What does בֹּשֶׁת (boshet) mean in the Bible?
Boshet names shame, with passages distinguishing its cause, bearer and speaker. Daniel's prayer confesses the people's unfaithfulness while attributing righteousness and mercy to God.
Hebrew · H1322
בֹּשֶׁת
Boshet names shame, with passages distinguishing its cause, bearer and speaker. Daniel's prayer confesses the people's unfaithfulness while attributing righteousness and mercy to God.
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בֹּשֶׁתH1322
Pronunciationboshet
What does בֹּשֶׁת (boshet) mean in the Bible?
Reader summary
Full entry for בֹּשֶׁת (H1322) · Open the biblical lexicon
Questions this entry answers
How does the BSB render H1322?
The BSB source-word alignment has 30 aligned rows for this entry. Common renderings include in shame (3), shame (3), with shame (3), of shame (2), their shame (2).
Where does בֹּשֶׁת (boshet) appear in Scripture?
The source-word alignment first shows this entry at 1 Samuel 20:30. Its strongest book concentrations include Psalms (7), Jeremiah (6), Isaiah (5), 1 Samuel (2).
What This Word Actually Means
Boshet names shame, with passages distinguishing its cause, bearer and speaker. Daniel's prayer confesses the people's unfaithfulness while attributing righteousness and mercy to God. Saul uses shame language against Jonathan and Jonathan's mother in an angry attack; those insults are Saul's words, not a divine verdict on them. Psalm 69 brings shame inflicted by adversaries into prayer, and Jeremiah 20 gives voice to profound despair under persecution.
Isaiah 54 promises restoration through the picture of a woman whose youthful shame and widowhood reproach will no longer dominate her memory. Hosea also uses Shame as an expression for the idol associated with Baal-peor, a metonymic use rather than a description of every feeling. The noun therefore cannot make felt humiliation proof of guilt. Responsible teaching can allow confession of actual wrongdoing, refuse abusive blame and receive restoration promises in their addressed covenant setting without stigmatizing bereaved, displaced or already wounded people.
How the Bible Uses It
The shame witnesses distinguish Saul's hostile insult, Daniel's confession, idol allegiance, promised restoration, Jeremiah's despair and the psalmist's appeal concerning adversaries.
- 1Sam.20.30
Then Saul’s anger burned against Jonathan, and he said to him, “You son of a perverse and rebellious woman! Do I not know that you have chosen the son of Jesse to your own shame and to the shame of the mother who bore you?
Saul invokes Jonathan's shame and his mother's shame in an angry insult before attempting violence; the accusation remains attributed to Saul.
- Dan.9.7
To You, O Lord, belongs righteousness, but this day we are covered with shame—the men of Judah, the people of Jerusalem, and all Israel near and far, in all the countries to which You have driven us because of our unfaithfulness to You.
Daniel contrasts the Lord's righteousness with the people's shame because of unfaithfulness, within a prayer appealing to divine mercy.
- Hos.9.10
I found Israel like grapes in the wilderness. I saw your fathers as the firstfruits of the fig tree in its first season. But they went to Baal-peor, and consecrated themselves to Shame; so they became as detestable as the thing they loved.
Shame names the object of allegiance at Baal-peor within the prophetic remembrance, preserving an idol-associated metonymic use.
- Isa.54.4
Do not be afraid, for you will not be put to shame; do not be intimidated, for you will not be humiliated. For you will forget the shame of your youth and will remember no more the reproach of your widowhood.
The addressed woman is promised release from shame and widowhood reproach within the chapter's covenant restoration imagery.
- Jer.20.18
Why did I come out of the womb to see only trouble and sorrow, and to end my days in shame?
Jeremiah questions his birth amid trouble, sorrow and shame; this lament voices suffering rather than recommending death or hopelessness.
- Ps.69.19
You know my reproach, my shame and disgrace. All my adversaries are before You.
The psalmist addresses God about reproach, shame and disgrace while naming adversaries, so humiliation is not automatically confession of their accusations.
Source Word Evidence
BSB source-word alignment connects this entry to exact verse rows, English rendering, source form, transliteration, and parsing.
