shal.lit denotes one who holds governing authority, and in one context authority or power itself.

The term most often occurs of persons occupying authority: Joseph over the land, rulers in a city, and the figure from whom an error proceeds. In Ecclesiastes 8:8, its singular form occurs in a statement that no such power is available in the day of death.

1. A person in governing authority · dominant

   The masculine singular form is used of Joseph's authority over the land in Genesis 42:6; the APB renders the clause "Joseph was the one in authority over the land." In Ecclesiastes 10:5, the same singular form stands in the clause about an error coming "from before the domineering one," while the masculine plural in Ecclesiastes 7:19 occurs in the comparison with "ten rulers who are in a city."

   Genesis 42:6Ecclesiastes 10:5Ecclesiastes 7:19
2. Authority or power in a limiting statement · occasional

   In Ecclesiastes 8:8, the masculine singular absolute form occurs in the sequence concerning restraint, death, battle, and wickedness; the APB renders part of the statement, "there is no power in the day of death." The verse is read as a whole, so its precise English correspondence cannot be isolated beyond the verse's statement about unavailable power.

   Ecclesiastes 8:8

In the Anselm Project Bible: Across the verses, the APB presents the term with authority-language: "in authority," "domineering one," and "rulers," while Ecclesiastes 8:8 uses "power." These renderings show the clauses' presentation rather than fixed equivalents.