7784. shuq
Lexical Summary
shuq: To run to and fro, to go eagerly or quickly

Original Word: שׁוּק
Part of Speech: Noun Masculine
Transliteration: shuwq
Pronunciation: shook
Phonetic Spelling: (shook)
KJV: street
NASB: street, streets
Word Origin: [from H7783 (שׁוּק - overflow)]

1. a street (as run over)

Strong's Exhaustive Concordance
street

From shuwq; a street (as run over) -- street.

see HEBREW shuwq

NAS Exhaustive Concordance
Word Origin
from the same as shoq
Definition
a street
NASB Translation
street (3), streets (1).

Brown-Driver-Briggs
שׁוּק noun masculine street (Aramaic; see √); — ׳שׁ Proverbs 7:8; Ecclesiastes 12:4,5; plural שְׁוָּקִים Songs 3:2.

Topical Lexicon
Overview of שׁוּק in the Old Testament

The word שׁוּק (shuq) designates the open street or broad avenue of an ancient town—the place where commerce, conversation, and chance encounters unfolded at the very heart of community life. Because every canonical occurrence lies in Wisdom or poetic books, the term carries more than topographical value; it becomes a literary stage upon which moral choices, generational change, and covenant love play out.

Wisdom Literature Settings

1. Proverbs 7:8 pictures the gullible youth “crossing the street near her corner,” moving toward moral peril. The shuq functions as a threshold between safety and seduction, dramatizing the ease with which an unguarded heart can drift from wisdom.

2. Ecclesiastes 12:4–5 employs the same word twice in its closing poem on aging. When “the doors on the street are shut” and voices “rise at the sound of a bird,” the lively avenue turns silent, mirroring the diminishing engagement of the elderly with public life. The street that once echoed with vigor becomes an emblem of mortality.

3. Song of Songs 3:2 casts the shuq in a different light. The bride recounts, “I will search for the one my soul loves.” Here the public thoroughfare becomes a path of holy pursuit, testifying that love sanctioned by God need not shrink from the open gaze of the community.

Historical and Cultural Background

Ancient Near Eastern cities were dense clusters of dwellings fed by crooked lanes but opening unexpectedly into broader streets or squares. These spaces served as informal courts, markets, and forums, often contiguous with the gate where elders sat in judgment (Ruth 4:1). Social order depended on visibility; deeds done “in the street” were observed and remembered. Thus shuq naturally bore connotations of accountability or, conversely, public shame.

Theological Themes

• Public Accountability: Scripture presents the street as the arena where hidden motives meet communal scrutiny. The simple youth of Proverbs learns—too late—that sin is seldom private for long.
• Transience of Human Glory: Ecclesiastes turns the once-bustling street into a symbol of life’s brevity, underscoring the Creator’s sovereignty over every season.
• Covenant Pursuit: Song of Songs elevates the same location, illustrating that righteous desire can redeem even the most common spaces.

Ministry Applications

1. Discipleship in a Public World: Believers must cultivate discernment not only in private but also amid the marketplace of ideas and influences.
2. Honoring the Aged: Ecclesiastes’ silent streets invite congregations to cherish elders whose public roles may be waning, affirming their lasting value in Christ.
3. Celebrating Holy Love: The bride’s search reminds the church that godly relationships need not hide from public witness; they adorn the gospel before a watching world.

Intertextual Echoes

Although shuq appears only four times, its thematic resonance extends through Scripture. The prophets envision nations streaming to the streets of Zion (Isaiah 52:1–2), and the Gospels show Jesus healing and teaching in public places, fulfilling wisdom’s open call (Proverbs 1:20). Revelation culminates with transparent streets of gold (Revelation 21:21), where righteousness dwells unhindered—a fitting eschatological reversal of the dangers and limitations first glimpsed in Proverbs and Ecclesiastes.

Conclusion

Shuq traces a theological arc from youthful temptation, through the sobering hush of old age, to the joyous pursuit of covenant love. Each occurrence invites readers to regard the ordinary avenues of daily life as stages upon which God’s wisdom, judgment, and redemption are revealed.

Forms and Transliterations
בַּ֭שּׁוּק בַּשְּׁוָקִים֙ בַּשּׁ֔וּק בַשּׁ֖וּק בשוק בשוקים baš·šə·wā·qîm baš·šūq ḇaš·šūq bashshevaKim Bashshuk baššəwāqîm baššūq ḇaššūq vashShuk
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Englishman's Concordance
Proverbs 7:8
HEB: עֹבֵ֣ר בַּ֭שּׁוּק אֵ֣צֶל פִּנָּ֑הּ
NAS: Passing through the street near
KJV: Passing through the street near
INT: Passing the street near her corner

Ecclesiastes 12:4
HEB: וְסֻגְּר֤וּ דְלָתַ֙יִם֙ בַּשּׁ֔וּק בִּשְׁפַ֖ל ק֣וֹל
NAS: and the doors on the street are shut
KJV: shall be shut in the streets, when the sound
INT: are shut and the doors the street is low as the sound

Ecclesiastes 12:5
HEB: עוֹלָמ֔וֹ וְסָבְב֥וּ בַשּׁ֖וּק הַסֹּפְדִֽים׃
NAS: while mourners go about in the street.
KJV: and the mourners go about the streets:
INT: to his eternal go the street mourners

Songs 3:2
HEB: וַאֲסוֹבְבָ֣ה בָעִ֗יר בַּשְּׁוָקִים֙ וּבָ֣רְחֹב֔וֹת אֲבַקְשָׁ֕ה
NAS: the city; In the streets and in the squares
KJV: the city in the streets, and in the broad ways
INT: and go the city the streets the squares seek

4 Occurrences

Strong's Hebrew 7784
4 Occurrences


baš·šə·wā·qîm — 1 Occ.
baš·šūq — 2 Occ.
ḇaš·šūq — 1 Occ.

7783
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