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שָׁתַן

𐤔𐤕𐤍

shâthan

H8366 verb

SILEX Entry

Root שׁתן to pour, to flow, to urinate

Definition

To urinate; to discharge urine, referring to the biological act of excretion of urine by humans or animals, generally in a colloquial or explicit sense. In causative forms, it denotes causing urination. The term occurs rarely and with a direct, bodily reference, lacking euphemism.

Semantic Range

to urinate, to discharge urine, to make water (colloquial), to cause to urinate

Root / Etymology

Root שָׁתַן (שׁ-ת-ן), likely related to a base meaning of pouring out or flowing. The noun form is not attested in Biblical Hebrew, and the root is rare, with usage limited to certain explicit contexts.

Historical & Contextual Notes

שָׁתַן appears in explicit, non-euphemistic contexts in Biblical Hebrew, notably in 2 Kings 18:27 and Isaiah 36:12, where it is used dialogically to convey the literal act of urinating. The usage is colloquial and can be considered somewhat vulgar in register, contrasting with more euphemistic phrases found elsewhere (such as ״מַשְׁתִּין בְּקִיר״, 'one who urinates against a wall'). The term is not common in later Hebrew, and later standard translations into English and other languages often soften or euphemize it (e.g., 'water' or 'liquid waste'), thereby sometimes obscuring the explicit anatomical or scatological reference present in the original text. The verb does not carry metaphorical senses in the Hebrew Bible, remaining bluntly physiological in meaning. The word’s usage in these passages also serves a rhetorical/scornful function in polemical speech. In postbiblical Hebrew, descendants of the root appear with similar meanings, but the word is not found in ritual, poetic, or legalistic contexts in the Tanakh.

Original Strong's Gloss (1890)

a primitive root; (causatively) to make water, i.e. urinate; piss.

Bantu Hebrew

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Root Family

שׁתן (š-t-n) — pouring out, flowing, urinating

Word Forms

1 distinct form

SIDANCE Surface Transliteration Morphology Common SIBI-P1 SIBI-P2 Occurrences
H8366-01 מַשְׁתִּ֥ין mashetin HVhrmsa every male one causing urination 6

Occurrences in Scripture

6 occurrences

SIDANCE Reference Word Transliteration Morphology Common SIBI-P1 SIBI-P2
H8366-01 1 Samuel 25:22 מַשְׁתִּ֥ין mashetin HVhrmsa pissing one causing urination
H8366-01 1 Samuel 25:34 מַשְׁתִּ֥ין mashetin HVhrmsa male one causing urination
H8366-01 1 Kings 14:10 מַשְׁתִּ֣ין mashetin HVhrmsa every male one causing urination
H8366-01 1 Kings 16:11 מַשְׁתִּ֣ין mashetin HVhrmsa one urinating one causing urination
H8366-01 1 Kings 21:21 מַשְׁתִּ֣ין mashetin HVhrmsa every male one causing urination
H8366-01 2 Kings 9:8 מַשְׁתִּ֣ין mashetin HVhrmsa one who urinates one causing urination
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