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שֵׁשׁ

six

‘six’ is one of 4 main senses fuller range ↓

H8337 Strong's Hebrew
shêsh Transliteration
/shaysh/ Pronunciation
Usage in the Hebrew Bible 216 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.

שש (shêsh) is a Hebrew noun most often rendered “six.” Not a single-sense word: explore its full sense range. It turns up in 203 verses across 22 books, a common footprint. Scripture first uses it in Genesis 7:6. It clusters with ששה, ששי and ששים under a shared root. For the data behind this summary, explore the sense tree and the renderings breakdown below.

Gloss history

Strong's 1890 vs modern scholarship

Strong's · 1890
six
Modern gloss
six
Strong's 1890 agrees
Strong's 1890 and current BDB scholarship align on this entry's primary sense — a good signal that the gloss above is unambiguous and stable. Download share card

About this word

Strong's H8337 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 →

203
distinct verses
The word appears in 203 distinct verses.
22 / 39
OT books
The word appears in 22 of 39 Old Testament books.
Genesis 7:6
first appearance
The earliest occurrence is in Genesis 7:6.
Ezekiel 46:6
last appearance
The latest occurrence is in Ezekiel 46:6.
#220
by frequency
Top 250 most frequent Hebrew words (rank 220 of 8,640 Hebrew words by occurrence).

View all 203 occurrences in the concordance →


Most concentrated in

By section of the Old Testament

  • Pentateuch 71 · 35%
  • Historical 115 · 57%
  • Wisdom 3 · 1%
  • Prophets 14 · 7%

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 203 distinct verses.

  • Writings (Ketuvim) 72 verses · 35%
  • Torah (Pentateuch) 71 verses · 35%
  • Prophets (Nevi'im) 60 verses · 30%

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).

BDB lists this Strong’s number as 4 distinct words (homographs). Each count above pools all of them and is not split by sense — see the Senses section below. A low-frequency rendering may belong to a different one of those words, not the primary meaning.

  • King James Version: Six 140×, Sixteen 12×, Were six 8×
  • American Standard Version: Six 134×, Sixteen 13×, Were six 9×
  • Berean Standard Bible: Six 91×, Sixteen 15×, And 5×
  • unfoldingWord Literal Text: Six 78×, Were 26×, And 12×

King James Version Public Domain

Renders H8337 across 213 tagged occurrences — most commonly:

  • “Six” 140×
  • “Sixteen” 12×
  • “Were six” 8×
  • “Was six” 7×
  • “Had six” 4×
  • “Sixteenth” 3×
  • “Thee six” 3×
  • “Was sixteen” 3×
  • “Were sixteen” 3×
  • “About six” 2×
  • “One side and on the other upon the six” 2×
  • “Same according to the six” 2×

Plus other, less common renderings. Plus 18 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 2 further occurrences.

American Standard Version Public Domain

Renders H8337 across 213 tagged occurrences — most commonly:

  • “Six” 134×
  • “Sixteen” 13×
  • “Were six” 9×
  • “Was six” 7×
  • “Had six” 3×
  • “Sixteenth” 3×
  • “Was sixteen” 3×
  • “He and the six” 2×
  • “One piece with it” 2×
  • “One side and on the other upon the six” 2×
  • “Themselves” 2×
  • “Were sixteen” 2×

Plus 31 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 H8337 across 145 tagged occurrences — most commonly:

  • “Six” 91×
  • “Sixteen” 15×
  • “And” 5×
  • “Had six” 4×
  • “Sixteenth” 3×
  • “Was” 3×
  • “About six” 2×
  • “All six” 2×

Plus 20 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 70 further occurrences.

unfoldingWord Literal Text CC BY-SA 4.0

Renders H8337 across 161 tagged occurrences — most commonly:

  • “Six” 78×
  • “Were” 26×
  • “And” 12×
  • “Are” 7×
  • “About” 4×
  • “Sixteen” 4×
  • “Were six” 4×
  • “Was six” 3×
  • “All six” 2×
  • “Chambers measured six” 2×
  • “For” 2×
  • “Sixteenth” 2×

Plus other, less common renderings. Plus 11 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 57 further occurrences.


7 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 7 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.

