7923. shikkulim
Lexical Summary
shikkulim: Bereavement, Loss of Children

Original Word: שִׁכֻּלִים
Part of Speech: Noun Masculine
Transliteration: shikkuliym
Pronunciation: shik-koo-leem
Phonetic Spelling: (shik-koo-leem')
KJV: to have after loss of others
NASB: bereaved
Word Origin: [plural from H7921 (שָׁכוֹל - bereave)]

1. childlessness (by continued bereavements)

Strong's Exhaustive Concordance
to have after loss of others

Plural from shakol; childlessness (by continued bereavements) -- to have after loss of others.

see HEBREW shakol

NAS Exhaustive Concordance
Word Origin
from shakol
Definition
bereavement, childlessness
NASB Translation
bereaved (1).

Brown-Driver-Briggs
[שִׁכֻּלִים] noun plural abstract bereavement, childlessness; — בְּנֵי שִׁכֻּלָ֑יִךְ Isaiah 49:20 i.e. sons of thee, the bereaved.

Topical Lexicon
Hebrew Background and Conceptual Range

שִׁכֻּלִים speaks of the bitter emptiness that follows the loss of children or the condition of enforced childlessness. The term gathers up the sorrow of bereavement and the social stigma that ancient Near-Eastern culture placed on a house without offspring. It evokes an emotional landscape of grief, vulnerability, and seeming hopelessness, yet it also establishes the canvas on which divine reversal can be painted.

Canonical Context: Isaiah 49:20

“Then the children of your bereavement will yet say in your ears, ‘This place is too cramped for me; make room for me to settle.’ ” (Isaiah 49:20)

Isaiah addresses Zion, personified as a woman desolate after the Babylonian exile. She feels doubly bereaved—first by the physical death or captivity of her children, and second by the apparent estrangement from her covenant Lord. Into that bereavement, God promises an unexpected influx of sons and daughters so numerous that the city must expand her borders. The sorrow named by שִׁכֻּלִים becomes the very prelude to overflowing joy.

Theological Themes

1. Divine Reversal
• The motif of barren or bereaved becoming fruitful recurs throughout Scripture (Genesis 21:1-3; 1 Samuel 2:5; Isaiah 54:1). By using שִׁכֻּלִים, Isaiah ties Zion’s restoration to this pattern, demonstrating that God delights in turning disaster into blessing.

2. Covenant Faithfulness
• The promise to replenish Zion’s “bereavement” reaffirms the Abrahamic commitment to multiply descendants (Genesis 22:17). Though exile seemed to annul that pledge, Isaiah proclaims that God’s covenant stands unbroken.

3. Consolation of the Afflicted
• The occurrence frames the Lord as the ultimate Comforter (Isaiah 49:13). He does not minimize sorrow but transforms it, validating the grief of the bereaved while pointing to future hope.

Prophetic and Redemptive Significance

Isaiah 49 stands within the Servant Songs, which find their fullness in Jesus Messiah. The ingathering of Zion’s “children” prefigures both the post-exilic return and the worldwide inclusion of Gentiles in the gospel era (Romans 9:24-26; Galatians 4:27). Thus שִׁכֻּלִים becomes a prophetic signpost directing the reader from historical Judah to the eschatological people of God.

Intertextual Connections

Isaiah 54:1 “Rejoice, O barren woman…” echoes the same paradox of fruitfulness out of loss.
Jeremiah 31:15-17 laments Rachel’s weeping for her children, yet offers hope that “your children will return to their own land.”
• Psalms 113:9 celebrates that the Lord “makes the barren woman dwell in her house as a joyful mother of children,” a poetic parallel to Isaiah’s promise.

Pastoral and Ministry Application

1. Comfort for the Bereaved
• Congregational care can draw on Isaiah 49:20 to assure grieving parents that God sees their pain and holds authority over death and exile alike.

2. Encouragement for Seemingly Barren Ministries
• Churches facing decline may find in שִׁכֻּלִים a pledge that apparent fruitlessness can precede surprising growth when rooted in God’s promises.

3. Motivation for Missions and Adoption
• The image of an overcrowded city hints at the global harvest Jesus envisioned (Matthew 9:37-38). It also resonates with the New Testament theme of spiritual adoption (Romans 8:15), fueling both evangelism and compassionate care for orphans.

Christological Fulfillment

In Jesus, the Servant of Isaiah, bereavement is reversed at the deepest level. His resurrection inaugurates a new humanity, filling Zion with spiritual offspring from every tribe and tongue (Revelation 7:9). The solitary biblical use of שִׁכֻּלִים thereby anchors a sweeping narrative: sorrow turned to singing, emptiness filled by grace, death swallowed up in victory.

Forms and Transliterations
שִׁכֻּלָ֑יִךְ שכליך shikkuLayich šik·ku·lā·yiḵ šikkulāyiḵ
Links
Interlinear GreekInterlinear HebrewStrong's NumbersEnglishman's Greek ConcordanceEnglishman's Hebrew ConcordanceParallel Texts
Englishman's Concordance
Isaiah 49:20
HEB: בְאָזְנַ֔יִךְ בְּנֵ֖י שִׁכֻּלָ֑יִךְ צַר־ לִ֥י
NAS: The children of whom you were bereaved will yet
KJV: The children which thou shalt have, after thou hast lost the other, shall say
INT: your ears the children were bereaved cramped the place

1 Occurrence

Strong's Hebrew 7923
1 Occurrence


šik·ku·lā·yiḵ — 1 Occ.

7922
Top of Page
Top of Page