shalach · throw

What it means

shalach (שָׁלַךְ) is a Hebrew word of the Bible that means “throw”.

Cast, cast away.

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 throw something with force, far off or down.
2. To cast someone away from oneself, removing him.

From Brown-Driver-Briggs (1906)

Word study

To throw, to cast, to hurl; to let fall or to cast away. BDB: to throw out, down or away, literally or figuratively.

• “Throw him into this cistern” Genesis 37:22
• Hagar throws the child under a bush Genesis 21:15
• Aaron throws down the staff; Moses throws the tablets Exodus 7:10Exodus 32:19
• Elijah throws his cloak on Elisha 1 Kings 19:19
• “Do not cast me away from your presence” Psalms 51:11
• “Cast upon YHWH your burden” Psalms 55:22

How we translate it

“Threw” 45 times, “cast” 33, “throw” 25, “thrown” 17… “Throw” for the physical gesture in the narratives, “cast” where the image is rejection or entrusting (Psalms 51:11; 55:22).

How it is translated

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

• threw ×45
• cast ×33
• throw ×25
• thrown ×17
• He throws ×1
• casting ×1
• it hurls ×1
• risked ×1
• throws him down ×1

Related words

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

Where it appears

• Genesis×4
• Exodus×10
• Leviticus×2
• Numbers×3
• Deuteronomy×3
• Joshua×5
• Judges×4
• 2 Samuel×5
• 1 Kings×5
• 2 Kings×15
• 2 Chronicles×5
• Nehemiah×3
• Job×4
• Psalms×10
• Ecclesiastes×2
• Isaiah×5
• Jeremiah×15
• Lamentations×1
• Ezekiel×10
• Daniel×3
• Joel×1
• Amos×2
• Jonah×1
• Micah×2
• Nahum×1
• Zechariah×4

• Genesis 21:15

  When the water in the skin was used up, she threw the child under one of the bushes.

• Genesis 37:20

  Come now, let us kill him and throw him into one of the cisterns, and we will say, ‘A fierce animal devoured him.’ Then we will see what will become of his dreams.”

• 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.

• Genesis 37:24

  and they took him and threw him into the cistern. The cistern was empty; there was no water in it.

• Exodus 1:22

  Then Pharaoh commanded all his people, saying, “Every son who is born you shall throw into the Nile, but every daughter you shall let live.”

• Exodus 4:3

  He said, “Throw it on the ground.” So he threw it on the ground, and it became a serpent, and Moses fled from it.

• Exodus 7:9

  “When Pharaoh speaks to you, saying, ‘Show a wonder for yourselves,’ then you shall say to Aaron, ‘Take your staff and throw it before Pharaoh; let it become a serpent.’”

• Exodus 7:10

  So Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh and did so, as YHWH had commanded; Aaron threw his staff before Pharaoh and before his servants, and it became a serpent.

• Exodus 7:12

  Each man threw down his staff, and they became serpents; but the staff of Aaron swallowed their staffs.

• Exodus 15:25

  He cried out to YHWH, and YHWH showed him a tree; he threw it into the water, and the water became sweet. There he made for them a statute and an ordinance, and there he tested them.

• Exodus 22:31

  You shall be holy men to me; flesh torn by beasts in the field you shall not eat; to the dogs you shall throw it.

• Exodus 32:19

  And it happened, as soon as he came near to the camp and saw the calf and the dancing, that Moses’ anger burned, and he threw the tablets from his hands and broke them at the foot of the mountain.

• Exodus 32:24

  So I said to them, ‘Whoever has gold, tear it off!’ And they gave it to me, and I threw it into the fire, and out came this calf.”

• Leviticus 1:16

  He shall remove its crop with its feathers and throw it beside the altar on the east side, into the place of the ashes.

• Leviticus 14:40

  the priest shall command that they pull out the stones in which the mark is and throw them to outside the city, to an unclean place.

• Numbers 19:6

  And the priest shall take cedar wood and hyssop and scarlet yarn and throw them into the midst of the burning of the cow.

