---
title: שָׁכַר — be drunk · The Tanakh dictionary
description: שָׁכַר (7937), a word of Biblical Hebrew, used 18 times: be drunk. BDB 1906: vb. With 2 verses in Hebrew, word for word and JPS 1917.
---

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# שָׁכַר

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«שָׁכַר» in the Tanakh dictionary: **be drunk** — how often it is used, MACULA's glosses, its meanings in the printed dictionaries and why they were chosen, and 2 verses in layers.

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**Used:** 18 times · **Key:** 7937 · **BDB:** שָׁכַר

### Glosses

I (2); I.will.make.drunk (2); become.drunk (2)

### Meaning (OSHB)

be drunk [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/tanakh/1513/7937/#m1)

### Meaning (BDB 1906)

vb. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/tanakh/1513/7937/#m2)

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**The whole BDB entry:** vb. be, or become, drunk, drunken (NH id., der. spec. and deriv.; Ecclus 40:18, 20 שכר strong drink; Arabic سَكِرَ be drunken, also be full, سَكَرَ fill; Assyrian šikaru, = שֵׁכָר, šakkûru, drunken, perhaps also vb. šakâru; Ethiopic ሰክረ: Aramaic שִׁכְרָא, ܫܰܟܪܳܐ = שֵׁכָר, especially date-wine (Löw p. 125), cf. ܫܟܰܪ be drunken, usually (der. spec.) defile, deform, etc.; from שֵׁכָר, Egyptian ṯà-k-ï̥ra WMMAs. u. Eur. 102, Gk. σίκερα LewyFremdw. 81);— Pf. 3 pl. שָֽׁכְרוּ Is 29:9; Impf. 3 ms. וַיִּשְׁכָּ֑ר Gn 9:21, 3 mpl. יִשְׁכָּר֑וּן Is 49:26, etc.; Imv. mpl. שִׁכְרוּ Je 25:27 Ct 5:1; Inf. cstr. לְשָׁכְרָה Hg 1:6; Pt. pass. שְׁכֻרַת Is 51:21 (Ges§ 130 b LagBN 60);—become drunken Gn 9:21 (J), of social drinking 43:34 (J), Ct 5:1, token of plenty Hg 1:6; fig. of nations staggering helplessly under calamity Je 25:27; 51:21 (וְלֹא מִיָּ֑יִן), Na 3:11; of infatuation Is 29:9 (וְלֹא יַיִן), of disgrace La 4:21, self-destruction, כֶּעָסִיס דָּמָם יִשׁ׳ Is 49:26. make drunken: Impf. 3 ms. sf. וַיְשַׁכְּרֵהוּ 2 S 11:13, lit.; fig. 1 s. (sf. of people) וַאֲשַׁכְּרֵם (read וָ׳) Is 63:6 (subj. י׳) I made them drunk in my wrath (but MSS Ges Hi Ew Che Kit Marti al. וָאֲשַׁבְּרֵם I brake them in pieces); Pt. fs., of Bab., מְשַׁכֶּרֶת כָּל־הָאָרֶץ Je 51:7; cf. Inf. abs. שַׁכֵּר Hb 2:15 (i. e. terrorizing nations; read prob. הַשְׁקֵה וְאַף שׁ׳ We Now). id.: Pf. 1 s. וְהִשְׁכַּרְתִּ֫י Je 51:57 (subj. י׳) i.e. make princes helpless, וְהִשְׁכַּרְתִּים v 39; Imv. mpl. sf. הַשְׁכִּירֻהוּ, obj. Moab, i.e. make helpless and disgraced 48:26; Impf. 1 s. אַשְׁכִּיר חִצַּי מִדָּם Dt 32:42.—RubenJQ xi (1899), 446 proposes מַשְׁכִּירוֹת Ho 7:5 for משׁך ידו את. Impf. 2 fs. תִּשְׁתַּכָּרִין 1 S 1:14 how long wilt thou make thyself drunken \[a drunken spectacle\]?

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Why these entries: BDB: headword, part of speech agrees, 18 of its verses cited, 0 words shared with the glosses, lists its Strong's number (9 candidates); OSHB: headword, part of speech agrees, 1 words shared with the BDB entry, 1 with the glosses (8 candidates)

### Trees and pragmatics

[Every English meaning of «שָׁכַר» parsed by Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/tanakh/1513/7937/), each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.

### In the verses

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[Nahum 3:11](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/neviim/NAM.3.11/)

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גַּם־אַ֣תְּ תִּשְׁכְּרִ֔י תְּהִ֖י נַֽעֲלָמָ֑ה גַּם־אַ֛תְּ תְּבַקְשִׁ֥י מָע֖וֹז מֵאוֹיֵֽב׃

*Word for word:* also you you.will.become.drunk it.will.be hidden also you you.will.seek a.refuge from.\[the\] enemy

*JPS 1917:* Thou also shalt be drunken, thou shalt swoon; thou also shalt seek a refuge because of the enemy.

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[Genesis 9:21](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/torah/GEN.9.21/)

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וַיֵּ֥שְׁתְּ מִן־הַיַּ֖יִן וַיִּשְׁכָּ֑ר וַיִּתְגַּ֖ל בְּת֥וֹךְ אָהֳלֹֽה׃

*Word for word:* and he.drank some.of the wine and he.became.drunk and he.uncovered.himself in the.middle his.tent his

*JPS 1917:* And he drank of the wine, and was drunken; and he was uncovered within his tent.

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