שבלת

שבלת¹ ear of grain

Pronunciation

• Tiberian: šibbōleṯ, plural šibbŏlîm^[1][2]
• Samaritan reading tradition: plural šabbēləm^[3][2]

Forms

שִׁבֹּלֶת (šibbōleṯ) noun, feminine^[1][4] Plural שִׁבֳּלִים, construct שִׁבֳּלֵי (Zechariah 4:12); feminine.^[2][5]

Etymology

HALOT calls the noun Common Semitic, either a primary noun or formed on a root שׁבל (šbl).^[2] It is Akkadian šubultu (“ear of barley”),^[6][7] Ugaritic šblt (“ear of corn”),^[8] Jewish Aramaic שׁוּבַּלְתָּא (šubbaltā, “ear of grain”),^[9] Classical Syriac ܫܒܠܬܐ (šebbeltā), Old South Arabian sblt and Arabic سُنْبُلَة (sunbula, “ear of corn”).^[2][8][10] Klein explains the Hebrew vowel /i/ as a dissimilation from an older /u/ before the /ō/ of the next syllable.^[10]

Earliest recorded meaning

Most uses are in Pharaoh's second dream: šeḇaʿ šibbŏlîm ʿōlôṯ bə-qāneh ʾeḥāḏ, “seven ears of grain growing on one stalk” (Genesis 41:5), with ten occurrences in the chapter.^[1][2]

Semantic evolution

Besides the dream, Ruth gleans ears behind the reapers (Ruth 2:2), the reaper gathers ears in his arm (Isaiah 17:5), and the wicked are cut off like the heads of grain (Job 24:24).^[2][5] In Zechariah 4:12 šibbŏlê haz-zêṯîm are the two branches or spikes of the olive trees.^[2][11] The Septuagint has Ancient Greek στάχυς (stákhus), and κλάδος (kládos) for the olive branches.^[1]

In Judges 12:6 the men of Gilead hold the fords of the Jordan and make each fleeing Ephraimite say šibbōleṯ; he says sibbōleṯ, “for he could not pronounce it right”, and is killed.^[1][12] HALOT thinks the meaning of the test word does not matter and leaves open whether it was “ear” or “stream”: one manuscript tradition of the Septuagint translates it Ancient Greek σύνθημα (súnthēma, “password”), another by its usual word for an ear of grain, and the Vulgate explains sebboleth as spica, “ear”.^[12] Speiser and Swiggers see in the Ephraimite sibbōleṯ an attempt at a Proto-Semitic ṯ.^[12] Sáenz-Badillos counts the passage among the very few clear traces of dialects in pre-exilic Hebrew.^[13] From Bible translations English took shibboleth in the late 14th century, and by the 1630s it meant the watchword of a party or sect.^[14] Modern Hebrew שִׁבֹּלֶת (shibólet) is still the ear of grain.^[4]

Timeline

• Classical Biblical Hebrew – Pharaoh's dream (Genesis 41) and the test at the Jordan (Judges 12:6).^[1][2][12]
• Prophets – the ears in the reaper's arm (Isaiah 17:5) and the olive branches (Zechariah 4:12).^[2]
• 3rd–2nd century BC – the Septuagint renders it Ancient Greek στάχυς (stákhus) and, in Judges 12:6, also Ancient Greek σύνθημα (súnthēma).^[15][1][12]
• 2nd century BC – 2nd century AD – 18 occurrences in the Dead Sea Scrolls, three in the War Scroll.^[16][17]
• Late 14th century – English shibboleth in Bible translations.^[14]

Meanings

Noun

1. an ear of grain, a head of wheat or barley.^[2][5]
2. a branch or spike of an olive tree (Zechariah 4:12).^[2][5]

Descendants

• Modern Hebrew שִׁבֹּלֶת (shibólet)^[4]
• English shibboleth^[14]

שבלת² flood, current

Pronunciation

• Tiberian: šibbōleṯ^[1][18]

Forms

שִׁבֹּלֶת (šibbōleṯ) noun, feminine^[1][4] Construct שִׁבֹּלֶת in šibbōleṯ mayim (Psalm 69:16) and šibbōleṯ han-nāhār (Isaiah 27:12).^[18][19]

Etymology

The origin of the noun “flood” is uncertain.^[18] HALOT notes that it is sometimes taken as a primary noun, unconnected with a root שׁבל (šbl), and compares Arabic سَبَل (sabal, “flowing rain”);^[18] Klein instead derives it, like שִׁבֹּלֶת (šibbōleṯ, “ear of grain”), from a base שׁבל (šbl) “to move along”.^[10] HALOT also mentions an Egyptian list of wadi names that may contain the word.^[18]

Earliest recorded meaning

In Psalm 69:3 the psalmist sinks in deep mire, bāʾṯî ḇə-maʿămaqqê-mayim wə-šibbōleṯ šəṭāp̄āṯnî, “I have come into deep waters, and the flood sweeps over me”.^[1][18]

Semantic evolution

Only three passages are counted here: Psalm 69:3 and 16, šibbōleṯ mayim, “the flood of water”, and Isaiah 27:12, where the LORD threshes miš-šibbōleṯ han-nāhār, “from the channel of the River” to the Wadi of Egypt.^[18][1] The Isaiah verse is disputed: all the ancient versions take a river there, but several modern commentators read “ears of grain”, in keeping with the threshing.^[12] The Septuagint renders the psalm by Ancient Greek καταιγίς (kataigís, “storm”) and Isaiah by διῶρυξ (diōrux, “channel”).^[1] Ben Sira warns ʾal taʿămōḏ lip̄nê šibbōleṯ, “do not stand against the current” (Sirach 4:26).^[18][11] BDB, Gesenius–Buhl and others read the shibboleth of Judges 12:6 in this sense.^[19][12][11]

Timeline

• Psalms – the flood of Psalm 69:3, 16.^[1][18]
• Prophets – the channel of the River, Isaiah 27:12 (disputed).^[18][12]
• 3rd–2nd century BC – the Septuagint renders it Ancient Greek καταιγίς (kataigís).^[15][1]

Meanings

Noun

1. a flood, torrent of water.^[18][19]
2. the current or channel of a river.^[18][10]