שְׂנָא
to hate
‘to hate’ is one of 2 main senses fuller range ↓
Full lexicon entry — Brown-Driver-Briggs (BDB)
From Brown-Driver-Briggs (BDB)
Where this word appears
Grammar key — what these labels mean
Stem
- Qal
- The basic, simple active stem — the plain form of the verb (“he wrote”).
Form
- Participle Active
- A verbal adjective expressing ongoing or characteristic action (“writing / one who writes”).
State
- 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).
Every verse where H8131 appears — 1 distinct verse 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 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.
שנא (sᵉnêʼ) is a Hebrew verb most often rendered “to hate.” With only 1 verse it sits in the long tail of Hebrew Bible vocabulary. It clusters heavily in Daniel, which alone accounts for 100% of its uses. A true hapax — its single appearance is Daniel 4:19. Ranging over 2 senses, it is not a single-sense word. The sections below give every sense, occurrence, and version rendering.
Gloss history
Strong's 1890 vs modern scholarship
About this word
Strong's H8131 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 →
- 1
- distinct verses
- The word appears in 1 distinct verse.
- 1 / 39
- OT books
- The word appears in 1 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 1 occurrence in the concordance →
Most concentrated in
- Daniel 1 verse 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 1 distinct verse.
- Writings (Ketuvim) 1 verse · 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: Be to them that hate 1×
- American Standard Version: Be to them that hate 1×
- Berean Standard Bible: Apply to those who hate you 1×
- unfoldingWord Literal Text: Be for those who hate you 1×, May 1×
King James Version Public Domain
Renders H8131 across 1 tagged occurrence — most commonly:
American Standard Version Public Domain
Renders H8131 across 1 tagged occurrence — most commonly:
Berean Standard Bible Public Domain
Renders H8131 across 1 tagged occurrence — most commonly:
unfoldingWord Literal Text CC BY-SA 4.0
Renders H8131 across 2 tagged occurrences — most commonly:
Senses in BDB
The 2 senses 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.
- (Peal) to hate
- foe (participle)
Word origin
[ שְׂנָא ] vb. hate;— Pe. Dn 4:16
— Brown-Driver-Briggs (Oxford 1906, public domain), digitized via Sefaria, supplemented by the OpenScriptures HebrewLexicon (CC BY 4.0). See Sources.
Derived from שנא (sânêʼ) (H8130) — to hate.
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.
שְׁנָא I
- to change, v. שְׁנֵי.
נָא I
- = אֲנָא. Y. Ter. V, 43ᶜ bot. ואוף נא וכ׳ I, too, think so. Y. Ber. IV, beg. 7ᵃ וָנָא אמרית וכ׳ and I gave a reason for it; a. fr.—V. דְּנָה, לֵינָא.—Pl. נַן. Y. B. Kam. II, beg. 2ᵈ מה נן אמרין וכ׳ why do we say &c.; a. fr.
נָא II
- (also adverb)(b. h.;
- 1. hurried, half-done. Pes. 41ᵃ bot. אכלו נא if he ate it (the Passover lamb) half-done. Ib.ᵇ ישנו בבל תאכל נא is subject to the law (Ex. XII, 9) &c. Tosef. Macc. IV (III), 1, contrad. to חַי. Men. 78ᵇ מצה נא, v. הַיָנָא; a. fr. e.g. Exodus 12:9
- 2. slender, fine, brittle. — Pl. נָאִין; f. נָאוֹת. Tosef. Kel. B. Kam. II, 9 [read with R. S. to Kel. III, 2:] הוסקו והנאין (= והן נאין) if the vessels were heated but turned out brittle. B. Bath, 97ᵇ (expl. פיטסות, ib. VI, 2) נאות ומגופרות thin, but lined with pitch; Tosef. ib. VI, 3.
נָא III
- (b. h.) I pray, prithee. Yoma IV, 2; a. fr.—Ber. 9ᵃ, a. e. אין נא אלא וכ׳, v. בַּקָּשָׁה.
נַן
- , pl. of נָא I.
