שְׁנַ֫יִם
two
‘two’ is one of 5 main senses 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
- Adjective
- A word that describes or qualifies a noun.
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.
- Feminine
- Grammatically feminine.
Number
- Dual
- Exactly two — for natural pairs and some measures of time.
Every verse where H8147 appears in the Book of 2 Kings — 37 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.
2 Kings
- 2 Kings 1:14 שְׁנֵ֞י adj Cardinal number md cs Behold, fire came down from the sky, and consumed the two former captains of fifty with their fifties; but now let my life be precious in your sight.
- 2 Kings 1:17 שְׁתַּ֔יִם adj Cardinal number fd So he died according to the word of Yahweh which Elijah had spoken. Jehoram began to reign in his place in the second year of Jehoram the son of Jehoshaphat king of Judah; because he had no son.
- 2 Kings 2:6 שְׁנֵי/הֶֽם adj Cardinal number md cs + sfx pers 3mp Elijah said to him, "Please wait here, for Yahweh has sent me to the Jordan." He said, "As Yahweh lives, and as your soul lives, I will not leave you." They two went on.
- 2 Kings 2:7 וּ/שְׁנֵי/הֶ֖ם conj + Adjective Cardinal number md cs + sfx pers 3mp Fifty men of the sons of the prophets went, and stood over against them afar off: and they two stood by the Jordan.
- 2 Kings 2:8 שְׁנֵי/הֶ֖ם adj Cardinal number md cs + sfx pers 3mp Elijah took his mantle, and wrapped it together, and struck the waters, and they were divided here and there, so that they two went over on dry ground.
- 2 Kings 2:9 שְׁנַ֥יִם adj Cardinal number md It happened, when they had gone over, that Elijah said to Elisha, Ask what I shall do for you, before I am taken from you. Elisha said, please let a double portion of your spirit be on me.
- 2 Kings 2:11 שְׁנֵי/הֶ֑ם adj Cardinal number md cs + sfx pers 3mp It happened, as they still went on, and talked, that behold, [there appeared] a chariot of fire, and horses of fire, which parted them both apart; and Elijah went up by a whirlwind into heaven.
- 2 Kings 2:12 לִ/שְׁנַ֥יִם prep + Adjective Cardinal number md Elisha saw it, and he cried, My father, my father, the chariots of Israel and the horsemen of it! He saw him no more: and he took hold of his own clothes, and tore them in two pieces.
- 2 Kings 2:24 שְׁתַּ֤יִם וּ/שְׁנֵ֖י adj Cardinal number fd conj + Adjective Cardinal number md cs He looked behind him and saw them, and cursed them in the name of Yahweh. There came forth two she-bears out of the wood, and mauled forty-two lads of them.
- 2 Kings 3:1 שְׁתֵּים adj Cardinal number fd Now Jehoram the son of Ahab began to reign over Israel in Samaria in the eighteenth year of Jehoshaphat king of Judah, and reigned twelve years.
- 2 Kings 4:1 שְׁנֵ֧י adj Cardinal number md cs Now there cried a certain woman of the wives of the sons of the prophets to Elisha, saying, Your servant my husband is dead; and you know that your servant did fear Yahweh: and the creditor is come to take to him my two children to be bondservants.
- 2 Kings 4:33 שְׁנֵי/הֶ֑ם adj Cardinal number md cs + sfx pers 3mp He went in therefore, and shut the door on them both, and prayed to Yahweh.
- 2 Kings 5:22 שְׁנֵֽי וּ/שְׁתֵּ֖י adj Cardinal number md cs conj + Adjective Cardinal number fd cs He said, All is well. My master has sent me, saying, Behold, even now there are come to me from the hill-country of Ephraim two young men of the sons of the prophets; please give them a talent of silver, and two changes of clothing.
- 2 Kings 5:23 בִּ/שְׁנֵ֣י וּ/שְׁתֵּי֙ שְׁנֵ֣י prep + Adjective Cardinal number md cs conj + Adjective Cardinal number fd cs adj Cardinal number md cs Naaman said, Be pleased to take two talents. He urged him, and bound two talents of silver in two bags, with two changes of clothing, and laid them on two of his servants; and they bore them before him.
- 2 Kings 6:10 שְׁתָּֽיִם adj Cardinal number fd The king of Israel sent to the place which the man of God told him and warned him of; and he saved himself there, not once nor twice.
- 2 Kings 7:14 שְׁנֵ֖י adj Cardinal number md cs They took therefore two chariots with horses; and the king sent after the host of the Syrians, saying, Go and see.
- 2 Kings 8:17 וּ/שְׁתַּ֛יִם conj + Adjective Cardinal number fd Thirty-two years old was he when he began to reign; and he reigned eight years in Jerusalem.
