H8147

שְׁנַיִם

shᵉnayim · shen-ah'-yim

two; also (as ordinal) twofold

Lexicon

Derivation: dual of H8145 (שֵׁנִי); feminine שְׁתַּיִם;

two; also (as ordinal) twofold

two
also, (as ordinal) twofold

Definition from Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (1890). Wording is Strong's own, including his etymological notes, which are not separate meanings.

KJV renderings: both, couple, double, second, twain, [phrase] twelfth, [phrase] twelve, [phrase] twenty (sixscore) thousand, twice, two.

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
נNun50
Picture: a sprouting seed, or a fish in water
Concrete
seed · sprout · fish · offspring
Extended
life · continuation · heir · to perpetuate
יYod10
Picture: arm and closed hand
Concrete
hand · arm · work
Extended
a deed · to make · to work · to throw or worship
מMem40
Picture: waves of water
Concrete
water · sea · blood · liquid
Extended
chaos · mighty and uncontrollable · the masses · from / out of

Possible cultural reading (auto-composed)

to consume, to destroy › the seed, life continuing › the hand that works › water, chaos, the mighty deep

To consume, to destroy of the seed, life continuing of the hand that works of water, chaos, the mighty deep.

Interpretive, not lexical. The dictionary sense of שְׁנַיִם 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

769 occurrences · 769 OT · 0 NT · 190 distinct forms

KJV renderings of this word, by how often each one is used.

two131 · 26%
and two107 · 22%
twelve32 · 6%
the two31 · 6%
both30 · 6%
were twelve28 · 6%
and the two23 · 5%
and twelve16 · 3%
in the two9 · 2%
had two9 · 2%
or two8 · 2%
of the two8 · 2%
in the second7 · 1%
under two6 · 1%
of two6 · 1%
were two6 · 1%
thee two5 · 1%
and they two5 · 1%
in the twelfth5 · 1%
in two4 · 1%
and both4 · 1%
for his two4 · 1%
on the two4 · 1%
and his two4 · 1%
his two4 · 1%

Where it is used, by book.

Inflected forms found in the text.

שְׁתֵּ֣י46שְׁנֵ֣י35שְׁנֵ֥ים35שְׁנֵ֥י26וּשְׁנָֽיִם׃ ס20שְׁנֵֽי־18שְׁנֵים־17שְׁתֵּ֥י16שְׁנַ֥יִם15שְׁנֵ֖י15שְׁנֵ֤י14שְׁנֵי֙14

Counts are computed from the tagged Hebrew and Greek text aligned to the King James Version, not from an estimate.