shalom · peace, well-being

What it means

shalom (שָׁלוֹם) is a Hebrew word of the Bible that means “peace, well-being”.

"Shalom": peace in a wide sense; not only the absence of war, but being whole and well: health, safety, good relations. It is also the Hebrew greeting.

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. Health, safety, nothing lacking.
2. Living without war or quarrels, in harmony.
3. What one says on meeting: "shalom to you".

From Brown-Driver-Briggs (1906)

Word study

Shalom: peace in a wide sense; not only the absence of war, but being whole and well. BDB defines it as safe, well, happy, friendly; abstractly, welfare, health, prosperity, peace. From the same root come שָׁלַם, “be complete, repay” (H7999), and שֶׁלֶם, “peace offering” (H8002).

• Peace between peoples and persons Jeremiah 29:7Psalms 122:6
• Well-being: “Is it well with him?”, how they are Genesis 29:6Genesis 37:14
• A greeting: “Peace to you” 1 Samuel 25:6
• Dying in peace Genesis 15:15
• The blessing: “give you peace”; “Prince of Peace” Numbers 6:26Isaiah 9:6
• The name “YHWH Shalom” Judges 6:24

How we translate it

“Peace” 203 times, “welfare” 15, “well” 10, “all well” 5. This edition writes “peace”, and “welfare” or “well” when it is a greeting or someone's condition. הֲשָׁלוֹם לוֹ is translated “Is it well with him?”. In the name of Gideon's altar the Hebrew form is kept, “YHWH Shalom”, with a note on its meaning.

How it is translated

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

• peace ×203
• welfare ×15
• well ×10
• all well ×5
• Shalom ×1
• completely ×1
• greet ×1
• peaceful ×1

Related words

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

Where it appears

• Genesis×15
• Exodus×3
• Leviticus×1
• Numbers×2
• Deuteronomy×5
• Joshua×2
• Judges×10
• 1 Samuel×18
• 2 Samuel×16
• 1 Kings×11
• 2 Kings×20
• 1 Chronicles×6
• 2 Chronicles×6
• Ezra×1
• Esther×3
• Job×4
• Psalms×27
• Proverbs×3
• Ecclesiastes×1
• Song of Songs×1
• Isaiah×29
• Jeremiah×31
• Lamentations×1
• Ezekiel×7
• Daniel×1
• Obadiah×1
• Micah×2
• Nahum×1
• Haggai×1
• Zechariah×6
• Malachi×2

• Genesis 15:15

  As for you, you will go to your fathers in peace; you will be buried at a good old age.

• Genesis 26:29

  that you will not do us harm, just as we have not touched you and just as we have done to you only good and have sent you away in peace. You are now the blessed of YHWH.’”

• Genesis 26:31

  They rose early in the morning and swore one to another; and Isaac sent them away, and they went from him in peace.

• Genesis 28:21

  and I return in peace to the house of my father, then YHWH will be my Elohim,

• Genesis 29:6

  He said to them, “Is it well with him?” They said, “It is well; and look, Rachel his daughter is coming with the sheep.”

• Genesis 37:4

  His brothers saw that their father loved him more than all his brothers, and they hated him and could not speak to him in peace.

• Genesis 37:14

  He said to him, “Go, please, see the welfare of your brothers and the welfare of the flock, and bring back word to me.” So he sent him from the valley of Hebron, and he came to Shechem.

• Genesis 41:16

  Joseph answered Pharaoh, saying, “It is not in me; Elohim will answer with peace for Pharaoh.”

• Genesis 43:23

  He said, “Peace to you; do not be afraid. Your Elohim and the Elohim of your father has given you treasure in your bags; your silver came to me.” Then he brought out Simeon to them.

• Genesis 43:27

  He asked them about their well-being and said, “Is your father well, the old man of whom you spoke? Is he still alive?”

• Genesis 43:28

  They said, “Your servant our father is well; he is still alive.” And they bowed their heads and bowed down.

• Genesis 44:17

  But he said, “Far be it from me to do this! The man in whose hand the cup was found, he will be my slave; and you, go up in peace to your father.”

