שֶׁ֫בֶת
she.vet
seat
Lexicon Entry
Lexicon data from STEPBible TIPNR, Tyndale House, Cambridge. Licensed under CC BY 4.0.
What Original Readers Understood
Supported# Shevet: A Hebrew Word for Seat The Hebrew word *shevet* (שֶ֫בֶת) denotes a "seat"—a physical object used for sitting. With only six occurrences in the Bible, this is a relatively uncommon term, suggesting it may have had a specialized or contextual usage rather than serving as the general word for seating furniture. The rarity of this word across biblical texts indicates it likely carried particular significance when employed. Rather than being a common household item discussed frequently, *shevet* appears to have been reserved for specific contexts or rhetorical purposes. Without access to the specific passages where it occurs, we can note that the term represents a concrete, tangible object—a seat—rather than an abstract concept. For biblical interpretation, the scarcity of *shevet* contrasts with what would presumably be more frequent terms for sitting or seating in Hebrew. This suggests that when translators or scribes chose this particular word, it may have had connotations or applications that distinguished it from synonyms, though the provided lexicon data alone cannot specify what those distinctions were.
Source data & methodology
Occurrences in Scripture
6 total occurrences across the text
You see their sitting down and their rising up. I am their song.
Amos 6:3Those who put far away the evil day, and cause the seat of violence to come near;
Obadiah 1:3The pride of your heart has deceived you, you who dwell in the clefts of the rock, whose habitation is high, who says in his heart, ‘Who will bring me down to the ground?’
2 Samuel 23:7But the man who touches them must be armed with iron and the staff of a spear. They will be utterly burned with fire in their place.”
1 Kings 10:19There were six steps to the throne, and the top of the throne was round behind; and there were armrests on either side by the place of the seat, and two lions standing beside the armrests.
2 Chronicles 9:18There were six steps to the throne, with a footstool of gold, which were fastened to the throne, and armrests on either side by the place of the seat, and two lions standing beside the armrests.