How English Renders Itin shame3×Job 8:22, Psalms 35:26, Jeremiah 20:18
shame3×Isaiah 30:3, Habakkuk 2:10, Zephaniah 3:5
with shame3×Psalms 132:18, Daniel 9:7, Daniel 9:8
of shame2×Isaiah 61:7, Jeremiah 11:13
their shame2×Psalms 70:3, Psalms 109:29
and humiliation1×Ezra 9:7
and shame1×Psalms 44:15
and to the shame1×1 Samuel 20:30
for the disgraced1×Zephaniah 3:19
in disgrace1×2 Chronicles 32:21
in our shame1×Jeremiah 3:25
in shameful1×Micah 1:11
in utter1×Isaiah 42:17
is ashamed1×Jeremiah 2:26
my shame1×Psalms 69:19
only shame1×Isaiah 30:5
that shameful [god]1×Jeremiah 3:24
the shame1×Isaiah 54:4
their own shame1×Psalms 40:15
themselves to Shame1×Hosea 9:10
to their own shame1×Jeremiah 7:19
to your own shame1×1 Samuel 20:30
Show sample aligned rows
1 Samuel 20:30לְבָ֨שְׁתְּךָ֔toto your own shamePreposition-l | Noun - feminine singular construct | second person masculine singular1 Samuel 20:30וּלְבֹ֖שֶׁתtoand to the shameConjunctive waw, Preposition-l | Noun - feminine singular construct2 Chronicles 32:21בְּבֹ֨שֶׁתtoin disgracePreposition-b | Noun - feminine singular constructEzra 9:7וּבְבֹ֥שֶׁתtoand humiliationConjunctive waw, Preposition-b | Noun - feminine singular constructJob 8:22בֹ֑שֶׁתtoin shameNoun - feminine singularPsalms 35:26בֹ֥שֶׁתtoin shameNoun - feminine singularPsalms 40:15בָּשְׁתָּ֑םtotheir own shameNoun - feminine singular construct | third person masculine pluralPsalms 44:15וּבֹ֖שֶׁתtoand shameConjunctive waw | Noun - feminine singular constructPsalms 69:19וּ֭בָשְׁתִּיtomy shameConjunctive waw | Noun - feminine singular construct | first person common singularPsalms 70:3בָּשְׁתָּ֑םtotheir shameNoun - feminine singular construct | third person masculine plural
Usage map
A compact distribution from source-word alignment before the full evidence tables.
First aligned row1 Samuel 20:30
Aligned rows30
Books represented12
1 Samuel22 Chronicles1Ezra1Job1Psalms7Isaiah5Jeremiah6Daniel2Hosea1Micah1Habakkuk1Zephaniah2
Source forms
בֹ֑שֶׁת2xḇō·šeṯJob 8:22, Micah 1:11
בֹּ֥שֶׁת2xbō·šeṯJeremiah 7:19, Daniel 9:7
בָּשְׁתָּ֑ם2xbā·šə·tāmPsalms 40:15, Psalms 70:3
בָּשְׁתָּֽם׃2xbā·šə·tāmPsalms 109:29, Zephaniah 3:19
לַבֹּ֔שֶׁת2xlab·bō·šeṯJeremiah 11:13, Hosea 9:10
בְּבֹ֨שֶׁת1xbə·ḇō·šeṯ2 Chronicles 32:21
בְּבֹ֖שֶׁת1xbə·ḇō·šeṯJeremiah 20:18
בְּבָשְׁתֵּ֗נוּ1xbə·ḇā·šə·tê·nūJeremiah 3:25
Parsing patterns
Noun - feminine singular7xJob 8:22, Psalms 35:26, Psalms 132:18, Isaiah 42:17
Noun - feminine singular construct4xIsaiah 54:4, Jeremiah 7:19, Daniel 9:7, Daniel 9:8
Noun - feminine singular construct | third person masculine plural4xPsalms 40:15, Psalms 70:3, Psalms 109:29, Zephaniah 3:19
Preposition-l | Noun - feminine singular2xIsaiah 30:3, Isaiah 30:5
Preposition-l, Article | Noun - feminine singular2xJeremiah 11:13, Hosea 9:10
Conjunctive waw | Noun - feminine singular construct1xPsalms 44:15
Conjunctive waw | Noun - feminine singular construct | first person common singular1xPsalms 69:19
Conjunctive waw, Article | Noun - feminine singular1xJeremiah 3:24
Using This Word Well
Be careful not to...
