Lexicon
שָׁכֹל
sha.khol
H7921A
H:V Hebrew

be bereaved

21
Occurrences
11
Books
Hebrew
Language

sha.khol describes deprivation through the loss of children or people, including loss of offspring in fertility settings.

The verb most often marks being deprived of children, family members, or other people through sword, wild animals, or removal; it also occurs in fertility and agricultural contexts for loss of offspring or failure to bear. In Ezekiel’s address to the land, it describes a land said to deprive its nations of inhabitants.

Senses in use

  1. Depriving someone of people or children · dominant

    Piel forms occur where loss is inflicted upon persons: in Genesis 42:36 Jacob says that Joseph and Simeon are gone and Benjamin may be taken, while in Deuteronomy 32:25 the APB renders the sword’s action as “bereave them.” In Leviticus 26:22 and Ezekiel 5:17, wild animals are sent against the people and the APB renders their effect as “bereave you.”

  2. Loss of offspring or failure to bear · common

    In reproductive clauses, the verb concerns offspring-bearing: Exodus 23:26 pairs the feminine participle with the APB’s “miscarry or be barren,” and Job 21:10 contrasts a heifer that calves and “does not miscarry.” Genesis 31:38 applies a Piel perfect plural form to ewes and goats, and Malachi 3:11 places the imperfect within a promise that the vine will not fail to bear.

  3. A land depriving its inhabitants · occasional

    Ezekiel 36:12 uses the infinitive construct in the declaration that the land will no longer deprive Israel, while Ezekiel 36:13 addresses the land as one said to “bereave your nations.” The following verse repeats the assurance that its nations will no longer be bereaved.

In the Anselm Project Bible: The APB commonly uses “bereave” or “bereaved” in clauses of loss through violence, removal, or a land’s effect on its nations. In fertility contexts it instead presents outcomes such as “miscarry” and failure to bear; These renderings indicate the clauses’ overall presentation rather than fixed English equivalents.

Passages featuring this word

Across Scripture