שש I f.six

  • 1. no other num.:
    • a. bef. n.pl. 75 times: e.g. שֵׁשׁ שָׁנִים Ex 21:2 (E) + 11 times, שֵׁשׁ אַמּוֹת 1 S 17:4 + 8 times; שֵׁשׁ בָּאַמָּה †1 K 6:6; שִׁשָּׁה בָּנִים Gn 30:20 (E) + 2 times; שֵׁשֶׁת יָמִים Ex 23:12 (E) + 14 times; after n. (late) †Ex 28:2 Jos 15:59, 62 (all P), 1 Ch 4:27; 26:17; Ne 5:18; rarely n. om. Lv 24:6 (P) + (distrib. 2 S 21:20 = 1 Ch 20:6). e.g. Exodus 21:2
    • b. = ordin. שְׁנַת שֵׁשׁ לְחִזְק׳ 2 K 18:10 (Ges§ 134 o). e.g. 2 Kings 18:10
  • 2. 16, c. n.f.: שֵׁשׁ עֶשְׂרֵה, bef. נָ֑פֶשׁ Gn 46:18 (P), שָׁנָה 2 K 13:10 + 9 times, בָּנוֹת 2 Ch 13:21; after עָרִים Jos 15:41; 19:22 (P); c. n.m. שִׁשָׁה עָשָׂר, bef. אֲדָנִים Ex 26:25; 36:30 (P), also אֶלֶף, 1000, Nu 31:40 + (P); after בָּנִים 1 Ch 4:27, etc.; = ordin. 16th 1 Ch 24:14; 25:23 +, יוֹם שׁ׳ ע׳ 2 Ch 29:17. e.g. Genesis 46:18
  • 3. 600 = שֵׁשׁ מֵאוֹת, Gn 7:6 (P) + 63 times; 6000 = שֵׁשֶׁת אֲלָפִים Nu 3:34 (P) + 8 times; שׁ׳ אֶלֶף Ju 20:15 + 2 times e.g. Genesis 7:6
  • 4. c. tens, שׁ׳ foll. Gn 46:26 + 13 times, precedes Nu 31:44 (P). e.g. Genesis 46:26
  • 5. שׁ׳ as round no., חָמֵשׁ אוֹ־שׁ׳ 2 K 13:19, cf. Jb 5:19 Pr 6:16. e.g. 2 Kings 13:19

שש II six, v. שׁדשׁ.

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

I. n.m. et f.six;—m. שֵׁשׁ (c. n.f.) Gn 31:41 + 120 times; f. שִׁשָּׁה (c. n.m.) 30:20 + 39 times; cstr. שֵׁ֫שֶׁת Ex 23:12 + 30 times (6 + 10 = 16 are additional);—six (Hex chiefly P):

II. n.m. id.;—עַמּוּדֵי שׁ׳ Ct 5:15 (in fig.), Est 1:6 a, material of pavement v 6 b (v. בַּ֫הַט).—I. שֵׁשׁ, v. שׁדשׁ.

V. n.m. Ex 26:1 byssus (loan-wd. prob. from Egyptian šen-suten Reinischap. DHM VOJ viii (1894), 7 Copt. šens, cf. Copt. šent, weave; v. MʿLeanEncy. Bib. linen; on spinning, weaving, and wearing of linen in Egypt ErmanAegypten 594 ff.; Eng. Trans. 448 f.);—always abs. שׁ׳ (שׁשׁי Ez 16:13 is error):—byssus, fine Egyptian linen (בּוּץ, q.v., is later synon.), i.e. the linen thread (spun by women Ex 35:25), and the material woven from it: used for garments Gn 41:42 (E), Ez 16:10, 13 (שׁשׁי, read שׁשׁ), Pr 31:22; for sail (in fig. of Tyre as ship) Ez 27:7 (brought from Egypt); elsewhere P, of priestly vestments Ex 28:5, 39(×2); 39:3, 27, 28(×2); also שׁ׳ מָשְׁזָר twisted linen 28:6, 8, 15; 39:2, 5, 8, 28, 29 + v 24 (read וְשֵׁשׁ מ׳ Sam. 𝔊 Bae); שׁ׳ of hangings, etc., in tabern. 25:4; 35:6, 23, 25, 35; 38:23, and so שׁ׳ מָשְׁזָר 26:1, 31, 36; 27:9, 16, 18; 36:8, 35, 37; 38:9, 16, 18.

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

Origin: a primitive number

Part of speech: Noun TWOT: 2336a


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.

שֵׁשׁ I

  • (b. h.) marble, v. שַׁיִשׁ.

