שָׁמַר
shâmar · shaw-mar'
properly, to hedge about (as with thorns), i.e. guard; generally, to protect, attend to, etc.
Lexicon
Derivation: a primitive root;
properly, to hedge about (as with thorns), i.e. guard; generally, to protect, attend to, etc.
- properly, to hedge about (as with thorns), i.e. guard
- generally, to protect, attend to, etc.
Definition from Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (1890). Wording is Strong's own, including his etymological notes, which are not separate meanings.
KJV renderings: beward, be circumspect, take heed (to self), keep(-er, self), mark, look narrowly, observe, preserve, regard, reserve, save (self), sure, (that lay) wait (for), watch(-man).
Letters
- שShin300
Picture: two front teeth (or a composite bow)
- Concrete
- teeth · sharp · press · bow
- Extended
- to consume · to destroy · to press or grind · to change · again
- מMem40
Picture: waves of water
- Concrete
- water · sea · blood · liquid
- Extended
- chaos · mighty and uncontrollable · the masses · from / out of
- רResh200
Picture: a human head
- Concrete
- head · face · person
- Extended
- first · top · beginning · chief · the highest
Possible cultural reading (auto-composed)
to consume, to destroy › water, chaos, the mighty deep › the head, the highest
To consume, to destroy of water, chaos, the mighty deep of the head, the highest.
Interpretive, not lexical. The dictionary sense of שָׁמַר above is the attested meaning; this pictographic reading is a tradition about how the sign-shapes may have been heard. Both can be held at once, they are answering different questions.
Usage
469 occurrences · 469 OT · 0 NT · 297 distinct forms
KJV renderings of this word, by how often each one is used.
- keep24 · 14%
- to keep22 · 13%
- and keep21 · 12%
- take heed13 · 8%
- and to keep7 · 4%
- keeper5 · 3%
- that kept5 · 3%
- thou shalt keep5 · 3%
- to observe5 · 3%
- and they shall keep5 · 3%
- ye shall keep5 · 3%
- beware5 · 3%
- keeping4 · 2%
- observe4 · 2%
- preserveth4 · 2%
- kept4 · 2%
- shall preserve4 · 2%
- shall keep4 · 2%
- the keeper4 · 2%
- keepers4 · 2%
- heed4 · 2%
- ye shall therefore keep3 · 2%
- thou shalt therefore keep3 · 2%
- and ye shall observe3 · 2%
- and kept3 · 2%
Where it is used, by book.
Inflected forms found in the text.
Counts are computed from the tagged Hebrew and Greek text aligned to the King James Version, not from an estimate.