שִׁנָא
- , v. שֵׁינְתָא
שָׂנֵא
- (b. h.) to hate. Pes. 49ᵇ גדולה שנאה ששׂוֹנְאִין וכ׳ great is the hatred with which the ignorant hate the scholar, even greater than that which gentiles bear towards Israel. Ib. 113ᵇ שלשה שׂוֹנְאָן three classes of men does the Lord hate. Ib. שלשה שונאין זה וכ׳ three kinds of creatures hate one another, the dog &c. Ib. מצוה לִשְׂנֹאתוֹ (Var. מותר) it is right (permitted) to hate him. Ib. שִׂנְאוּ את אדניכם hate your masters. Snh. 108ᵇ the raven said to Noah, רבך שׂוֹנְאֵנִי ואתה שְׂנֵאתַנִי thy master (God) hates me, and thou hatest me. Ab. I, 10 אהוב … ושְׂנָא וכ׳ love work and hate office; a. fr.—Part. pass. שָׂנוּא; f. שְׂנוּאָה &c. Kidd. 68ᵃ; Yeb. 23ᵃ (ref. to Deut. XXI, 15) וכי יש ש׳ לפני המקום וכ׳ is there before God a hated one and a beloved one (could it be supposed that the law should allow a discrimination between the children of a favored and of a hated wife)? Ib. ש׳ בנישואיה, v. נִישּׂוּאִין; a. e.—Sifra K’doshim, Par. 3, ch. VIII שָׂנְאוּי. e.g. Deuteronomy 21:15
- to be hated. Num. R. s. 48 הר ס̇ינ̇י שבו נִשְׂנְאוּ וכ׳ it is called Mount Sinai, because on it the gentiles became hateful to the Lord &c. (v. שִׂנְאָה); Yalk. Is. 363 נִשְׂתַּנְּאוּ. Taan. 7ᵇ (ref. to ישנא, Koh. VIII, 1) א"ת ישונא אלא יִשָּׂנֵא read not y’shunne (shall be changed), but yissane (shall be hated). e.g. Ecclesiastes 8:1
- same. Pesik. R. s. 14 (ref. to Koh. l. c.) יְשׂוּנֶּא יְסוּנֶּה בסמ"ך read y’sunne, with Samekh (v. supra).
שְׂנֵא
- , v. סְנֵי
שְׁנָא II
- , year. Targ. Lev. XXV, 53 (O. ed. Vien. שְׁנָה); a. fr.—Constr. שְׁנַת. Ib. 5; a. e.—Pl. שְׁנַיָּא, שְׁנִין, שְׁנֵי, שְׁנָתָא. Ib. 3; 15; 52; a. fr.—Targ. Ps. XC, 10 שְׁנָתָנָא Ms. (ed. שְׁנוֹתָנָא).—R. Hash. 31ᵃ שיתא אלפי ש׳ וכ׳ the world will last six thousand years. Ab. Zar. 9ᵃ. Ib. 9ᵇ sq. ההוא … שית ש׳ יתירתא a document dated six years ahead; a. fr.
שְׁנֵי
- 1. to repeat. Targ. I Sam. XXVI, 8 ed. Wil. (v. תְּנֵי).—Snh. 59ᵃ ולמה לי למִישְׁנֵי בסיני and why is it repeated at Sinai?; a. e.
- 2. to change; to be different. Targ. O. Deut. XXXIV, 7.—Lev. R. s. 22 כל מאי דהוה הדין ש׳ הדין ש׳ as the one (the mosquito) changed, so did the other (Titus) change. Yeb. 21ᵇ או דילמא לא שנא (abbrev. ל"ש) or is there no difference (between the wife of a brother on the mother’s side and that of a brother on the father’s side)? Succ. 29ᵇ ל"ש ביו"ט … ול"ש וכ׳ no difference whether it is the first Holy Day or the second. Ib. 30ᵃ ל"ש לפני וכ׳ no difference whether before &c. Sabb. 6ᵃ הכי נמי ל"ש in this case, too, it is the same; a. v. fr.—Yeb. l. c. מאי ש׳ הני מאי ש׳ הא (abbrev. מ"ש) what difference is there between the former and the latter? Sabb. 4ᵃ ומאי ש׳ and wherein lies the difference? Ib. 2ᵇ מ"ש הכא … ומ"ש התם וכ׳ wherein lies the difference (what reason is there) that the Mishnah says here, ‘two which are four within, and two which are four without’, and there (Shebu. I, 1) only, ‘two which are four’?; a. fr.—Part. שָׁאנֵי it is different. Succ. 21ᵇ ש׳ שוורים הואיל וכ׳ it is different in the case of oxen, because &c. Sabb. 7ᵇ ש׳ צרור וכ׳ it is different with bundles and other objects &c. Ker. 11ᵃ והכא ש׳ but here it is different; a. v. fr.—V. שׁנִיא.
