7908. shekol

Lexical Summary

shekol: Bereavement, loss, childlessness

Original Word: שְׁכוֹל
Part of Speech: Noun Masculine
Transliteration: shkowl
Pronunciation: sheh-KOHL
Phonetic Spelling: (shek-ole')
KJV: loss of children, spoiling
NASB: loss of children, bereavement
Word Origin: [infinitive of H7921 (שָׁכוֹל - bereave)]

1. bereavement

Strong's Exhaustive Concordance

loss of children, spoiling

Infinitive of shakol; bereavement -- loss of children, spoiling.

see HEBREW shakol

NAS Exhaustive Concordance

Word Origin
from shakol
Definition
bereavement, loss of children
NASB Translation
bereavement (1), loss of children (2).

Brown-Driver-Briggs

שְׁכוֺל noun [masculine] bereavement, loss of children; — ׳לֹא אֵדַע שׁ Isaiah 47:8 ("" אַלְמָנָה), compare Isaiah 47:9; figurative Psalm 35:12.

Topical Lexicon

Etymology and Conceptual Range

The noun שְׁכוֹל (shekhol) denotes the anguish of losing one’s offspring—a bereavement that embodies both emotional devastation and the tangible end of a family line. In Scripture it can describe literal child-loss or serve as a figurative emblem of profound calamity.

Occurrences and Contexts in Scripture

1. Psalm 35:12 places the term on David’s lips during personal persecution: “They repay me evil for good, to the bereavement of my soul”. Here shekhol conveys the internal desolation provoked by treachery.
2. Isaiah 47:8 portrays Babylon’s arrogant security: “I am, and there is none besides me. I will never be a widow or know the loss of children.” The empire equates child-loss with ultimate vulnerability.
3. Isaiah 47:9 announces the Lord’s swift retribution: “These two things will overtake you in a moment, in a single day: loss of children and widowhood”. Shekhol stands beside widowhood as a twin judgment dismantling pride.

Themes and Theological Significance

• Covenant Blessings and Curses: Deuteronomy pairs fertility with divine favor (Deuteronomy 28:4) and barrenness or child-loss with covenant breach (Deuteronomy 28:18, 32). Shekhol thus functions as a barometer of the nation’s spiritual state.
• The Sanctity of Seed: Scripture’s redemptive storyline advances through promised offspring (Genesis 3:15; 12:7). Bereavement threatens that line, underscoring the gravity of sin and the preciousness of God-given posterity.
• Divine Sovereignty: The Lord alone “kills and makes alive” (1 Samuel 2:6). When He removes children, the act testifies to His ultimate authority, yet He also reverses barrenness, as with Hannah (1 Samuel 1:20) and the Psalmist’s praise, “He settles the barren woman in her home as a joyful mother of children” (Psalm 113:9).

Prophetic Dimension and Eschatological Echoes

Isaiah’s oracle against historical Babylon anticipates the downfall of eschatological Babylon. Revelation 18:7-8 echoes Isaiah’s language: “She says in her heart, ‘I sit as queen… I will never see mourning.’ Therefore in one day her plagues will overtake her… death and mourning and famine.” The recurrence of sudden “mourning” parallels shekhol, illustrating the consistency of divine justice from Old to New Testament.

Pastoral and Ministry Implications

• Comfort for the Bereaved: The grief encapsulated in shekhol validates the depth of parental sorrow. Scripture directs the community to “weep with those who weep” (Romans 12:15) and assures that “Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted” (Matthew 5:4).
• Warning Against Pride: Babylon’s presumption that she was immune to child-loss challenges individuals and societies that trust in self-sufficiency rather than the Lord.
• Hope of Restoration: Even when discipline involves shekhol, God promises renewal: “Your children will hurry back” (Isaiah 49:17), ultimately fulfilled in the restoration of Israel and, in Christ, the gathering of a redeemed family from all nations (Galatians 3:26-29).

Related Scriptural Motifs and Intertextual Connections

• Exodus 23:26 promises Israel no miscarriage or barrenness when obedient.
• Job’s laments (Job 27:14) use similar imagery to portray judgment on the wicked.
• Jeremiah 15:7 links bereavement to covenant infidelity, reinforcing the prophetic pattern seen in Isaiah.

Concluding Perspective

Shekhol encapsulates one of life’s deepest sorrows and serves as a theological signpost: grief over lost children pictures both the severe consequences of rebellion and the urgent need for divine mercy. The same God who may decree bereavement also offers comfort and, in the gospel, the assurance of everlasting family in His kingdom.

Forms and Transliterations

שְׁכ֣וֹל שְׁכֽוֹל׃ שכול שכול׃ šə·ḵō·wl šəḵōwl sheChol

Englishman's Concordance

Psalm 35:12
HEB: תַּ֥חַת טוֹבָ֗ה שְׁכ֣וֹל לְנַפְשִֽׁי׃
NAS: for good, [To] the bereavement of my soul.
KJV: for good [to] the spoiling of my soul.
INT: Thahash good the bereavement of my soul

Isaiah 47:8
HEB: וְלֹ֥א אֵדַ֖ע שְׁכֽוֹל׃
NAS: Nor know loss of children.'
KJV: neither shall I know the loss of children:
INT: Nor know loss

Isaiah 47:9
HEB: בְּי֥וֹם אֶחָ֖ד שְׁכ֣וֹל וְאַלְמֹ֑ן כְּתֻמָּם֙
NAS: day: Loss of children and widowhood.
KJV: day, the loss of children, and widowhood:
INT: day one Loss and widowhood full

3 Occurrences

Strong's Hebrew 7908
3 Occurrences

šə·ḵō·wl — 3 Occ.