What does שָׁטַף mean in the Bible?
Overflowing or washing describes a force that runs over something, sweeps it away or rinses its surface. The object and setting determine whether that movement concerns danger, cleansing or an image in a poem.
Hebrew · H7857
שָׁטַף
Overflowing or washing describes a force that runs over something, sweeps it away or rinses its surface. The object and setting determine whether that movement concerns danger, cleansing or an image in a poem.
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שָׁטַףH7857
What does שָׁטַף mean in the Bible?
Reader summary
Full entry for שָׁטַף (H7857) · Open the biblical lexicon
Questions this entry answers
How does the BSB render H7857?
The BSB source-word alignment has 31 aligned rows for this entry. Common renderings include like a flood (2), torrents (2), will be swept away (2), . . . (1), an overflowing (1).
Where does שָׁטַף appear in Scripture?
The source-word alignment first shows this entry at Leviticus 6:28. Its strongest book concentrations include Isaiah (9), Daniel (4), Ezekiel (4), Psalms (4).
What This Word Actually Means
Overflowing or washing describes a force that runs over something, sweeps it away or rinses its surface. The object and setting determine whether that movement concerns danger, cleansing or an image in a poem. Isaiah 8:8 pictures Assyria's advance as waters sweeping into Judah and reaching the neck. Leviticus 15:12 directs that a wooden utensil touched in the stated condition be rinsed with water.
Song of Songs 8:7 declares that rivers cannot sweep love away, within a celebration of love that cannot be purchased. The same broad action therefore does not make every washing a judgment or every flood image a promise. Readers should ask what moves, what receives its force and whether the passage is describing an action or making a comparison. The stated setting supplies the consequence rather than an imagined spiritual meaning of water itself.
Passage contextPastoral application
How the Bible Uses It
Assyria's invading flood image, the rinsing of a utensil and rivers unable to sweep away love show contrasting objects and purposes. Water movement serves different claims in prophecy, ritual instruction and poetry.
- Isa.8.8
It will pour into Judah, swirling and sweeping over it, reaching up to the neck; its spreading streams will cover your entire land, O Immanuel!
The waters reaching Judah's neck continue the explicitly identified Assyrian flood image; the passage concerns a named political threat rather than every later natural disaster.
- Lev.15.12
Any clay pot that the man with the discharge touches must be broken, and any wooden utensil must be rinsed with water.
The command contrasts a broken clay vessel with a rinsed wooden utensil in the stated ritual condition; it does not provide a general modern treatment protocol.
- Song.8.7
Mighty waters cannot quench love; rivers cannot sweep it away. If a man were to give all the wealth of his house for love, his offer would be utterly scorned.
Rivers' inability to sweep love away and wealth's inability to purchase it belong to the poem's strong comparison, not a command to tolerate harm within a relationship.
Source Word Evidence
BSB source-word alignment connects this entry to exact verse rows, English rendering, source form, transliteration, and parsing.
How English Renders Itlike a flood2×Daniel 11:10, Daniel 11:40
torrents2×Ezekiel 13:13, Ezekiel 38:22
will be swept away2×Daniel 11:22, Daniel 11:26
. . .1×Isaiah 28:2
an overflowing1×Jeremiah 47:2
and rinsed1×Leviticus 6:28
charging1×Jeremiah 8:6
engulf me1×Psalms 69:15
engulfs me1×Psalms 69:2
first rinsing1×Leviticus 15:11
in torrents1×Ezekiel 13:11
is like a rushing1×Isaiah 30:28
like a flowing1×Isaiah 66:12
must be rinsed1×Leviticus 15:12
overflowing1×Isaiah 10:22
overwhelm you1×Isaiah 43:2
raged1×Psalms 78:20
rinsed off1×Ezekiel 16:9
sweep it away1×Song Of Solomon 8:7
swirling1×Isaiah 8:8
that flowed1×2 Chronicles 32:4
the overwhelming1×Isaiah 28:18
the overwhelming scourge1×Isaiah 28:15
They will overflow1×Jeremiah 47:2
was washed1×1 Kings 22:38
wash away1×Job 14:19
will flood1×Isaiah 28:17
would have engulfed us1×Psalms 124:4
Show sample aligned rows
Leviticus 6:28וְשֻׁטַּ֖ףtoand rinsedConjunctive waw | Verb - Pual - Conjunctive perfect - third person masculine singularLeviticus 15:11שָׁטַ֣ףtofirst rinsingVerb - Qal - Perfect - third person masculine singularLeviticus 15:12יִשָּׁטֵ֖ףtomust be rinsedVerb - Nifal - Imperfect - third person masculine singular1 Kings 22:38וַיִּשְׁטֹ֨ףtowas washedConjunctive waw | Verb - Qal - Consecutive imperfect - third person masculine singular2 Chronicles 32:4הַשּׁוֹטֵ֥ףtothat flowedArticle | Verb - Qal - Participle - masculine singularJob 14:19תִּשְׁטֹֽף־towash awayVerb - Qal - Imperfect - third person feminine singularPsalms 69:2שְׁטָפָֽתְנִי׃toengulfs meVerb - Qal - Perfect - third person feminine singular | first person common singularPsalms 69:15תִּשְׁטְפֵ֤נִי׀toengulf meVerb - Qal - Imperfect - third person feminine singular | first person common singularPsalms 78:20יִ֫שְׁטֹ֥פוּtoragedVerb - Qal - Imperfect - third person masculine pluralPsalms 124:4שְׁטָפ֑וּנוּtowould have engulfed usVerb - Qal - Perfect - third person common plural | first person common plural
Usage map
A compact distribution from source-word alignment before the full evidence tables.