- 2 Kings 8:25 שְׁתֵּים adj Cardinal number fd In the twelfth year of Joram the son of Ahab king of Israel did Ahaziah the son of Jehoram king of Judah begin to reign.
- 2 Kings 8:26 וּ/שְׁתַּ֤יִם conj + Adjective Cardinal number fd Twenty-two years old was Ahaziah when he began to reign; and he reigned one year in Jerusalem. His mother's name was Athaliah the daughter of Omri king of Israel.
- 2 Kings 9:32 שְׁנַ֥יִם adj Cardinal number md He lifted up his face to the window, and said, Who is on my side? who? There looked out to him two or three eunuchs.
- 2 Kings 10:4 שְׁנֵ֣י adj Cardinal number md cs But they were exceedingly afraid, and said, Behold, the two kings didn't stand before him: how then shall we stand?
- 2 Kings 10:8 שְׁנֵ֧י adj Cardinal number md cs There came a messenger, and told him, saying, They have brought the heads of the king's sons. He said, Lay you them in two heaps at the entrance of the gate until the morning.
- 2 Kings 10:14 וּ/שְׁנַ֨יִם֙ conj + Adjective Cardinal number md He said, Take them alive. They took them alive, and killed them at the pit of the shearing-house, even two and forty men; neither left he any of them.
- 2 Kings 11:7 וּ/שְׁתֵּ֤י conj + Adjective Cardinal number fd cs The two companies of you, even all who go forth on the Sabbath, shall keep the watch of the house of Yahweh about the king.
- 2 Kings 14:1 שְׁתַּ֔יִם adj Cardinal number fd In the second year of Joash son of Joahaz king of Israel began Amaziah the son of Joash king of Judah to reign.
- 2 Kings 15:2 וּ/שְׁתַּ֨יִם֙ conj + Adjective Cardinal number fd Sixteen years old was he when he began to reign; and he reigned fifty-two years in Jerusalem: and his mother's name was Jecoliah of Jerusalem.
- 2 Kings 15:27 וּ/שְׁתַּ֨יִם֙ conj + Adjective Cardinal number fd In the two and fiftieth year of Azariah king of Judah Pekah the son of Remaliah began to reign over Israel in Samaria, [and reigned] twenty years.
- 2 Kings 15:32 שְׁתַּ֔יִם adj Cardinal number fd In the second year of Pekah the son of Remaliah king of Israel began Jotham the son of Uzziah king of Judah to reign.
- 2 Kings 17:1 שְׁתֵּ֣ים adj Cardinal number fd In the twelfth year of Ahaz king of Judah began Hoshea the son of Elah to reign in Samaria over Israel, [and reigned] nine years.
- 2 Kings 17:16 שנים שְׁנֵ֣י adj Cardinal number md adj Cardinal number md cs They forsook all the commandments of Yahweh their God, and made them molten images, even two calves, and made an Asherah, and worshiped all the host of the sky, and served Baal.
- 2 Kings 21:1 שְׁתֵּ֨ים adj Cardinal number fd Manasseh was twelve years old when he began to reign; and he reigned fifty-five years in Jerusalem: and his mother's name was Hephzibah.
- 2 Kings 21:5 בִּ/שְׁתֵּ֖י prep + Adjective Cardinal number fd cs He built altars for all the host of the sky in the two courts of the house of Yahweh.
- 2 Kings 21:12 שְׁתֵּ֥י adj Cardinal number fd cs therefore thus says Yahweh, the God of Israel, Behold, I bring such evil on Jerusalem and Judah, that whoever hears of it, both his ears shall tingle.
- 2 Kings 21:19 וּ/שְׁתַּ֤יִם וּ/שְׁתַּ֣יִם conj + Adjective Cardinal number fd conj + Adjective Cardinal number fd Amon was twenty-two years old when he began to reign; and he reigned two years in Jerusalem: and his mother's name was Meshullemeth the daughter of Haruz of Jotbah.
- 2 Kings 23:12 בִּ/שְׁתֵּ֛י prep + Adjective Cardinal number fd cs The altars that were on the roof of the upper chamber of Ahaz, which the kings of Judah had made, and the altars which Manasseh had made in the two courts of the house of Yahweh, did the king break down, and beat [them] down from there, and cast the dust of them into the brook Kidron.
- 2 Kings 25:16 שְׁנַ֗יִם adj Cardinal number md The two pillars, the one sea, and the bases, which Solomon had made for the house of Yahweh, the brass of all these vessels was without weight.
- 2 Kings 25:27 בִּ/שְׁנֵ֤ים prep + Adjective Cardinal number md It happened in the seven and thirtieth year of the captivity of Jehoiachin king of Judah, in the twelfth month, on the seven and twentieth day of the month, that Evilmerodach king of Babylon, in the year that he began to reign, did lift up the head of Jehoiachin king of Judah out of prison;
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.