שֵׁשׁ II

  • (b. h.) white linen. Yoma 71ᵇ דברים שנאמר בהן שש … ששה וכ׳ those things concerning which shesh is used are woven of a sixfold thread, where moshzar is added, of an eightfold thread. Ib. מאי משמע דהאי שש כיתנא הוא what evidence is there that that shesh (Ex. XXXIX, 27) means flax? Y. Kil. IX, beg. 31ᵈ (ref. to Ex. XXXIX, 28; 29, a. Ez. XLIV, 18) את דרש שש משש שש מפארי ופארי מפארי you learn the meaning of shesh (in האבנט שש משזר) from shesh (in פארי מגבעות שש), and the meaning of this shesh from פארי (in ופארי פשתים Ez. l. c.), and the meaning of this paăré from paăré (in פארי מגבעות, Ex. l. c.). Midr. Prov. to ch. XXXI, 22 זו … שהיה מרוקם בשש וארגמן that is Bathsheba of whom came Solomon who was clad in embroidered garments of white linen and purple; Yalk. ib. 964. Cant. R. to IV, 12 (ref. to Ez. XVI, 10) תחת שש ועזים as a reward for the offering of white linen and goats’ hair (Ex. XXV, 4); a. e. e.g. Exodus 39:27

שֵׁשׁ

  • six. Pes. V, 1 (58ᵃ) בששה ומחצה (Y. a. Bab. ed. בשש) at six hours and a half (from sunrise). Y. ib. IV, beg. 30ᶜ משש שעות ולמעלן after six hours (noon); משש שעות ולמען before noon. Yoma 21ᵇ שש אשות הן there are six kinds of fire. Pes. 49ᵇ ש׳ דברים נאמרו וכ׳ six things have been said concerning ignorant people; a. v. fr.—Constr. m. שֵׁשֶׁת. Snh. 97ᵃ; Ab. Zar. 9ᵃ; v. שָׁנָה II; a. fr.—Pl. שִׁשִּׁים sixty. B. Kam. 58ᵇ סאה בש׳ סאין the damage to a field of one S’ah is assessed by calculation from a field of sixty S’ahs (so as to arrive at a fair estimate). Ib. בש׳ taking as a basis for calculation sixty times the quantity under dispute; ib. 59ᵃ; a. e.—Ḥull. 97ᵇ בש׳ (sub. בטל) is neutralized in a quantity sixty times as large. Ex. R. s. 1 ש׳ בכרס אחד sixty at one birth. Y. Taan. IV, 68ᶜ top ש׳ רבוא sixty myriads. Succ. 51ᵇ; 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 54 distinct written forms H8337 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
שֵׁ֥שׁ Adjective, Cardinal number, Feminine, Singular, Absolute Exodus 21:2 31
שֵׁשׁ Adjective, Cardinal number, Feminine, Singular, Absolute Exodus 14:7 26
וְ/שֵׁ֥שׁ Adjective, Cardinal number, Feminine, Singular, Absolute Exodus 23:10 19
וְ/שֵׁשׁ Adjective, Cardinal number, Feminine, Singular, Absolute Ezekiel 41:1 11
שִׁשָּׁ֥ה Adjective, Cardinal number, Masculine, Singular, Absolute Exodus 26:22 11
שֵׁ֣שׁ Adjective, Cardinal number, Feminine, Singular, Absolute Deuteronomy 15:12 11
שֵׁ֣שֶׁת Adjective, Cardinal number, Masculine, Singular, Construct Exodus 24:16 7
וְ/שֵׁ֣שׁ Adjective, Cardinal number, Feminine, Singular, Absolute Genesis 16:16 6
שִׁשָּׁ֣ה Adjective, Cardinal number, Masculine, Singular, Absolute Ezekiel 9:2 6
שֵׁ֥שֶׁת Adjective, Cardinal number, Masculine, Singular, Construct Deuteronomy 16:8 6
וְ/שִׁשָּׁ֣ה Adjective, Cardinal number, Masculine, Singular, Absolute Exodus 25:32 4
וְ/שִׁשָּֽׁה Adjective, Cardinal number, Masculine, Singular, Absolute Ezra 2:13 4
שִׁשָּׁ֧ה Adjective, Cardinal number, Masculine, Singular, Absolute Ezekiel 46:4 4
שֵׁ֤שֶׁת Adjective, Cardinal number, Masculine, Singular, Construct Deuteronomy 5:13 4
בְּ/שֵׁ֣שׁ Adjective, Cardinal number, Feminine, Singular, Absolute 1 Kings 10:29 3
וְ/שִׁשָּׁ֖ה Adjective, Cardinal number, Masculine, Singular, Absolute 1 Chronicles 7:4 3
וְ/שֵׁ֤שֶׁת Adjective, Cardinal number, Masculine, Singular, Construct 1 Samuel 13:5 3
וָ/שֵׁשׁ֙ Adjective, Cardinal number, Feminine, Singular, Absolute 1 Chronicles 20:6 3
