בַּת־שׁוּעַ
𐤁𐤕־𐤔𐤅𐤏
Shua
H1340 noun
SILEX Entry
Definition
Personal name: Bath-shua. Properly, 'Bath-shua' designates a woman introduced as the daughter of Shua in the narrative of Judah and his sons (Genesis 38). The name itself most likely means 'daughter of Shua,' where 'Shua' is a personal name rather than an abstract noun. In some later textual traditions, the name is used as a variant or alternate for 'Bathsheba,' but in the Genesis context it refers to a different individual.
Semantic Range
personal name, specifically a patronymic meaning 'daughter of Shua'; alternate form for Bathsheba in some post-monarchic/genealogical texts; not a common noun or abstract term
Root / Etymology
The word consists of two elements: בַּת (bat, 'daughter') and שׁוּעַ (Shua, a personal name), thus 'daughter of Shua.' The root for 'bat' is בת ('to build, daughter'), and 'Shua' (שׁוּעַ) is likely a theophoric or personal name. There is no direct evidence that 'Shua' means 'wealth'; its meaning as a name is uncertain. There is a later tendency to associate בַּת־שׁוּעַ with meanings like 'daughter of opulence' due to folk etymology, but in context, it is a patronymic.
Historical & Contextual Notes
In Genesis 38, Bath-shua is identified as the daughter of Shua, a Canaanite who becomes Judah's wife, making her the mother of Er, Onan, and Shelah. The use of the name in 1 Chronicles 3:5 as a variant of Bathsheba (wife of David, mother of Solomon) likely arises from textual confusion or conflation in later periods—these are not the same person in the narrative context. English translations sometimes obscure this by equating Bath-shua and Bathsheba; however, the Hebrew distinguishes them in the original stories. The name itself is typical of patronymic constructions in ancient Israelite nomenclature, where 'daughter of X' denotes lineage. The term does not carry theological or socioeconomic significance in the Genesis context. Later rabbinic and translation traditions sometimes speculate about the meaning of 'Shua,' but no firm etymological link to 'wealth' exists in the Hebrew Bible.
Original Strong's Gloss (1890)
from בַּת and שׁוֹעַ; daughter of wealth; the same as בַּת־שֶׁבַע; Bath-shua,; Bath-shua.
Bantu Hebrew
No Bantu Hebrew comparisons have been submitted for this word yet.
+ Add Bantu Hebrew WordRoot Family
בנה (b-n-h) — to build, to create, to establish descendants
| Strong's | Lemma | SIBI-P1 |
|---|---|---|
| H1004 | בַּיִת | in the houses |
| H1005 | בַּיִת | the built-house |
| H1006 | בַּיִת | the house |
| H1007 | בֵּית אָוֶן | house-of |
| H1008 | בֵּית־אֵל | in house of |
Word Forms
2 distinct forms
| SIDANCE | Surface | Transliteration | Morphology | Common | SIBI-P1 | Occurrences |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
H1340-01 |
לְ/בַת | levat | HR/Np |
to-Bath | to a daughter of | 1 |
H1340-02 |
שׁ֖וּעַ | shua | HNp |
shua | My King Is Deliverance | 1 |
Occurrences in Scripture
2 total occurrences
| SIDANCE | Reference | Word | Transliteration | Morphology | Common | SIBI-P1 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
H1340-01 |
1 Chronicles 3:5 | לְ/בַת | levat | HR/Np |
to-Bath | to a daughter of |
H1340-02 |
1 Chronicles 3:5 | שׁ֖וּעַ | shua | HNp |
shua | My King Is Deliverance |