שָׁחַד
sha.chad
to bribe
Lexicon Entry
Lexicon data from STEPBible TIPNR, Tyndale House, Cambridge. Licensed under CC BY 4.0.
What Original Readers Understood
ExploredThe Hebrew word שָׁחַד (sha.chad) is a verb that means "to bribe." In semantic context, it falls within the category of Commerce & Wealth, implying a transaction or exchange, often with an element of corruption or illicit gain. This word is found only twice in the Bible, indicating its relatively limited scope and usage. As a result, any analysis of its meaning or significance must be grounded in these specific instances, rather than a broader trend or pattern. Nonetheless, even within these two occurrences, we can infer that sha.chad was understood to involve some kind of financial influence or corruption. Given its limited occurrences in the Bible, a nuanced understanding of sha.chad is challenging to establish. However, its semantic connection to Commerce & Wealth suggests that we should associate this word with the idea of illicit or improper transactions.
Source data & methodology
Occurrences in Scripture
2 total occurrences across the text