• Numbers 35:20

  And if in hatred he pushed him or threw something at him lying in wait, and he died,

• Numbers 35:22

  But if suddenly, without enmity, he pushed him, or threw at him any object without lying in wait,

• Deuteronomy 9:17

  So I seized the two tablets and threw them from my two hands and broke them before your eyes.

• Deuteronomy 9:21

  And your sin that you had made, the calf, I took and burned it with fire and crushed it, grinding it thoroughly, until it was fine as dust; and I threw its dust into the stream that came down from the mountain.

• Deuteronomy 29:28

  And YHWH uprooted them from their ground in anger and in wrath and in great fury, and cast them into another land, as it is this day.”

• Joshua 8:29

  And the king of Ai he hanged on a tree until the time of evening; and at the going down of the sun Joshua gave command, and they took down his corpse from the tree and threw it at the entrance of the gate of the city, and raised over it a great heap of stones, which is there to this day.

• Joshua 10:11

  And it came about, as they fled before Israel, while they were on the descent of Beth-horon, that YHWH threw down on them great stones from the heavens as far as Azekah, and they died. More were those who died by the hailstones than those whom the sons of Israel killed with the sword.

• Joshua 10:27

  And it came about, at the time of the going down of the sun, that Joshua gave command, and they took them down from the trees and threw them into the cave where they had hidden, and they put great stones on the mouth of the cave, which are there until this very day.

• Joshua 18:8

  So the men rose and went, and Joshua commanded those who were going to write the land, saying, “Go, and walk about through the land, and write it, and return to me; and here I will cast for you a lot before YHWH in Shiloh.”

• Joshua 18:10

  And Joshua cast for them a lot in Shiloh before YHWH; and there Joshua divided the land to the sons of Israel according to their divisions.

• Judges 8:25

  They said, “We will certainly give them.” They spread out the cloak, and each man threw there an earring from his spoil.

• Judges 9:17

  for my father fought for you and risked his life and delivered you from the hand of Midian,

• Judges 9:53

  But a certain woman threw an upper millstone on the head of Abimelech and crushed his skull.

• Judges 15:17

  And it happened, when he had finished speaking, that he threw the jawbone from his hand, and he called that place Ramath-lehi.

• 2 Samuel 11:21

  Who struck Abimelech son of Jerubbesheth? Did not a woman throw an upper millstone on him from the wall, so that he died at Thebez? Why did you go near to the wall?’ then you shall say, ‘Your servant Uriah the Hittite is dead also.’”

• 2 Samuel 18:17

  They took Absalom and threw him into the forest, into the great pit, and they raised over him a very great heap of stones; and all Israel fled, each to his tents.

• 2 Samuel 20:12

  Amasa lay wallowing in his blood in the middle of the highway. When the man saw that all the people stopped, he moved Amasa from the highway into the field and threw a garment over him, when he saw that everyone who came by him stopped.

• 2 Samuel 20:21

  The matter is not so; but a man from the hill country of Ephraim, Sheba son of Bichri by name, has lifted his hand against the king, against David. Hand over him alone, and I will go away from the city.” The woman said to Joab, “Look, his head will be thrown to you over the wall.”

• 2 Samuel 20:22

  The woman went to all the people in her wisdom, and they cut off the head of Sheba son of Bichri and threw it to Joab. He blew the horn, and they scattered from the city, each to his tents. And Joab returned to Jerusalem, to the king.

• 1 Kings 13:24

  He went away, and a lion found him on the way and put him to death. And his corpse was thrown on the way, and the donkey was standing beside it, and the lion was standing beside the corpse.

• 1 Kings 13:25

  And there men were passing by, and they saw the corpse thrown on the way, and the lion standing beside the corpse; and they came and spoke of it in the city where the old prophet lived.

• 1 Kings 13:28

  He went and found his corpse thrown on the way, and the donkey and the lion standing beside the corpse; the lion had not eaten the corpse and had not mauled the donkey.

• 1 Kings 14:9

  but you have done evil more than all who were before you, and you have gone and made for yourself other gods and cast images to provoke me to anger, and me you have thrown behind your back;

• 1 Kings 19:19

  He went from there and found Elisha son of Shaphat, who was plowing, twelve yoke of oxen were before him, and he was with the twelfth. Elijah passed over to him and threw his cloak on him.

And 85 more times.