shachav · lie down

What it means

shachav (שָׁכַב) is a Hebrew word of the Bible that means “lie down”.

To sleep, or for sexual relations ("lie with"). "Lie down with one's fathers" is to die.

How to say it

Approximate pronunciation. Vowels sound as in Spanish (a as in father, e as in bed, i as in machine, o as in note, u as in rule); the syllable in bold is stressed. The voice is your device's.

Its senses in the Bible

1. To lie down to sleep or rest.
2. To lie with someone, have relations.
3. To die, like lying down to sleep beside one's ancestors.

From Brown-Driver-Briggs (1906)

Word study

Lie down. BDB: to lie down for rest, for sexual union, in death or for any other purpose. It is related to מִשְׁכָּב, “bed” (H4904).

• To lie down to sleep or to rest 1 Samuel 3:2Ruth 3:13
• To lie with someone: sexual relations Genesis 39:72 Samuel 13:14
• “Lay down with his fathers”: to die 1 Kings 2:102 Chronicles 33:20
• The dead who lie Isaiah 14:18Ezekiel 32:21

How we translate it

“Lie” 67 times, “lay down” 52, “lies” 32, “lay” 23, “was lying” 8. Sexual relations are expressed with the same verb, without softening: “lay with her”. “Lay down with his fathers” is left literally.

How it is translated

The words this translation uses for it, most frequent first.

• lie ×67
• lay down ×52
• lies ×32
• lay ×23
• was lying ×8
• lying ×7
• laid ×4
• laid him ×4
• sleep ×3
• had lain down ×2
• others ×10

Related words

Words of the same family, by Strong’s numbering.

Where it appears

• Genesis×21
• Exodus×3
• Leviticus×17
• Numbers×4
• Deuteronomy×17
• Joshua×2
• Judges×2
• Ruth×8
• 1 Samuel×13
• 2 Samuel×18
• 1 Kings×21
• 2 Kings×19
• 2 Chronicles×12
• Job×11
• Psalms×6
• Proverbs×8
• Ecclesiastes×2
• Isaiah×7
• Jeremiah×2
• Lamentations×1
• Ezekiel×13
• Hosea×1
• Amos×1
• Jonah×1
• Micah×1
• Zechariah×1

• Genesis 19:4

  Before they lay down, the men of the city, the men of Sodom, surrounded the house, from young to old, all the people from every quarter.

• Genesis 19:32

  Come, let us make our father drink wine, and let us lie with him, so that we may preserve offspring from our father.”

• Genesis 19:33

  So they made their father drink wine that night; and the older went in and lay with her father, and he did not know when she lay down or when she rose.

• Genesis 19:34

  The next day the older said to the younger, “Look, I lay last night with my father; let us make him drink wine tonight also, and you go in and lie with him, so that we may preserve offspring from our father.”

• Genesis 19:35

  So they made their father drink wine that night also, and the younger got up and lay with him, and he did not know when she lay down or when she rose.

• Genesis 26:10

  Abimelech said, “What is this you have done to us? One of the people might easily have lain with your wife, and you would have brought guilt upon us.”

• Genesis 28:11

  He came upon the place and spent the night there, because the sun had set. He took one of the stones of the place and put it at his head, and lay down in that place.

• Genesis 28:13

  And look, YHWH stood above it and said, “I am YHWH, the Elohim of Abraham your father and the Elohim of Isaac. The land on which you are lying I will give it to you and to your offspring.

• Genesis 30:15

  She said to her, “Is it a small thing that you have taken my husband? Would you take my son’s mandrakes too?” Rachel said, “Then he will lie with you tonight in exchange for the mandrakes of your son.”

• Genesis 30:16

  Jacob came from the field in the evening, and Leah went out to meet him and said, “To me you must come, for I have surely hired you with the mandrakes of my son.” So he lay with her that night.

• Genesis 34:2

  Shechem son of Hamor the Hivite, the chief of the land, saw her, and he took her, lay with her, and humbled her.

• Genesis 34:7

  The sons of Jacob came from the field when they heard it, and the men were grieved and very angry, because he had done an outrage in Israel by lying with the daughter of Jacob, and such a thing is not done.