שֵׁ֖שׁ Adjective, Cardinal number, Feminine, Singular, Absolute 2 Kings 18:10 3
שֵׁ֤שׁ Adjective, Cardinal number, Feminine, Singular, Absolute 1 Kings 6:6 3
שֵֽׁשׁ Adjective, Cardinal number, Feminine, Singular, Absolute Ezra 8:26 3
וְ/שִׁשָּׁ֑ה Adjective, Cardinal number, Masculine, Singular, Absolute Ezra 2:66 2
וְ/שִׁשָּׁ֥ה Adjective, Cardinal number, Masculine, Singular, Absolute 2 Samuel 2:11 2
וָ/שֵׁ֖שׁ Adjective, Cardinal number, Feminine, Singular, Absolute 1 Kings 10:14 2
כְּ/שֵׁ֥שׁ Adjective, Cardinal number, Feminine, Singular, Absolute 1 Samuel 13:15 2
כְּ/שֵׁשׁ Adjective, Cardinal number, Feminine, Singular, Absolute Exodus 12:37 2
לְ/שֵׁ֣שֶׁת Adjective, Cardinal number, Masculine, Singular, Construct Exodus 25:33 2
לְ/שֵׁ֨שֶׁת֙ Adjective, Cardinal number, Masculine, Singular, Construct Exodus 25:35 2
שִׁשָּׁ֤ה Adjective, Cardinal number, Masculine, Singular, Absolute Esther 2:12 2
שִׁשָּׁה֙ Adjective, Cardinal number, Masculine, Singular, Absolute Exodus 28:10 2
שֵׁ֧שׁ Adjective, Cardinal number, Feminine, Singular, Absolute 1 Kings 10:19 2
שֵׁ֧שֶׁת Adjective, Cardinal number, Masculine, Singular, Construct 1 Chronicles 12:24 2
שֵׁ֨שׁ Adjective, Cardinal number, Feminine, Singular, Absolute 2 Chronicles 26:3 2
הַ/שִּׁשָּׁ֧ה Adjective, Cardinal number, Masculine, Singular, Absolute Exodus 28:10 1
וְ/שִׁשָּׁ֗ה Adjective, Cardinal number, Masculine, Singular, Absolute Ezra 8:35 1
וְ/שִׁשָּׁ֤ה Adjective, Cardinal number, Masculine, Singular, Absolute Esther 2:12 1
וְ/שִׁשָּׁה֙ Adjective, Cardinal number, Masculine, Singular, Absolute Joshua 7:5 1
וְ/שֵׁ֣שֶׁת Adjective, Cardinal number, Masculine, Singular, Construct Leviticus 12:5 1
וְ/שֵׁ֧שֶׁת Adjective, Cardinal number, Masculine, Singular, Construct Ezekiel 46:6 1
וְ/שֵֽׁשֶׁת Adjective, Cardinal number, Masculine, Singular, Construct Numbers 2:9 1
וָ/שֵׁ֗שׁ Adjective, Cardinal number, Feminine, Singular, Absolute 2 Samuel 21:20 1
וָ/שֵֽׁשׁ Adjective, Cardinal number, Feminine, Singular, Absolute Genesis 46:26 1
לְ/שִׁשָּׁ֤ה Adjective, Cardinal number, Masculine, Singular, Absolute 1 Chronicles 25:23 1
לְ/שֵׁשׁ Adjective, Cardinal number, Feminine, Singular, Absolute Exodus 38:26 1
שִׁשָּׁ֗ה Adjective, Cardinal number, Masculine, Singular, Absolute 1 Chronicles 25:3 1
שִׁשָּׁ֨ה Adjective, Cardinal number, Masculine, Singular, Absolute Numbers 31:52 1
שִׁשָּֽׁה Adjective, Cardinal number, Masculine, Singular, Absolute 1 Chronicles 3:22 1
שִׁשָּׁה֒ Adjective, Cardinal number, Masculine, Singular, Absolute 1 Chronicles 26:17 1
שֵׁ֔שׁ Adjective, Cardinal number, Feminine, Singular, Absolute 1 Chronicles 4:27 1
שֵׁ֖שֶׁת Adjective, Cardinal number, Masculine, Singular, Construct Ezekiel 46:1 1
שֵֽׁשֶׁת Adjective, Cardinal number, Masculine, Singular, Construct Exodus 20:11 1
שֵׁשׁ֙ Adjective, Cardinal number, Feminine, Singular, Absolute 2 Kings 13:19 1
שֶׁשׁ Adjective, Cardinal number, Feminine, Singular, Absolute Proverbs 6:16 1
ששת Adjective, Cardinal number, Masculine, Singular, Construct Nehemiah 7:69 1

Same root — word family

Other BDB entries built from the same root as H8337, 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 → Showing 4 of 5 — not the complete family. They share a root, not necessarily a meaning.


Septuagint verse parallels

This word appears in 191 verses that also exist in the Greek Old Testament (Septuagint), out of the 203 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.

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