What does שַׁחַת (šaḥaṯ) mean in the Bible?
A pit may be a trap dug by an enemy, an image of threatened death or the decay denied in a particular promise. The speaker and action tell the reader which setting is present.
Hebrew · H7845
שַׁחַת
A pit may be a trap dug by an enemy, an image of threatened death or the decay denied in a particular promise. The speaker and action tell the reader which setting is present.
Reading a lexicon entry
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שַׁחַתH7845
Pronunciationšaḥaṯ
What does שַׁחַת (šaḥaṯ) mean in the Bible?
Reader summary
Full entry for שַׁחַת (H7845) · Open the biblical lexicon
Questions this entry answers
How does the BSB render H7845?
The BSB source-word alignment has 23 aligned rows for this entry. Common renderings include to the Pit (4), a pit (3), from the Pit (3), the Pit (3), decay (2).
Where does שַׁחַת (šaḥaṯ) appear in Scripture?
The source-word alignment first shows this entry at Job 9:31. Its strongest book concentrations include Psalms (9), Job (7), Ezekiel (3), Isaiah (2).
What This Word Actually Means
A pit may be a trap dug by an enemy, an image of threatened death or the decay denied in a particular promise. The speaker and action tell the reader which setting is present. Hezekiah gives thanks for deliverance from the pit of destruction. Isaiah announces release to a captive. Jonah speaks from his narrated descent before the Lord brings his life up. Proverbs warns that a person digging a pit may fall into it, while the psalmist describes an enemy's hidden trap.
Psalm 16 expresses confidence that the Lord will not abandon the speaker to Sheol or let His Holy One see decay. These passages do not make every endangered person guilty or promise every sick hearer an immediate recovery. Keep poetry, rescue accounts and hostile traps distinct, and examine the New Testament's explicit use of Psalm 16 on its own terms.
How the Bible Uses It
Threatened death, a released captive, Jonah's rescue, a proverb about a trap and the psalms' enemy and decay language require attention to actor and genre. Pit imagery cannot assign guilt to a victim.
- Isa.38.17
Surely for my own welfare I had such great anguish; but Your love has delivered me from the pit of oblivion, for You have cast all my sins behind Your back.
Hezekiah thanks the Lord for preserving his life from destruction within his account of illness and recovery.
- Isa.51.14
The captive will soon be freed; he will not die in the dungeon, and his bread will not be lacking.
The addressed captive is promised release rather than death in the pit or lack of bread.
- Jonah.2.6
To the roots of the mountains I descended; the earth beneath me barred me in forever! But You raised my life from the pit, O Lord my God!
Jonah recalls his descent and the Lord bringing his life up from the pit in his prayer.
- Prov.26.27
He who digs a pit will fall into it, and he who rolls a stone will have it roll back on him.
The proverb describes a pit digger falling into it and a rolled stone returning upon its mover.
- Ps.16.10
For You will not abandon my soul to Sheol, nor will You let Your Holy One see decay.
The psalmist expresses confidence concerning Sheol and decay within his stated trust and joyful hope.
- Ps.35.7
For without cause they laid their net for me; without reason they dug a pit for my soul.
The speaker reports a hidden net and a pit prepared without cause by hostile people.
Source Word Evidence
BSB source-word alignment connects this entry to exact verse rows, English rendering, source form, transliteration, and parsing.
How English Renders Itto the Pit4×Job 33:22, Job 33:24, Job 33:28, Ezekiel 28:8
a pit3×Psalms 35:7, Psalms 94:13, Proverbs 26:27
from the Pit3×Psalms 103:4, Isaiah 38:17, Jonah 2:6
the Pit3×Job 33:18, Job 33:30, Psalms 30:9
decay2×Psalms 16:10, Psalms 49:9
in their pit2×Ezekiel 19:4, Ezekiel 19:8
into a pit2×Psalms 7:15, Psalms 9:15
in the dungeon1×Isaiah 51:14
into the pit1×Job 9:31
of destruction1×Psalms 55:23
to corruption1×Job 17:14
Show sample aligned rows
Job 9:31בַּשַּׁ֣חַתtointo the pitPreposition-b, Article | Noun - feminine singularJob 17:14לַשַּׁ֣חַתtoto corruptionPreposition-l, Article | Noun - feminine singularJob 33:18שָׁ֑חַתtothe PitNoun - feminine singularJob 33:22לַשַּׁ֣חַתtoto the PitPreposition-l, Article | Noun - feminine singularJob 33:24שָׁ֗חַתtoto the PitNoun - feminine singularJob 33:28בַּשָּׁ֑חַתtoto the PitPreposition-b, Article | Noun - feminine singularJob 33:30שָׁ֑חַתtothe PitNoun - feminine singularPsalms 7:15בְּשַׁ֣חַתtointo a pitPreposition-b | Noun - feminine singularPsalms 9:15בְּשַׁ֣חַתtointo a pitPreposition-b | Noun - feminine singularPsalms 16:10שָֽׁחַת׃todecayNoun - feminine singular
Usage map
A compact distribution from source-word alignment before the full evidence tables.
