shafach · pour out, shed

What it means

shafach (שָׁפַךְ) is a Hebrew word of the Bible that means “pour out, shed”.

Pour out, pour. "Shed blood" is to kill; "pour out one's soul" or "one's heart" is to open it before God.

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 empty out water or blood; "spill blood" is to kill.
2. To pour out one's heart to God; God pours out his spirit.
3. To pile earth against a wall in order to climb it and take the city.

From Brown-Driver-Briggs (1906)

Word study

To pour out, to spill a liquid; also to heap up earth. BDB: to spill forth (blood, a libation, molten metal) or to heap up (a mound); figuratively, to pour out one's soul, complaint or wrath. “To shed blood” is to kill.

• Shedding blood: killing Genesis 9:6Genesis 37:22
• Pouring out the blood of the sacrifice or of the animal Leviticus 4:7Deuteronomy 12:16
• Pouring out the heart or the soul before God 1 Samuel 1:15Psalms 62:8
• God pours out his fury or his spirit Ezekiel 7:8Joel 2:28
• Heaping up a siege ramp 2 Kings 19:32

Historical and cultural background

The law orders that the blood of the animals that are eaten be poured out on the earth “like water” (Deuteronomy 12:16), and that the blood of game be covered “with dust” (Leviticus 17:13).

How we translate it

“Pour out” 32 times, “shed” 31, “poured out” 25, “heap up” 5… “Shed” when it is blood that kills; “heap up” when what is piled is earth for a ramp against a city (2 Kings 19:32).

How it is translated

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

• pour out ×32
• shed ×31
• poured out ×25
• heap up ×5
• He pours ×3
• you shall pour it out ×3
• pour it ×2
• poured-out ×2
• pours them out ×2
• sheds ×2
• others ×8

Related words

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

Where it appears

• Genesis×3
• Exodus×2
• Leviticus×8
• Numbers×2
• Deuteronomy×6
• Judges×1
• 1 Samuel×3
• 2 Samuel×2
• 1 Kings×4
• 2 Kings×3
• 1 Chronicles×3
• Job×3
• Psalms×12
• Proverbs×2
• Isaiah×4
• Jeremiah×7
• Lamentations×7
• Ezekiel×33
• Daniel×1
• Hosea×1
• Joel×3
• Amos×2
• Zephaniah×2
• Zechariah×1

• Genesis 9:6

  Whoever sheds the blood of the human being, by the human being his blood will be shed; for in the image of Elohim he made the human being.

• Genesis 37:22

  Reuben said to them, “Do not shed blood; throw him into this cistern that is in the wilderness, but do not lay a hand on him,” so that he might deliver him from their hands to bring him back to his father.

• Exodus 4:9

  And it will be that if they do not believe even these two signs or listen to your voice, you shall take some of the water of the Nile and pour it on the dry ground, and the water that you take from the Nile will become blood on the dry ground.”

• Exodus 29:12

  and you shall take some of the blood of the bull and put it on the horns of the altar with your finger, and all the rest of the blood you shall pour out at the base of the altar.

• Leviticus 4:7

  The priest shall put some of the blood on the horns of the altar of fragrant incense before YHWH that is in the tent of meeting, and all the rest of the blood of the bull he shall pour out at the base of the altar of burnt offering that is at the entrance of the tent of meeting.

• Leviticus 4:18

  He shall put some of the blood on the horns of the altar that is before YHWH that is in the tent of meeting, and all the rest of the blood he shall pour out at the base of the altar of burnt offering that is at the entrance of the tent of meeting.

• Leviticus 4:25

  The priest shall take some of the blood of the sin offering with his finger and put it on the horns of the altar of burnt offering, and the rest of its blood he shall pour out at the base of the altar of burnt offering.

• Leviticus 4:30

  The priest shall take some of its blood with his finger and put it on the horns of the altar of burnt offering, and all the rest of its blood he shall pour out at the base of the altar.

• Leviticus 4:34

  The priest shall take some of the blood of the sin offering with his finger and put it on the horns of the altar of burnt offering, and all the rest of its blood he shall pour out at the base of the altar.

• Leviticus 14:41

  And the house he shall have scraped inside all around, and they shall pour out the clay that they scrape off to outside the city, to an unclean place.

• Leviticus 17:4

  and does not bring it to the entrance of the tent of meeting to present an offering to YHWH before the dwelling of YHWH, blood shall be counted to that man: he has shed blood, and that man shall be cut off from among his people.

• Leviticus 17:13

  And any man of the sons of Israel or of the resident aliens who reside among them, who hunts game, an animal or a bird that may be eaten, shall pour out its blood and cover it with dust.

