8231. shaphar

Lexical Summary

shaphar: To be beautiful, to be fair, to be pleasing

Original Word: שָׁפַר
Part of Speech: Verb
Transliteration: shaphar
Pronunciation: shah-far'
Phonetic Spelling: (shaw-far')
KJV: X goodly
Word Origin: [a primitive root]

1. to glisten, i.e. (figuratively) be (causatively, make) fair

Strong's Exhaustive Concordance

goodly

A primitive root; to glisten, i.e. (figuratively) be (causatively, make) fair -- X goodly.

Brown-Driver-Briggs

[שָׁפַר] verb be beautiful, fair, comely (Arabic remove veil (of women), shine; Aramaic שְׁפַר be pleasing (see Daniel 6:2), be beautiful, bright, pleasing, beautiful); —

Qal Perfect3feminine singular שָֽׁפְרָה עָלָ֑י (Aramaic) Psalm 16:6 (the) heritage is beautiful for (pleasing to) me (see עַל II. 8).

Topical Lexicon

Biblical Setting

Shafar appears a single time, in Psalm 16:6: “The lines have fallen for me in pleasant places; indeed, I have a beautiful inheritance”. David, having just confessed that the Lord Himself is his chosen portion, looks at the “boundary lines” of life and calls the resulting inheritance “beautiful.” Shafar supplies the climactic adjective that crowns the psalmist’s confession of contentment and trust.

Theology of Beauty and Inheritance

1. Divine allotment. In Israel’s history, boundary lines marked the land each tribe received by lot (Joshua 13–21). David spiritualizes that concept: his true heritage is the Lord’s covenant faithfulness. By calling it “beautiful,” he declares that nothing assigned by God can be improved upon.
2. Covenant pleasure. The usage links beauty not to aesthetics alone but to covenant grace. What God grants is inherently “pleasing,” because it flows from His character (Psalm 119:68; James 1:17).
3. Foreshadowing the fuller inheritance in Christ. The New Testament echoes David’s language when it speaks of an “inheritance among all those who are sanctified” (Acts 20:32) and “an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading” (1 Peter 1:4). Shafar therefore anticipates the believer’s final portion in Christ.

Historical and Liturgical Significance

• In temple and synagogue worship Psalm 16 functioned as a confession of trust, suitable for pilgrims entering Jerusalem and later for exiles who possessed no land yet still claimed a “beautiful inheritance.”
• Rabbinic tradition connected Psalm 16 to resurrection hope; the Septuagint includes it among the “psalms of resurrection.” Shafar thus gained eschatological overtones, describing not merely present blessings but the consummated joy of life in God’s presence (Psalm 16:11).
• In early Christian preaching (Acts 2:25–28) Psalm 16 is applied to the resurrection of Jesus. The “beautiful inheritance” is ultimately the risen Christ Himself, shared with all who are in Him.

Canonical Connections to Divine Beauty

While shafar is unique in form, Scripture frequently links beauty with God’s redemptive work:
• “One thing I have asked… to gaze upon the beauty of the LORD” (Psalm 27:4).
• “How beautiful on the mountains are the feet of him who brings good news” (Isaiah 52:7).
• “Let the beauty of the LORD our God be upon us” (Psalm 90:17).

Shafar gathers these motifs into a single declaration of satisfied faith: what God gives is good, pleasing, and worth praising.

Pastoral and Ministry Application

1. Cultivating contentment. David’s use of shafar equips believers to view every God-ordained boundary—gifts, limits, seasons—as “beautiful.” Gratitude displaces envy.
2. Teaching on inheritance. Whether addressing earthly possessions, identity in Christ, or future glory, pastors can employ Psalm 16 to show that true wealth lies in belonging to the Lord.
3. Worship leading. The verse provides language for prayer and song: “Lord, You have drawn my lines in pleasant places; Your inheritance is beautiful to me.”
4. Counseling suffering saints. Shafar reassures the afflicted that present lines, however painful, are part of a divinely beautiful design revealed fully in eternity (Romans 8:18).

Eschatological Hope

The beauty David names will culminate when “He makes everything beautiful in its time” (Ecclesiastes 3:11) and when the redeemed “shall see the King in His beauty” (Isaiah 33:17). Shafar therefore invites believers to live between the now and the not yet, confident that their ultimate portion is as lovely as the Giver Himself.

Forms and Transliterations

שָֽׁפְרָ֥ה שפרה šā·p̄ə·rāh šāp̄ərāh shafeRah

Englishman's Concordance

Psalm 16:6
HEB: אַף־ נַ֝חֲלָ֗ת שָֽׁפְרָ֥ה עָלָֽי׃
NAS: my heritage is beautiful to me.
KJV: unto me in pleasant [places]; yea, I have a goodly heritage.
INT: Indeed my heritage is beautiful and

1 Occurrence

Strong's Hebrew 8231
1 Occurrence

šā·p̄ə·rāh — 1 Occ.