First aligned rowJob 9:31
Aligned rows23
Books represented6
Job7Psalms9Proverbs1Isaiah2Ezekiel3Jonah1
Source forms
בְּשַׁ֣חַת2xbə·ša·ḥaṯPsalms 7:15, Psalms 9:15
לַשַּׁ֣חַת2xlaš·ša·ḥaṯJob 17:14, Job 33:22
מִשַּׁ֣חַת2xmiš·ša·ḥaṯPsalms 103:4, Isaiah 38:17
שָׁ֑חַת2xšā·ḥaṯJob 33:18, Job 33:30
בַּשַּׁ֣חַת1xbaš·ša·ḥaṯJob 9:31
בַּשָּׁ֑חַת1xbaš·šā·ḥaṯJob 33:28
בְּשַׁחְתָּ֣ם1xbə·šaḥ·tāmEzekiel 19:4
בְּשַׁחְתָּ֥ם1xbə·šaḥ·tāmEzekiel 19:8
Parsing patterns
Noun - feminine singular8xJob 33:18, Job 33:24, Job 33:30, Psalms 16:10
Preposition-l, Article | Noun - feminine singular4xJob 17:14, Job 33:22, Isaiah 51:14, Ezekiel 28:8
Preposition-b | Noun - feminine singular2xPsalms 7:15, Psalms 9:15
Preposition-b | Noun - feminine singular construct | third person masculine plural2xEzekiel 19:4, Ezekiel 19:8
Preposition-b, Article | Noun - feminine singular2xJob 9:31, Job 33:28
Preposition-m | Noun - feminine singular2xPsalms 103:4, Jonah 2:6
Article | Noun - feminine singular1xPsalms 49:9
Noun - feminine singular construct1xPsalms 35:7
Using This Word Well
Be careful not to...
- Support people facing danger without requiring them to accept blame for an aggressor's trap.
- Receive accounts of rescue gratefully while caring for people whose suffering continues.
Avoid claiming...
- These occurrences cannot make every pit an identical resurrection prediction or every threatened person guilty.
- This noun cannot guarantee immediate recovery, extend every lifespan or replace appropriate medical care.
Evidence Summary
Hebrew word. A pit that ensnares; metaphorically extends to moral and physical corruption, ruin, and the grave itself.
Source Gloss
a pit (especially as a trap); figuratively, destruction
Extended definitionSource: Open Scriptures Hebrew Lexicon + Brown-Driver-Briggs
A pit that ensnares; metaphorically extends to moral and physical corruption, ruin, and the grave itself.
a pit (especially as a trap); figuratively, destruction BDB: pit Usage: corruption, destruction, ditch, grave, pit.
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
Destruction or grave.
Decay; corruption; the pit; refers to the physical dissolution of the body in death
Showing 2 selected witnesses from 23 lexical occurrence verses.
Word Origins
שַׁחַת is built from this root:
שׁוּחַH7743
Why This Word Matters
Depicts deliverance from death and ruin.Isaiah 38:9-20
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
A pit image does not explain itself. In Psalm 35 a speaker says hostile people dug the pit without cause, so the image cannot become evidence that its victim deserves danger. Proverbs directs its warning toward the person who digs a trap, showing a different actor and literary purpose. Hezekiah recounts his own preservation from destruction; Isaiah addresses a captive's release; Jonah prays about the descent and rescue narrated in his book.
Psalm 16 joins the denial of abandonment to Sheol and decay with trust, gladness and the path of life. Acts later uses that passage in an explicit argument about Jesus and David. A congregation should follow the stated argument rather than attach every pit reference to an identical prediction. It can thank God for a narrated rescue and care for people still threatened, without promising a particular medical outcome or treating their continued suffering as proof of guilt.
Anchor passage
Ps.16.10
Doctrinal connections
- Hezekiah gives thanks for preservation within his own narrated illness and recovery.
- Isaiah's addressed captive is promised release and the provision of bread.
- Jonah attributes his life brought up from the pit to the Lord.
- Proverbs warns the trap digger through the return of his own destructive action.
- Psalm 16 places its hope concerning decay within trust and the path of life.
- Psalm 35 names hostile people and a pit prepared against its speaker without cause.
The licensed pit and destruction range includes the decay rendering in Psalm 16. Twenty-three direct BSB tokens in twenty-three verses remain separate from canonical twenty-three; artifact transliteration is preserved and neither spelling nor a shared image supplies an automatic guilt diagnosis.
From Old to New Testament
Acts 13:26-39 explicitly quotes Psalm 16 and distinguishes David, who served his generation and saw decay, from Jesus, whom God raised and who did not see decay. Follow that stated resurrection argument and its proclamation of forgiveness, without claiming that every selected pit verse is a direct prediction of Jesus or a universal recovery promise.