Lexicon
שָׁקַט
sha.qat
H8252
H:V Hebrew

to quiet

42
Occurrences
13
Books
Hebrew
Language

sha.qat describes being settled and undisturbed, whether a land rests from conflict or a person ceases from agitation.

The dominant use depicts land, cities, or people as settled and undisturbed, often after conflict has ceased or in conditions of security. Other occurrences portray an individual, a sword, or God as becoming or remaining quiet, while Hiphil forms occur where quietness is sought, produced, or absent amid strife and unrest.

Senses in use

  1. Settled peace and security · dominant

    Qal forms describe a land or community in an undisturbed condition: in Joshua 11:23 the APB renders that the land had “rest from war,” and in Judges 8:28 it says the land “remained quiet” after Midian was humbled. The same state is applied to a city after Athaliah's death in 2 Kings 11:20 and to a people dwelling securely in Judges 18:7.

  2. Remaining still or ceasing from activity · common

    Qal forms can concern a speaker or agent rather than a land. In Isaiah 18:4 the first-person cohortative occurs in the declaration that the speaker will “keep quiet and remain quiet,” while Jeremiah 47:6 addresses the sword and asks how long until it is quiet. In Ruth 3:18, the imperfect concerns a man who will not rest until he settles the matter.

  3. Quietness produced or withheld · occasional

    Hiphil forms occur in clauses about bringing about quiet or its opposite. In Proverbs 15:18 the APB renders that one slow to anger “quiets strife,” whereas Isaiah 57:20 says the tossing sea cannot be quiet. Isaiah 7:4 uses a Hiphil imperative in the command, “stay calm.”

In the Anselm Project Bible: The APB variously presents the term with “quiet,” “rest,” “at ease,” “stay calm,” and “quiets,” according to the clause's subject and setting. These renderings show the verse-level presentation rather than fixed English equivalents.

Passages featuring this word

Across Scripture