sha.vah expresses making a comparison or equivalence, and in Piel forms setting or leveling something.

The attested uses chiefly concern comparing persons, things, or situations so as to express likeness, difference, or lack of equivalence. In Piel forms, the word also occurs where a surface is leveled or something is set or composed.

1. Compare or treat as alike/equivalent · dominant

   Qal and Hiphil forms occur in clauses of comparison: Isaiah 40:25 asks whom the Holy One could be compared with, Isaiah 46:5 joins likening, comparing, and making equal, and Lamentations 2:13 asks what could be likened to Jerusalem. The same comparison framework marks Proverbs 26:4, where answering according to folly would result in becoming like the fool, and Proverbs 3:15 and Proverbs 8:11 state that pleasures cannot be compared with wisdom.

   Isaiah 40:25Isaiah 46:5Lamentations 2:13Proverbs 26:4Proverbs 3:15Proverbs 8:11
2. Set, level, or compose · occasional

   Piel perfect forms appear in actions of ordering or settling: in Isaiah 28:25 the APB renders the agricultural action as having "leveled its surface," while Psalm 119:30 says, "I have set your judgments." In Psalm 131:2, the speaker says, "I have composed and stilled my soul," describing a settled inner condition.

   Isaiah 28:25Psalm 119:30Psalm 131:2

In the Anselm Project Bible: The APB presents the comparison uses with expressions such as "compare," "liken," "like," and "equal," while the Piel passages are rendered "leveled," "set," and "composed and stilled." Because the APB is a whole-verse translation, these renderings indicate the clauses' presentation rather than a fixed English equivalent.