ֨יִם֙ ptcl def.art + n c mp We would have healed Babylon, but she is not healed: forsake her, and let us go everyone into his own country; for her judgment reaches to heaven, and is lifted up even to the skies.
- Jeremiah 51:15 שָׁמָֽיִם n c mp He has made the earth by his power, he has established the world by his wisdom, and by his understanding has he stretched out the heavens:
- Jeremiah 51:16 בַּ/שָּׁמַ֔יִם prep det + n c mp when he utters his voice, there is a tumult of waters in the heavens, and he causes the vapors to ascend from the ends of the earth; he makes lightnings for the rain, and brings forth the wind out of his treasuries.
- Jeremiah 51:48 שָׁמַ֣יִם n c mp Then the heavens and the earth, and all that is therein, shall sing for joy over Babylon; for the destroyers shall come to her from the north, says Yahweh.
- Jeremiah 51:53 הַ/שָּׁמַ֔יִם ptcl def.art + n c mp Though Babylon should mount up to the sky, and though she should fortify the height of her strength, yet from me shall destroyers come to her, says Yahweh.
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
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.
- #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
- Psalms 70 verses 18%
- Genesis 39 verses 10%
- Deuteronomy 38 verses 10%
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 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:
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:
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:
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:
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
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.
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
- Genesis 1:1
- Exodus 9:8
- Leviticus 26:19
- Deuteronomy 1:10
- Joshua 2:11
- Judges 5:4
- 1 Samuel 2:10
- 2 Samuel 18:9
- 1 Kings 8:22
- 2 Kings 1:10
- 1 Chronicles 16:26
- 2 Chronicles 2:6
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.