שָׁמַיִם
heaven
also: heavens, sky fuller range ↓
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
- 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 Psalms — 70 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.
Psalms
- Psalms 2:4 בַּ/שָּׁמַ֣יִם prep det + n c mp He who sits in the heavens will laugh. The Lord will have them in derision.
- Psalms 8:1 הַ/שָּׁמָֽיִם ptcl def.art + n c mp Yahweh, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth, Who has set your glory above the heavens!
- Psalms 8:3 שָׁ֭מֶי/ךָ n c mp cs + sfx pers 2ms When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers, The moon and the stars, which you have ordained;
- Psalms 8:8 שָׁ֭מַיִם n c mp The birds of the sky, the fish of the sea, And whatever passes through the paths of the seas.
- Psalms 11:4 בַּ/שָּׁמַ֪יִם prep det + n c mp Yahweh is in his holy temple. Yahweh is on his throne in heaven. His eyes observe. His eyes examine the children of men.
- Psalms 14:2 מִ/שָּׁמַיִם֮ prep + n c mp Yahweh looked down from heaven on the children of men, To see if there were any who did understand, Who did seek after God.
- Psalms 18:9 שָׁ֭מַיִם n c mp He bowed the heavens also, and came down. Thick darkness was under his feet.
- Psalms 18:13 בַּ/שָּׁמַ֨יִם prep det + n c mp Yahweh also thundered in the sky, The Most High uttered his voice: Hailstones and coals of fire.
- Psalms 19:1 הַ/שָּׁמַ֗יִם ptcl def.art + n c mp The heavens declare the glory of God. The expanse shows his handiwork.
- Psalms 19:6 הַ/שָּׁמַ֨יִם ptcl def.art + n c mp His going forth is from the end of the heavens, His circuit to its ends; There is nothing hidden from its heat.
- Psalms 20:6 מִ/שְּׁמֵ֣י prep + n c mp cs Now I know that Yahweh saves his anointed. He will answer him from his holy heaven, With the saving strength of his right hand.
- Psalms 33:6 שָׁמַ֣יִם n c mp By Yahweh's word the heavens were made; All their host by the breath of his mouth.
- Psalms 33:13 מִ֭/שָּׁמַיִם prep + n c mp Yahweh looks from heaven. He sees all the sons of men.
- Psalms 36:5 בְּ/הַ/שָּׁמַ֣יִם prep + ptcl def.art + n c mp Your loving kindness, Yahweh, is in the heavens. Your faithfulness reaches to the skies.
- Psalms 50:4 הַ/שָּׁמַ֣יִם ptcl def.art + n c mp He calls to the heavens above, To the earth, that he may judge his people:
- Psalms 50:6 שָׁמַ֣יִם n c mp The heavens shall declare his righteousness, For God himself is judge. Selah.
- Psalms 53:2 מִ/שָּׁמַיִם֮ prep + n c mp God looks down from heaven on the children of men, To see if there are any who understood, Who seek after God.
- Psalms 57:3 מִ/שָּׁמַ֨יִם prep + n c mp He will send from heaven, and save me, He rebukes the one who is pursuing me. Selah. God will send out his loving kindness and his truth.
- Psalms 57:5 הַ/שָּׁמַ֣יִם ptcl def.art + n c mp Be exalted, God, above the heavens! Let your glory be above all the earth!
- Psalms 57:10 שָׁמַ֣יִם n c mp For your great loving kindness reaches to the heavens, And your truth to the skies.
- Psalms 57:11 שָׁמַ֣יִם n c mp Be exalted, God, above the heavens. Let your glory be over all the earth.
- Psalms 68:8 שָׁמַ֣יִם n c mp The earth trembled. The sky also poured down rain at the presence of the God of Sinai-- At the presence of God, the God of Israel.
- Psalms 68:33 בִּ/שְׁמֵ֣י שְׁמֵי prep + n c mp cs n c mp cs To him who rides on the heaven of heavens, which are of old; Behold, he utters his voice, a mighty voice.
- Psalms 69:34 שָׁמַ֣יִם n c mp Let heaven and earth praise him; The seas, and everything that moves therein!
- Psalms 73:9 בַ/שָּׁמַ֣יִם prep det + n c md They have set their mouth in the heavens. Their tongue walks through the earth.
- Psalms 73:25 בַ/שָּׁמָ֑יִם prep det + n c mp Who do I have in heaven? There is no one on earth who I desire besides you.
- Psalms 76:8 מִ֭/שָּׁמַיִם prep + n c mp You pronounced judgment from heaven. The earth feared, and was silent,
- Psalms 78:23 שָׁמַ֣יִם n c mp Yet he commanded the skies above, And opened the doors of heaven.
- Psalms 78:24 שָׁ֝מַ֗יִם n c mp He rained down manna on them to eat, And gave them food from the sky.
- Psalms 78:26 בַּ/שָּׁמָ֑יִם prep det + n c mp He caused the east wind to blow in the sky. By his power he guided the south wind.
- Psalms 79:2 הַ/שָּׁמָ֑יִם ptcl def.art + n c mp They have given the dead bodies of your servants to be food for the birds of the sky, The flesh of your saints to the animals of the earth.
- Psalms 80:14 מִ/שָּׁמַ֣יִם prep + n c mp Turn again, we beg you, God of hosts. Look down from heaven, and see, and visit this vine,
- Psalms 85:11 מִ/שָּׁמַ֥יִם prep + n c mp Truth springs out of the earth. Righteousness has looked down from heaven.
- Psalms 89:2 שָׁמַ֓יִם n c mp I indeed declare, "Love stands firm forever. You established the heavens. Your faithfulness is in them."