• Genesis 35:22

  While Israel was dwelling in that land, Reuben went and lay with Bilhah, his father’s concubine; and Israel heard of it. Now the sons of Jacob were twelve.

• Genesis 39:7

  After these things, his lord’s wife cast her eyes on Joseph and said, “Lie with me.”

• Genesis 39:10

  Though she spoke to Joseph day after day, he did not listen to her, to lie beside her, to be with her.

• Genesis 39:12

  She caught him by his garment, saying, “Lie with me.” But he left his garment in her hand and fled and went outside.

• Genesis 39:14

  she called to the men of her household and spoke to them, saying, “See, he has brought us a Hebrew man to mock us. He came to me to lie with me, and I cried out with a loud voice.

• Genesis 47:30

  When I lie down with my fathers, carry me out of Egypt and bury me in their burial place.” He said, “I will do as you have said.”

• Exodus 22:16

  When a man seduces a virgin who is not betrothed and lies with her, he shall surely pay the bride-price for her to make her his wife.

• Exodus 22:19

  Whoever lies with an animal shall surely be put to death.

• Exodus 22:27

  for it is his only covering; it is his cloak for his skin. In what shall he sleep? And when he cries out to me, I will hear, for I am gracious.

• Leviticus 14:47

  And whoever lies down in the house shall wash his garments, and whoever eats in the house shall wash his garments.

• Leviticus 15:4

  Every bed on which the man with the discharge lies shall be unclean, and every object on which he sits shall be unclean.

• Leviticus 15:18

  And a woman with whom a man lies with an emission of semen: they shall bathe in water and be unclean until the evening.

• Leviticus 15:20

  And everything on which she lies during her menstruation shall be unclean, and everything on which she sits shall be unclean.

• Leviticus 15:24

  And if a man does lie with her and her menstruation comes on him, he shall be unclean seven days, and every bed on which he lies shall be unclean.

• Leviticus 15:26

  Every bed on which she lies all the days of her discharge shall be to her like the bed of her menstruation; and every object on which she sits shall be unclean, like the uncleanness of her menstruation.

• Leviticus 15:33

  and for the woman who is ill with her menstruation, and for the one who has his discharge, whether male or female, and for a man who lies with an unclean woman.

• Leviticus 18:22

  And you shall not lie with a male as one lies with a woman; it is an abomination.

• Leviticus 19:20

  And if a man lies with a woman with an emission of semen, and she is a slave woman promised to a man, but she has not been redeemed at all nor been given her freedom, there shall be punishment; they shall not be put to death, for she was not free.

• Leviticus 20:11

  And a man who lies with his father’s wife has uncovered his father’s nakedness; both of them shall surely be put to death; their blood is on them.

• Leviticus 20:12

  And a man who lies with his daughter-in-law, both of them shall surely be put to death; they have done perversion; their blood is on them.

• Leviticus 20:13

  And a man who lies with a male as one lies with a woman, both of them have done an abomination; they shall surely be put to death; their blood is on them.

• Leviticus 20:18

  And a man who lies with a woman in her sickness and uncovers her nakedness has laid bare her fountain, and she has uncovered the fountain of her blood; both of them shall be cut off from among their people.

• Leviticus 20:20

  And a man who lies with his aunt has uncovered his uncle’s nakedness; they shall bear their sin; they shall die childless.

• Leviticus 26:6

  And I will give peace in the land, and you will lie down and no one will make you afraid; and I will remove harmful animals from the land, and the sword will not pass through your land.

• Numbers 5:13

  and a man lies with her with emission of semen, and it is hidden from the eyes of her husband, and she has made herself unclean in secret, and there is no witness against her, and she has not been caught,

• Numbers 5:19

  And the priest shall make her swear and say to the woman, ‘If no man has lain with you, and if you have not gone astray into uncleanness while under the authority of your husband, be free from this water of bitterness that brings a curse.

• Numbers 23:24

  Look, a people rises like a lioness, and like a lion it lifts itself up; it does not lie down until it devours the prey and drinks the blood of the slain.”

• Numbers 24:9

  He crouched, he lay down like a lion, and like a lioness; who will rouse him? Blessed is everyone who blesses you, and cursed is everyone who curses you.”

And 172 more times.