• Numbers 35:33

  And you shall not pollute the land in which you are, for the blood pollutes the land; and for the land no expiation can be made for the blood that is shed in it, except by the blood of the one who shed it.

• Deuteronomy 12:16

  Only the blood you shall not eat; you shall pour it out on the earth like water.

• Deuteronomy 12:24

  You shall not eat it; you shall pour it out on the earth like water.

• Deuteronomy 12:27

  and you shall offer your burnt offerings, the meat and the blood, on the altar of YHWH your Elohim; and the blood of your sacrifices shall be poured out on the altar of YHWH your Elohim, but the meat you may eat.

• Deuteronomy 15:23

  Only its blood you shall not eat; you shall pour it out on the earth like water.

• Deuteronomy 19:10

  so that innocent blood is not shed in the midst of your land that YHWH your Elohim is giving you as an inheritance, and bloodguilt be on you.

• Deuteronomy 21:7

  and they shall answer and say, “Our hands did not shed this blood, and our eyes did not see it.

• Judges 6:20

  The angel of Elohim said to him, “Take the meat and the unleavened bread and set them on this crag, and pour out the broth.” And he did so.

• 1 Samuel 1:15

  And Hannah answered and said, “No, my lord; I am a woman troubled in spirit. Wine and intoxicating drink I have not drunk, but I have poured out my soul before YHWH.

• 1 Samuel 7:6

  So they gathered at Mizpah and drew water and poured it out before YHWH, and they fasted on that day and said there, “We have sinned against YHWH.” And Samuel judged the sons of Israel at Mizpah.

• 1 Samuel 25:31

  this shall not be to you a stumbling block or an offense of heart for my lord: to have shed blood without cause or for my lord to have saved himself. And when YHWH does good to my lord, remember your servant.”

• 2 Samuel 20:10

  But Amasa did not guard himself against the sword that was in the hand of Joab, and he struck him with it in the belly and poured out his entrails on the ground, and he did not repeat the blow on him, and he died. Then Joab and Abishai his brother pursued after Sheba son of Bichri.

• 2 Samuel 20:15

  They came and besieged him in Abel of Beth-maacah, and they cast up a siege ramp against the city, and it stood against the rampart; and all the people who were with Joab were destroying, to bring down the wall.

• 1 Kings 2:31

  And the king said to him, “Do as he has spoken: fall upon him and bury him, and take away the blood that Joab shed without cause from me and from the house of my father.

• 1 Kings 13:3

  And he gave a wonder that day, saying, “This is the wonder that YHWH has spoken: look, the altar will be torn apart, and the ashes that are on it will be poured out.”

• 1 Kings 13:5

  The altar was torn apart, and the ashes were poured out from the altar, according to the wonder that the man of Elohim had given by the word of YHWH.

• 1 Kings 18:28

  They called out with a loud voice, and cut themselves, according to their custom, with swords and spears, until blood poured out on them.

• 2 Kings 19:32

  Therefore thus says YHWH concerning the king of Assyria: He will not come into this city and will not shoot there an arrow, and will not come before it with a shield, and will not heap up against it a siege ramp.

• 2 Kings 21:16

  Moreover, Manasseh shed very much innocent blood, until he had filled Jerusalem from one end to the other, besides his sin by which he made Judah sin, doing what was evil in the eyes of YHWH.

• 2 Kings 24:4

  and also for the innocent blood that he had shed; for he filled Jerusalem with innocent blood, and YHWH was not willing to forgive.

• 1 Chronicles 22:8

  But the word of YHWH came to me, saying, ‘Blood in abundance you have shed, and great wars you have waged. You shall not build a house for my name, for much blood you have shed on the earth before me.

• 1 Chronicles 28:3

  But Elohim said to me, ‘You shall not build a house for my name, for you are a man of wars and have shed blood.’

• Job 12:21

  He pours contempt on nobles, and loosens the belt of the strong.

• Job 16:13

  His archers surround me; he splits open my kidneys and does not have compassion; he pours out my gall on the ground.

• Job 30:16

  And now within me my soul is poured out; days of affliction seize me.

• Psalms 22:14

  Like water I have been poured out, and all my bones have come apart; my heart has become like wax, it has melted within my inward parts.

• Psalms 42:4

  These things I remember, and I pour out within me my soul: how I would pass along with the throng; I would walk with them to the house of Elohim, with the voice of shouts of joy and thanksgiving, a multitude keeping festival.

• Psalms 62:8

  Trust in him at all times, people; pour out before him your heart; Elohim is a refuge for us. Selah.

And 75 more times.