שְׁבָט
𐤔𐤁𐤈
Shevat
H7627 noun
SILEX Entry
Definition
Name of the eleventh month of the standard Israelite calendar (counting from Nisan), typically corresponding to January–February in the modern Gregorian calendar. The term refers specifically to this fixed period of the year in later biblical and post-biblical usage.
Semantic Range
Shebat (the eleventh month of the biblical calendar), name of a month in post-exilic Hebrew usage
Root / Etymology
Of foreign origin, uncertain. The word שְׁבָט does not derive from a native Hebrew root and is generally understood to be borrowed from Akkadian or Northwest Semitic languages, possibly corresponding to Babylonia’s 'Šabāṭu' or a cognate. The source root is therefore uncertain in Hebrew, and the word is a loanword indicating a month name imported during or after the Babylonian exile.
Historical & Contextual Notes
שְׁבָט appears only in texts dated to the post-exilic period, reflecting the adoption of Babylonian calendrical terms during or after the exile. It occurs in Zechariah 1:7 and later Hebrew writings. Prior to the exilic period, Israelite month names were typically numerical rather than named after foreign or Babylonian terms. The use of שְׁבָט signifies an adaptation of the Judean calendar to the Babylonian and Persian administrative systems. In English translations, the term 'Shebat' is sometimes rendered as a proper name or left untranslated. In later Jewish tradition, Shevat continues to denote the same month and is associated with the celebration of Tu Bishvat (the fifteenth day of Shevat), but such liturgical associations are post-biblical and should not be read back into the biblical period.
Original Strong's Gloss (1890)
of foreign origin; Shebat, a Jewish month; Sebat.
Bantu Hebrew
No Bantu Hebrew comparisons have been submitted for this word yet.
+ Add Bantu Hebrew WordRoot Family
uncertain (uncertain) — uncertain; loanword month name
| Strong's | Lemma | SIBI-P1 |
|---|---|---|
| H1085 | בִּלְדַּד | Bildad |
| H1095 | בֵּלְטְשַׁאצַּר | Belteshatsar |
| H1114 | בִּלְשָׁן | Bilshan |
| H1150 | בִּנְעָא | Bin'a |
| H116 | אֱדַיִן | and then |
Word Forms
1 distinct form
| SIDANCE | Surface | Transliteration | Morphology | Common | SIBI-P1 | Occurrences |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
H7627-01 |
שְׁבָ֔ט | shevat | HNp |
Shebat | Shebat | 1 |
Occurrences in Scripture
1 total occurrence
| SIDANCE | Reference | Word | Transliteration | Morphology | Common | SIBI-P1 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
H7627-01 |
Zechariah 1:7 | שְׁבָ֔ט | shevat | HNp |
Shebat | Shebat |