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שְׁחִיטָה

𐤔𐤇𐤉𐤈𐤄

shᵉchîyṭâh

H7821 noun

SILEX Entry

Root שׁחט to slaughter (especially an animal), to kill

Definition

The act or process of slaughtering, most often of an animal for food or ritual purposes; also used more generally for killing. Denotes both the action (slaughtering) and by extension the result (that which is slaughtered).

Semantic Range

slaughter of an animal (ritual or culinary), act of slaughter, ritual killing, killing (general or specific to an offering), the result of slaughter (i.e., what has been killed)

Root / Etymology

From the root שָׁחַט (shaḥaṭ), meaning 'to slaughter (an animal), to kill,' with the feminine abstract ending -ָה, forming a noun for the act or process of slaughtering or killing.

Historical & Contextual Notes

In the Hebrew Bible, שְׁחִיטָה occurs rarely and specifically denotes the act of slaughter, almost always in the context of animal sacrifice or preparation of food according to Israelite ritual law. The term is more technical than the common verb for 'to kill' (הָרַג), focusing specifically on the act of ritual or purposeful slaughter, particularly as distinguished from acts of violence, war, or capital punishment. Later Rabbinic Hebrew adopted שְׁחִיטָה as the standard term for the prescribed legal method of animal slaughter (shechitah), as practiced in Judaism, but this technical meaning postdates the biblical period. The KJV and other English translations usually render the term as 'slaughter' or 'killing,' sometimes obscuring the specific, ritual nuance present in biblical and post-biblical contexts. The word is distinct from זֶבַח (zevaḥ, 'sacrifice'), which emphasizes the offering aspect, or טֶבַח (tevaḥ, 'slaughter, massacre'), which can carry connotations of violence not present in שְׁחִיטָה.

Original Strong's Gloss (1890)

from שָׁחַט; slaughter; killing.

Bantu Hebrew

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Root Family

שׁחט (š-ḥ-ṭ) — to slaughter, to kill (especially an animal)

Strong's Lemma SIBI-P1
H7820 שָׁחַט hammered-out

Word Forms

1 distinct form

SIDANCE Surface Transliteration Morphology Common SIBI-P1 Occurrences
H7821-01 שְׁחִיטַ֣ת shechitat HNcfsc slaughtering slaughter-of 1

Occurrences in Scripture

1 total occurrence

SIDANCE Reference Word Transliteration Morphology Common SIBI-P1
H7821-01 2 Chronicles 30:17 שְׁחִיטַ֣ת shechitat HNcfsc slaughtering slaughter-of
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