At its core, שנים (shᵉnayim) means “two.” Not a single-sense word: explore its full sense range. Spanning 645 verses in 31 books, it ranks among the most common words of the Hebrew Bible. It first appears in Genesis 1:16. Sharing its root, it stands alongside שני, תנין and תרין. Each statement above links to its evidence; the full detail follows below.
Gloss history
Strong's 1890 vs modern scholarship
About this word
Strong's H8147 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 →
- 645
- distinct verses
- The word appears in 645 distinct verses.
- 31 / 39
- OT books
- The word appears in 31 of 39 Old Testament books.
- #63
- by frequency
- Top 100 most frequent Hebrew words (rank 63 of 8,640 Hebrew words by occurrence).
View all 645 occurrences in the concordance →
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 645 distinct verses.
- Torah (Pentateuch) 256 verses · 40%
- Prophets (Nevi'im) 240 verses · 37%
- Writings (Ketuvim) 149 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: Two 430×, Both 54×, Twelve 51×
- American Standard Version: Two 396×, Twelve 70×, Both 47×
- Berean Standard Bible: Two 342×, Twelve 57×, Both 48×
- unfoldingWord Literal Text: Two 393×, Two of them 51×, Two of 39×
King James Version Public Domain
Renders H8147 across 754 tagged occurrences — most commonly:
Plus other, less common renderings. Plus 86 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 15 further occurrences.
American Standard Version Public Domain
Renders H8147 across 749 tagged occurrences — most commonly:
Plus other, less common renderings. Plus 112 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 H8147 across 603 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. Not rendered by a distinct English word in 159 further occurrences.
unfoldingWord Literal Text CC BY-SA 4.0
Renders H8147 across 706 tagged occurrences — most commonly:
Plus other, less common renderings. Plus 36 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 120 further occurrences.
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. no other num.:
- a. usually cstr. before n.pl. (צְמִידִים) שְׁנֵי Gn 24:22 + 194 times + 2 S 23:20 ‖ 1 Ch 11:22 (ins. בְּנֵי 𝔊 Th mod., otherwise RSSem. i. 469, 2nd ed., 488); (נָשִׁים) שְׁתֵּי Gn 4:19 + 132 times, 1 S 10:4 ins. כִּכְּרוֹת Klo HPS Bu Now; Lv 16:21 read du. יָדָיו Qr, + Ju 16:28 (v. supr.) + שְׁתֵּי־אֵלֶּה Is 47:9 both these thing; before n.sg., שְׁנֵי Ex 16:22 (Ges§ 134e); sf. שְׁנֵיהֶם the two of them Gn 2:25 + 62 times, + Pr 24:22 (> their years 𝔖 𝔗 De al.; prob. crpt., v. Toy), שְׁנֵינוּ Gn 31:37 + 2 times, שְׁנֵיכֶם †Gn 27:45; שְׁתֵּיהֶם (msf.! Ges§ 135 o) †Ru 1:19; 4:11, יהֶן—ֵ †1 S 25:43; Ez 23:13. e.g. Genesis 24:22
- b. abs. (1) שְׁנַ֫יִם (90 times), before n.pl. Ju 11:37 + 26 times; after n.pl. 2 S 1:1; Ex 29:1 + 21 times (usually P Chr), n.sg. (coll.) Gn 46:27 Nu 7:17 + 11 times Nu 17; n. om. Gn 7:2; 44:27 + 26 times; שׁ׳ שׁ׳ distrib. Gn 7:9 +; לִשׁ׳ cut in two †2 K 3:25; Je 34:18; = double amount †Ex 22:3, 6, 8 (E); פִּי שׁ׳ †Dt 21:17 two-thirds, + בְּרוּחֲךָ †2 K 2:9 in (of) thy spirit, + בָּהּ †Zc 13:8; (2) שְׁתַּ֫יִם (55 times), bef. n.pl.; 1 K 3:16 + 16 times; after n.pl. (usually P and late) 2 Ch 24:3 + 9 times; n. om., = two things †Is 51:19 Jb 13:20 Pr 30:7; שְׁתַּיִם = twice †2 K 6:10 Jb 40:5 ψ 62:12 (or as Pr 30:7), בִּשׁ׳ Jb 33:14 either so, or in two ways RVm (v. De); as ordin. בִּשְׁנַת שְׁתַּיִם לְ 1 K 15:25 + 9 times, etc.; (3) as round number, שְׁנַיִם עֵצִים 1 K 17:12 a few sticks (Germ. ‘ein paar’), cf. 2 K 9:32 Is 17:6; שְׁתַּיִם שָׁלשׁ Am 4:8, פַּעַם וּשְׁתָּ֑יִם Ne 13:20, cf. Je 3:14 אֶחָד מֵעִיר וּשְׁנַיִם מִמִּשְׁפָחָה = a small no.; Ezr 10:13 not for one or two days (but for many), 2 K 6:10. e.g. Judges 11:37
