Job 20:27:2Job.20.27.W2TAB
שָׁמַ֣יִם
shamayim
“heavens”
- Transliteration
- sha-MA-yim
- Extended
- shaa-MAH-yihm
- IPA
- /ʃaːˈmajim/
Meaning by language
- English
- heavens
Hebrew · tap a syllable to hear it
Alphabet Analysis
| Shin | shin with right dot; sin with left dot | |
| Qamets | long 'ah' | |
| Mem | m as in mother | |
| Patach | short 'ah' as in father | |
| Yod | y as in yes; marks long ī | |
| Hireq | 'ee' as in machine | |
| Mem Sofit | final form of Mem — at word end |
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The word
Word in context
- word
sha-MA-yim
- clause
ye-gal-LU sha-MA-yim a-vo-NO
- sentence
ye-gal-LU sha-MA-yim a-vo-NO ve-E-rets mit-ko-ma-MA LO
Exegesis
The verse is a tight Hebrew poetic bicola built on parallel clauses: yegallu shamayim avono {יְגַלּוּ שָׁמַיִם עֲוֺנ֑וֹ | yəgallû šāmayim ʿăwōnô} ‘the heavens will reveal his iniquity’ followed by veeretz mitqomamah lo {וְאֶרֶץ מִתְקוֹמָמָה לֽוֹ | wəʾereṣ mitqōmāmāh lô} ‘and the earth will rise up to him.’ The initial verb-first ordering foregrounds the inevitability of exposure, then the subjects “heavens” and “earth” form a merism that encompasses the whole created order as a courtroom-like witness against the wicked.
Root and etymology
sh-m-yshin–mem–yod
“heights, heavens”
In context — Job 20:27
The heavens will expose his iniquity; and the earth will rise up against him.
About this coordinate
Job 20:27:2 is a BCV:P reference — Book · Chapter · Verse · Word Position. It addresses word 2 of Job 20:27, so the Hebrew word שָׁמַ֣יִם (shamayim) can be cited, linked and studied at exactly this position rather than somewhere in the verse. In the Biblical Knowledge Coordinate System the same position is written Job.20.27.W2, which extends further down to each syllable (Job.20.27.W2.S1) and character.