- Distinguish responsibility for actual wrong from humiliation imposed by abusive or unjust words.
- Allow time, support and honest lament for people burdened by grief or public disgrace.
Avoid claiming...
- Experienced shame does not prove that its bearer caused the harm or deserves contempt.
- Widowhood, displacement or severe distress cannot establish lesser dignity before God.
Evidence Summary
Hebrew word. Shame encompasses both internal feeling and external state; idolatry inherently produces shame through covenant violation.
Source Gloss
shame (the feeling and the condition, as well as its cause); by implication (specifically) an idol
Extended definitionSource: Open Scriptures Hebrew Lexicon + Brown-Driver-Briggs
Shame encompasses both internal feeling and external state; idolatry inherently produces shame through covenant violation.
shame (the feeling and the condition, as well as its cause); by implication (specifically) an idol BDB: shame Usage: ashamed, confusion, greatly, (put to) shame(-ful thing).
Grammatical Forms
How this word appears across different grammatical cases and numbers.
Selected Scripture Witnesses
Selected passage-level study witnesses for this word. This section is not the full occurrence list.
Old Testament Witnesses
shame, disgrace
shame
Disgrace or humiliation experienced publicly.
Showing 3 selected witnesses from 31 lexical occurrence verses.
Word Origins
בֹּשֶׁת is built from this root:
Why This Word Matters
Judgment is not only physical destruction but moral exposure, revealing the emptiness of false security and misplaced pride.Hosea 2:2-13
Public exposure of idolatry.Hosea 4:4-10
Result of covenant inversion.Micah 1:10-16
Canonical Themes
Part of These Phrases
Compound and idiomatic phrases that include this word. Follow a link to study the phrase and how its parts work together.
For the Preacher and Teacher
First Samuel 20 shows shame being used as a weapon. Saul attacks Jonathan and his mother because Jonathan has chosen loyalty to David, and the confrontation proceeds toward violence. The teacher must not turn an angry ruler's words into God's verdict. Daniel 9 has a different posture: Daniel identifies actual communal unfaithfulness, confesses it and appeals to the Lord's mercy.
Honest confession requires naming wrongdoing rather than accepting every insult. Psalm 69 further distinguishes these matters, placing shame before God amid wrongful hostility. Jeremiah 20 preserves severe despair without converting it into advice that life should end. Isaiah 54 addresses restoration through covenant and family imagery; its widowhood language cannot authorize stigma against present widows or a demand that every wounded person recover on schedule.
Hosea's use of Shame for idol allegiance completes another distinct function. Teaching this noun well requires listening to the story behind humiliation, making room for truthful confession and refusing to let authority, grief or an imposed label decide someone's value.
Anchor passage
Ps.69.19
Doctrinal connections
- Daniel attributes righteousness to God while confessing the people's unfaithfulness.
- The same prayer appeals to the Lord's mercy and forgiveness.
- Psalm 69 brings adversary-inflicted shame into prayer before God.
- Isaiah 54 grounds restoration in covenant compassion rather than social stigma.
- Hosea confronts Israel's allegiance to the idol associated with Baal-peor.
- Jeremiah's preserved lament allows truthful expression of profound distress.
Boshet is a feminine noun with absolute, construct and possessive forms. Hosea's Shame usage names an idol-associated object of allegiance; speaker, construction and context distinguish that metonymy from experienced or assigned shame.
From Old to New Testament
Hebrews 12:1-3 directs attention to Jesus, who endured the cross and scorned its shame, before encouraging weary hearers to consider Him. This comparison shows shame imposed on the faithful without requiring injured people to accept abusive labels, remain unsafe or deny their distress.