שֶׁמֶשׁshemesh

sun

Pronunciation: sheh'-mesh · Hebrew/Aramaic (Old Testament) · H8121

Meanings

1. setting, sun (Genesis 37:9; Exodus 22:2; Malachi 3:20)

2. of direction (Numbers 21:11; Deuteronomy 4:41; Deuteronomy 4:47)

3. object of worship (usually + moon, stars, etc.) (2 Kings 23:5; Jeremiah 8:2; Ezekiel 8:16)

4. other phrases

a. openly, publicly (2 Samuel 12:12; Numbers 25:4; 2 Samuel 12:11)

5. pinnacle, as glittering, shining (Isaiah 54:12; Psalms 84:12)

Same root

Where it appears

Appears 134 times in the Bible.

  • Genesis 15:12 As the sun was going down, Abram fell into a deep sleep, and a terrifying darkness came down over him.
  • Genesis 15:17 After the sun went down and darkness fell, Abram saw a smoking firepot and a flaming torch pass between the halves of the carcasses.
  • Genesis 19:23 Lot reached the village just as the sun was rising over the horizon.
  • Genesis 28:11 At sundown he arrived at a good place to set up camp and stopped there for the night. Jacob found a stone to rest his head against and lay down to sleep.
  • Genesis 32:31 The sun was rising as Jacob left Peniel, and he was limping because of the injury to his hip.
  • Genesis 37:9 Soon Joseph had another dream, and again he told his brothers about it. “Listen, I have had another dream,” he said. “The sun, moon, and eleven stars bowed low before me!”
See every passage

Source: Brown, Driver and Briggs, Hebrew and English Lexicon of the Old Testament (1906), public domain; markup by unfoldingWord, CC BY (github.com/unfoldingWord/Brown-Driver-Briggs-Enhanced).