שֶׁ֫רֶץ
she.rets
swarm
Lexicon Entry
Lexicon data from STEPBible TIPNR, Tyndale House, Cambridge. Licensed under CC BY 4.0.
What Original Readers Understood
ExploredThe Hebrew word שֶׁ֫רֶץ (she.rets) is defined as a "swarm." This term can refer to a large group of insects, such as locusts or bees, that move together in a coordinated manner. The word's meaning is concrete and literal, describing a specific type of collective behavior. The word שֶׁ֫רֶץ appears 15 times in the Bible, indicating its significance in various contexts. It is often used to describe the destructive power of locusts, which can devastate crops and threaten food supplies. This usage highlights the importance of agriculture and the impact of natural disasters on communities. The term שֶׁ֫רֶץ also underscores the idea of overwhelming numbers and the potential for chaos that can result from a large, coordinated group. This concept is not limited to insects, but can be applied to other situations where a large group can have a significant impact, such as a crowd or a military force.
Source data & methodology
Occurrences in Scripture
15 total occurrences across the text
All winged creeping things are unclean to you. They shall not be eaten.
Genesis 1:20God said, “Let the waters abound with living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth in the open expanse of the sky.”
Genesis 7:21All flesh died that moved on the earth, including birds, livestock, animals, every creeping thing that creeps on the earth, and every man.
Leviticus 5:2“ ‘Or if anyone touches any unclean thing, whether it is the carcass of an unclean animal, or the carcass of unclean livestock, or the carcass of unclean creeping things, and it is hidden from him, and he is unclean, then he shall be guilty.
Leviticus 11:10All that don’t have fins and scales in the seas and rivers, all that move in the waters, and all the living creatures that are in the waters, they are an abomination to you,
Leviticus 11:20“ ‘All flying insects that walk on all fours are an abomination to you.
Leviticus 11:21Yet you may eat these: of all winged creeping things that go on all fours, which have long, jointed legs for hopping on the earth.
Leviticus 11:23But all winged creeping things which have four feet are an abomination to you.
Leviticus 11:29“ ‘These are they which are unclean to you among the creeping things that creep on the earth: the weasel, the rat, any kind of great lizard,
Leviticus 11:31These are they which are unclean to you among all that creep. Whoever touches them when they are dead shall be unclean until the evening.
Leviticus 11:41“ ‘Every creeping thing that creeps on the earth is an abomination. It shall not be eaten.
Leviticus 11:42Whatever goes on its belly, and whatever goes on all fours, or whatever has many feet, even all creeping things that creep on the earth, them you shall not eat; for they are an abomination.
Leviticus 11:43You shall not make yourselves abominable with any creeping thing that creeps. You shall not make yourselves unclean with them, that you should be defiled by them.
Leviticus 11:44For I am Yahweh your God. Sanctify yourselves therefore, and be holy; for I am holy. You shall not defile yourselves with any kind of creeping thing that moves on the earth.
Leviticus 22:5or whoever touches any creeping thing whereby he may be made unclean, or a man from whom he may become unclean, whatever uncleanness he has—