- Psalms 89:5 שָׁמַ֣יִם n c mp The heavens will praise your wonders, Yahweh; Your faithfulness also in the assembly of the holy ones.
- Psalms 89:11 שָׁ֭מַיִם n c mp The heavens are yours. The earth also is yours; The world and its fullness. You have founded them.
- Psalms 89:29 שָׁמָֽיִם n c mp I will also make his seed endure forever, And his throne as the days of heaven.
- Psalms 96:5 שָׁמַ֥יִם n c mp For all the gods of the peoples are idols, But Yahweh made the heavens.
- Psalms 96:11 הַ֭/שָּׁמַיִם ptcl def.art + n c mp Let the heavens be glad, and let the earth rejoice. Let the sea roar, and it's fullness!
- Psalms 97:6 הַ/שָּׁמַ֣יִם ptcl def.art + n c mp The heavens declare his righteousness. All the peoples have seen his glory.
- Psalms 102:19 מִ/שָּׁמַ֤יִם prep + n c mp For he has looked down from the height of his sanctuary. From heaven, Yahweh saw the earth;
- Psalms 102:25 שָׁמָֽיִם n c mp Of old, you laid the foundation of the earth. The heavens are the work of your hands.
- Psalms 103:11 שָׁ֭מַיִם n c mp For as the heavens are high above the earth, So great is his loving kindness toward those who fear him.
- Psalms 103:19 בַּ֭/שָּׁמַיִם prep det + n c mp Yahweh has established his throne in the heavens. His kingdom rules over all.
- Psalms 104:2 שָׁ֝מַ֗יִם n c mp He covers himself with light as with a garment. He stretches out the heavens like a curtain.
- Psalms 104:12 הַ/שָּׁמַ֣יִם ptcl def.art + n c mp The birds of the sky nest by them. They sing among the branches.
- Psalms 105:40 שָׁ֝מַ֗יִם n c mp They asked, and he brought quails, And satisfied them with the bread of the sky.
- Psalms 107:26 שָׁ֭מַיִם n c mp They mount up to the sky; they go down again to the depths. Their soul melts away because of trouble.
- Psalms 108:4 שָׁמַ֣יִם n c mp For your loving kindness is great above the heavens. Your faithfulness reaches to the skies.
- Psalms 108:5 שָׁמַ֣יִם n c mp Be exalted, God, above the heavens, Let your glory be over all the earth.
- Psalms 113:4 הַ/שָּׁמַ֣יִם ptcl def.art + n c mp Yahweh is high above all nations, His glory above the heavens.
- Psalms 113:6 בַּ/שָּׁמַ֥יִם prep det + n c mp Who stoops down to see in heaven and in the earth?
- Psalms 115:3 בַ/שָּׁמָ֑יִם prep det + n c mp But our God is in the heavens. He does whatever he pleases.
- Psalms 115:15 שָׁמַ֥יִם n c mp Blessed are you by Yahweh, Who made heaven and earth.
- Psalms 115:16 הַ/שָּׁמַ֣יִם שָׁ֭מַיִם ptcl def.art + n c mp n c mp The heavens are the heavens of Yahweh; But the earth has he given to the children of men.
- Psalms 119:89 בַּ/שָּׁמָֽיִם prep det + n c mp Yahweh, your word is settled in heaven forever.
- Psalms 121:2 שָׁמַ֥יִם n c mp My help comes from Yahweh, Who made heaven and earth.
- Psalms 123:1 בַּ/שָּׁמָֽיִם prep det + n c mp To you I do lift up my eyes, You who sit in the heavens.
- Psalms 124:8 שָׁמַ֥יִם n c mp Our help is in the name of Yahweh, Who made heaven and earth.
- Psalms 134:3 שָׁמַ֥יִם n c mp May Yahweh bless you from Zion; Even he who made heaven and earth.
- Psalms 135:6 בַּ/שָּׁמַ֥יִם prep det + n c mp Whatever Yahweh pleased, that he has done, In heaven and in earth, in the seas and in all deeps;
- Psalms 136:5 הַ֭/שָּׁמַיִם ptcl def.art + n c mp To him who by understanding made the heavens; For his loving kindness endures forever:
- Psalms 136:26 הַ/שָּׁמָ֑יִם ptcl def.art + n c mp Oh give thanks to the God of heaven; For his loving kindness endures forever.
- Psalms 139:8 שָׁ֭מַיִם n c mp If I ascend up into heaven, you are there. If I make my bed in Sheol, behold, you are there!
- Psalms 144:5 שָׁמֶ֣י/ךָ n c mp cs + sfx pers 2ms Part your heavens, Yahweh, and come down. Touch the mountains, and they will smoke.
- Psalms 146:6 שָׁ֘מַ֤יִם n c mp Who made heaven and earth, The sea, and all that is in them; Who keeps truth forever;
- Psalms 147:8 שָׁמַ֨יִם n c mp Who covers the sky with clouds, Who prepares rain for the earth, Who makes grass grow on the mountains.
- Psalms 148:1 הַ/שָּׁמַ֑יִם ptcl def.art + n c mp Praise Yah! Praise Yahweh from the heavens! Praise him in the heights!
- Psalms 148:4 שְׁמֵ֣י הַ/שָּׁמָ֑יִם הַ/שָּׁמָֽיִם n c mp cs ptcl def.art + n c mp ptcl def.art + n c mp Praise him, you heavens of heavens, You waters that are above the heavens.
- Psalms 148:13 וְ/שָׁמָֽיִם conj + n c mp Let them praise the name of Yahweh, For his name alone is exalted. His glory is above the earth and the heavens.
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.
