sha.qal denotes weighing out valuables and other quantities, including balances used for physical or figurative assessment.

The verb most often occurs where silver, gold, or other valuables are weighed out for payment, transfer, or custody; it also describes placing physical quantities or even calamity and integrity in balances for measurement or assessment.

1. Weighing out valuables for payment or custody · dominant

   Qal forms occur in transactions and formal handling of valuables: in Genesis 23:16 the APB renders Abraham's action as “weighed out for Ephron the silver,” while Ezra 8:25 describes silver, gold, and articles being weighed out for those receiving them. Ezra 8:29 calls for the guarded items to be weighed before officials, and Jeremiah 32:9 places the weighing of silver within the purchase of a field.

   Genesis 23:16Ezra 8:25Ezra 8:29Jeremiah 32:9Esther 4:7Zechariah 11:12
2. Measuring or assessing in balances · occasional

   The verb is also used beyond the transfer of money. In 2 Samuel 14:26 the APB renders the weighing of hair, Isaiah 40:12 places mountains and hills in scales and a balance, and Job 6:2 sets vexation and calamity together in balances; Job 31:6 similarly asks that integrity be weighed in righteous balances.

   2 Samuel 14:26Isaiah 40:12Job 6:2Job 31:6Isaiah 33:18

In the Anselm Project Bible: The APB commonly uses “weighed out” or “weighed” where the clause concerns silver, valuables, hair, or balances; it also uses “pay” in some monetary contexts. These English expressions show the clause's presentation rather than a fixed one-to-one rendering.