שִׁלֵּשׁ
shil.lesh
third
Lexicon Entry
Lexicon data from STEPBible TIPNR, Tyndale House, Cambridge. Licensed under CC BY 4.0.
What Original Readers Understood
Supported# Shillésh (H8029): "Third" The Hebrew word *shillésh* functions as an ordinal numeral meaning "third" in biblical Hebrew. With only five occurrences across the biblical text, this term represents a relatively rare word choice for expressing sequential position or enumeration, particularly when the text needs to identify something or someone as coming third in a series. The scarcity of this word—appearing just five times in the entire Bible—suggests that biblical writers had alternative, more common ways of expressing the concept of "third" that they preferred. This limited frequency makes each occurrence potentially significant for understanding what the original authors chose to emphasize or clarify through this specific form. The word's straightforward meaning as an ordinal numeral indicates its primary use was for simple enumeration and sequential ordering rather than for metaphorical or figurative purposes.
Source data & methodology
Occurrences in Scripture
5 total occurrences across the text
Joseph saw Ephraim’s children to the third generation. The children also of Machir, the son of Manasseh, were born on Joseph’s knees.
Exodus 20:5you shall not bow yourself down to them, nor serve them, for I, Yahweh your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children, on the third and on the fourth generation of those who hate me,
Exodus 34:7keeping loving kindness for thousands, forgiving iniquity and disobedience and sin; and who will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children, and on the children’s children, on the third and on the fourth generation.”
Numbers 14:18‘Yahweh is slow to anger, and abundant in loving kindness, forgiving iniquity and disobedience; and he will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children, on the third and on the fourth generation.’
Deuteronomy 5:9You shall not bow yourself down to them, nor serve them; for I, Yahweh your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children and on the third and on the fourth generation of those who hate me;