- 2. twelve: c. n.m. שְׁנֵים עָשָׂר Gn 42:13 + 87 times, לִשְׁנֵי עָשָׂר Ex 28:21 + 4 times; c. n.f. שְׁתֵּים עֶשְׂרֵה Ex 24:4 + 34 times, שְׁתֵּי עֶשְׂרֵה †Ez 32:1, 17; 33:21; before n.pl. Gn 17:20; Ex 15:27 +; after n.pl. Nu 7:84(×2) +; before n.sg. Ex 28:21 +, Gn 14:4 (12 year) +, etc.; as ord., בְּיוֹם שְׁנֵים עָשָׂר יוֹם Nu 7:78, בִּשְׁתֵּי עֶשְׂרֵה שָׁנָה Ez 32:1 +, etc. e.g. Genesis 42:13
- 3. with large num.: 10 (etc.) + 2, 2 S 8:5; Ju 10:3 + 56 times; 2 + 10 (etc.) Nu 1:35 (P), 2 Ch 22:2 + 18 times (Köii. 1, 215 ff. Ges§ 97 f.); 200 + 2 + 30, 1 K 20:15; 50 + 2 as ord. 2 K 15:27 + 2 times; cf. 2 + 20, 1 Ch 24:17. e.g. 2 Samuel 8:5
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
(PhilipiZMG xlix (1895), 202 Ges§ 97b note)768 n.m. et f.du. two (NH id.; Ph. אשנם (and שני second), Pun. שנם Lzb380; Arabic اِثنَانِ; Sab. תֿני HomChr 47, Aramaic תְּרֵין, ܬܪܶܝܢ (תִּנְיָנָא, ܬܶܢܝܳܢܳܐ second); Nab. תרין, Palm. f. תרתן, תרתיא, Lzb388; Assyrian šinâ; on etym v. √, and especially PhilippiZMG xxxii (1878), 21–98);—m. (c. n.m.) שְׁנַיִם Am 3:3 +; cstr. שְׁנֵי Is 7:16 +, sf. שְׁנֵיהֶם Gn 2:25 +, etc.; f. (c. n.f.) שְׁתַּיִם Am 4:8 +; cstr. שְׁתֵּי Gn 4:19, וּשְׁתֵּי Is 7:21 +, etc., מִשְּׁתֵֿי Ju 16:28 (v. GFM); sfs. v. infr. (2 + 10 = 12, v. infr.); Hex chiefly P:—two:
— Brown-Driver-Briggs (Oxford 1906, public domain), digitized via Sefaria, supplemented by the OpenScriptures HebrewLexicon (CC BY 4.0). See Sources.
Derived from שני (shênîy) (H8145) — second.
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.
שָׁנִי
- (b. h.) scarlet; תולעת ש׳, v. תֹּולֵעָה.—Pl. שָׁנִים. Sabb. 89ᵇ (ref. to Is. I, 18) כשנים כשני מיבעי ליה וכ׳ kasshanim? it ought to read kasshani (as scarlet) &c.; Yalk. Is. 256; a. e., v. שָׁנָה II. e.g. Isaiah 1:18
שְׁנַיִם
- (b. h.) two. Ber. 8ᵃ ש׳ מקרא ואחד תרגום reading the Scriptural portion of the week twice, and the Targum once. Ib. שיעור ש׳ פתחים a distance of two gates. Zeb. V, 4, v. מַתָּנָה. Sabb. I, 1 ש׳ שהן ארבע two ways of transfer from place to place, which become four (by rabbinical addition). Ib. שְׁנֵיהֶם פטורין both of them are free. Snh. V, 3 בש׳ בחדש on the second day of the month. Ib. בש׳ שעות in the second hour of the day. Men. III, 3. Ib. 6; a. v. fr.—שְׁנֵים עָשָׂר, שְׁתֵּים עֶשְׂרֵה twelve. Nidd. 69ᵇ. Ab. Zar. 3ᵇ; a. fr.
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 182 distinct written forms H8147 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; 122 rarer forms follow in the full concordance.
Same root — word family
Other BDB entries built from the same root as H8147, 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
Derived from this word
Compare all same-root words → They share a root, not necessarily a meaning.
Septuagint verse parallels
This word appears in 611 verses that also exist in the Greek Old Testament (Septuagint), out of the 645 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 1:16
- Exodus 2:13
- Leviticus 3:4
- Numbers 1:35
- Deuteronomy 1:23
- Joshua 2:1
- Judges 3:16
- Ruth 1:1
- 1 Samuel 1:2
- 2 Samuel 1:1
- 1 Kings 2:5
- 2 Kings 1:14
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.