• Exodus 4:18

  Moses went and returned to Jether his father-in-law and said to him, “Please let me go and return to my brothers who are in Egypt and see whether they are still alive.” And Jethro said to Moses, “Go in peace.”

• Exodus 18:7

  Moses went out to meet his father-in-law, bowed down, and kissed him; they asked each other about their welfare, and they went into the tent.

• Exodus 18:23

  If you do this thing and Elohim so commands you, you will be able to endure, and also all this people will go to their place in peace.”

• 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 6:26

  may YHWH lift up his face toward you and give you peace.’

• Numbers 25:12

  Therefore say: Look, I am giving him my covenant of peace.

• Deuteronomy 2:26

  So I sent messengers from the wilderness of Kedemoth to Sihon king of Heshbon with words of peace, saying,

• Deuteronomy 20:10

  When you draw near to a city to fight against it, you shall call to it for peace.

• Deuteronomy 20:11

  And if it answers you with peace and opens its gates to you, then all the people who are found in it shall be yours for forced labor and shall serve you.

• Deuteronomy 23:6

  You shall not seek their peace or their good all your days, forever.

• Deuteronomy 29:19

  And it happen, when he hears the words of this oath of imprecation, that he blesses himself in his heart, saying, “I will have peace, though I walk in the stubbornness of my heart,” so as to sweep away the watered with the thirsty.

• Joshua 9:15

  Joshua made peace with them and made a covenant with them, to let them live; and the chiefs of the community swore to them.

• Joshua 10:21

  that all the people returned to the camp, to Joshua at Makkedah, in peace. No one moved his tongue against the sons of Israel.

• Judges 4:17

  Sisera fled on foot to the tent of Jael, the wife of Heber the Kenite, for there was peace between Jabin king of Hazor and the house of Heber the Kenite.

• Judges 6:23

  YHWH said to him, “Peace to you; do not be afraid; you will not die.”

• Judges 6:24

  Gideon built there an altar to YHWH and called it YHWH Shalom. To this day it is still in Ophrah of the Abiezrites.

• Judges 8:9

  So he said also to the men of Penuel, saying, “When I return in peace, I will tear down this tower.”

• Judges 11:13

  The king of the sons of Ammon said to the messengers of Jephthah, “Because Israel took my land when it came up from Egypt, from the Arnon to the Jabbok and to the Jordan; now therefore return them in peace.”

• Judges 11:31

  then it shall be that the one that comes out, that comes out of the doors of my house to meet me when I return in peace from the sons of Ammon, shall be YHWH’s, and I will offer that one up as a burnt offering.”

• Judges 18:6

  And the priest said to them, “Go in peace. Your way on which you are going is before YHWH.”

• Judges 18:15

  So they turned aside there and came to the house of the young man, the Levite, at the house of Micah, and asked him about his welfare.

• Judges 19:20

  And the old man said, “Peace to you. Only let all your needs be on me; only do not spend the night in the square.”

• Judges 21:13

  And the whole community sent and spoke to the sons of Benjamin who were at the crag of Rimmon, and proclaimed to them peace.

• 1 Samuel 1:17

  Then Eli answered and said, “Go in peace, and may the Elohim of Israel grant your petition that you have asked of him.”

• 1 Samuel 7:14

  And the cities that the Philistines had taken from Israel returned to Israel, from Ekron to Gath; and Israel delivered their territory from the hand of the Philistines. And there was peace between Israel and the Amorite.

• 1 Samuel 10:4

  And they will ask you about your welfare and give you two loaves of bread, and you shall take them from their hand.

• 1 Samuel 16:4

  Samuel did what YHWH had spoken and came to Bethlehem. The elders of the city trembled to meet him, and one said, “Is your coming in peace?”

• 1 Samuel 16:5

  He said, “In peace. I have come to sacrifice to YHWH. Sanctify yourselves and come with me to the sacrifice.” And he sanctified Jesse and his sons, and invited them to the sacrifice.

And 197 more times.