- 1. to change; to act strangely. Targ. Gen. XLI, 14. Targ. Ps. LXXXIX, 35. Ib. XXXIV, 1. Targ. Y. II, Deut. XXXII, 5; a. fr.—[Ib. 41 אישני, read: אישנן, v. שְׁנַן.—Targ. Jud. XX, 16 משנן, read: משגן, v. שְׁגֵי.]—Taan. 24ᵇ שַׁנִּי דוכתיך change thy place; ש׳ דוכתיה he changed his place. Ker. 11ᵃ לישנא דשׁנּוּיֵי, v. חָרַף. Bets. 30ᵃ כמה דאפשר לשנויי מְשַׁנִּינָן וכ׳ as much as it is feasible to change (the mode of doing a thing), we must change on the Holy Day; Sabb. 128ᵇ; ib. 117ᵇ מְשַׁנִּין. Bets. l. c. והא הני נשי … ולא מְשַׁנְּיָין וכ׳ but there are those women that fill their pitchers … without any change, and we say nothing to them (to interfere)! Snh. 96ᵃ top שני נפשך (Rashi אַשְׁנִי) disguise thyself; במאי אִישַׁנֵּי how shall I disguise (myself)?; Yalk. Is. 276; a. fr.
- 2. to reply. Sabb. 7ᵇ זימנין מְשַׁנֵּי לה וכ׳ at times he replied to it (met the objection by saying) &c. Ib. 3ᵇ דמשני לך; Keth. 98ᵇ דשַׁנִּינָן, v. שִׁינּוּיָא. Pes. 20ᵇ ומְשַׁנֵּי שאני התם וכ׳ and he answered, it is different in that case; a. fr.—Shebu. 21ᵃ top כדשני ליה (Rashi כדמשני) as he (Abayi) replied to him (R. Papa, further below).
- to change, act strangely. Targ. Mal. III, 6. Targ. O. a. Y. I Deut. XXXII, 5; a. fr.—[Targ. Ps. LXXI, 17 אשני, read with ed. Lag. אתני.]—Snh. 96ᵃ top, v. supra. e.g. Deuteronomy 32:5
- 1. to be changed. Targ. Deut. l. c. Targ. Lam. IV, 1; a. e.—Snh. 71ᵇ נימא הואיל וא׳ א׳ let us say, because his status has changed, he is a different person (not responsible for acts committed in his previous condition); האי דינו א׳ מיתתו לא א׳ this man’s legal status has changed, but the mode of his execution is not affected thereby. Ib. הואיל וא׳ א׳ … דא׳ לגמרי because a change has taken place (by her becoming of age), she is a different person (and the mode of her execution must be different): so much the more here (in the case of a proselyte) where a complete change has taken place. Ib. 96ᵃ א׳ אפיה והוה וכ׳ his face changed, and he looked like a dog. Sabb. 36ᵃ הני … א׳ שמייהו וכ׳ the names of the following three things have changed since the destruction of the Temple; Succ. 34ᵃ; a. e.
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 H8131 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| ל/שנאי/ך | Verb, Qal, Participle Active, Masculine, Plural, Construct | Daniel 4:19 | 1 |
| לְ/שָֽׂנְאָ֖/ךְ | Verb, Qal, Participle Active, Masculine, Plural, Construct | Daniel 4:19 | 1 |
Same root — word family
Other BDB entries built from the same root as H8131, 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 → They share a root, not necessarily a meaning.
Septuagint verse parallels
This word appears in 1 verse that also exists in the Greek Old Testament (Septuagint), out of the 1 Hebrew verse 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.