First aligned rowLeviticus 6:28
Aligned rows31
Books represented10
Leviticus31 Kings12 Chronicles1Job1Psalms4Song Of Solomon1Isaiah9Jeremiah3Ezekiel4Daniel4
Source forms
שׁוֹטֵף֙2xšō·w·ṭêp̄Isaiah 28:18, Isaiah 30:28
שָׁטַ֣ף2xšā·ṭap̄Leviticus 15:11, Isaiah 8:8
הַשּׁוֹטֵ֥ף1xhaš·šō·w·ṭêp̄2 Chronicles 32:4
וָאֶשְׁטֹ֥ף1xwā·’eš·ṭōp̄Ezekiel 16:9
וַיִּשְׁטֹ֨ף1xway·yiš·ṭōp̄1 Kings 22:38
וְיִשְׁטְפוּ֙1xwə·yiš·ṭə·p̄ūJeremiah 47:2
וְשָׁטַ֣ף1xwə·šā·ṭap̄Daniel 11:10
וְשָׁטַ֥ף1xwə·šā·ṭap̄Daniel 11:40
Parsing patterns
Verb - Qal - Participle - masculine singular10xIsaiah 10:22, Isaiah 28:15, Isaiah 28:18, Isaiah 30:28
Conjunctive waw | Verb - Qal - Conjunctive perfect - third person masculine singular2xDaniel 11:10, Daniel 11:40
Verb - Qal - Imperfect - third person masculine plural2xPsalms 78:20, Isaiah 28:17
Verb - Qal - Perfect - third person masculine singular2xLeviticus 15:11, Isaiah 8:8
Article | Verb - Qal - Participle - masculine singular1x2 Chronicles 32:4
Conjunctive waw | Verb - Pual - Conjunctive perfect - third person masculine singular1xLeviticus 6:28
Conjunctive waw | Verb - Qal - Conjunctive imperfect - third person masculine plural1xJeremiah 47:2
Conjunctive waw | Verb - Qal - Consecutive imperfect - first person common singular1xEzekiel 16:9
Using This Word Well
Be careful not to...
- Explain a passage's named threat without predicting the cause or divine meaning of a present disaster.
- Honor truthful and protective care alongside love's endurance rather than using a strong image to suppress needed boundaries.
Avoid claiming...
- Do not claim every overflow signifies wrath; Isaiah 66:12 uses a flowing stream within promised comfort and abundance.
- Do not claim enduring love requires hiding harm; First Corinthians 13:6 explicitly connects love with rejoicing in truth.
Evidence Summary
Hebrew word. to gush ; by implication, to inundate , cleanse ; by analogy, to gallop , conquer
Source Gloss
to gush ; by implication, to inundate , cleanse ; by analogy, to gallop , conquer
Extended definitionSource: Open Scriptures Hebrew Lexicon + Brown-Driver-Briggs
to gush; by implication, to inundate, cleanse; by analogy, to gallop, conquer BDB: overflow Usage: drown, (over-) flow(-whelm, rinse, run, rush, (throughly) wash (away).
Grammatical Forms
How the stem changes the meaning of this verb across the biblical text.
This verb appears through different tense, voice, mood, or stem patterns. Those forms help readers see how the action is presented in context.
Form groups2Aligned forms19
Qalbasic active stem — the word in its most common, direct sense17×
Participle activeEzek 13:11 · Ezek 13:13 · Ezek 38:22 · Isa 10:22 · Isa 28:2 · Isa 28:15 · Isa 28:18 · Isa 30:28 · Isa 66:12 · Jer 8:6 · Jer 47:211×
ImperfectIsa 28:17 · Ps 78:20 · Dan 11:26 · Job 14:194×
PerfectIsa 8:8 · Lev 15:112×
Niphalpassive or reflexive — the subject receives or experiences the action2×
ImperfectDan 11:22 · Lev 15:122×
Word Origins
שָׁטַף is a primitive root - no further derivation.
For the Preacher and Teacher
Isaiah names the Assyrian king before describing waters that overflow into Judah. That identification matters: the image interprets a particular threat, rather than supplying a rule for judging every flood or frightened community. Leviticus describes an ordinary action of rinsing within Israel's stated ritual instructions, while Song of Songs uses the failure of rivers to sweep love away to praise love's strength and resist its purchase.
Isaiah 66 adds a beneficial flowing-stream comparison in the promise of Jerusalem's abundance. A teacher should allow these differing directions of the imagery to remain visible. Christian comparison with Paul's enduring love can be made from the passages' teaching, while remembering his insistence that love rejoices in truth. Neither a Hebrew water verb nor a poetic declaration authorizes the concealment of harm or an unsupported prediction of judgment.
Anchor passage
Isa.8.8
Doctrinal connections
- Isaiah 8:6-8 explicitly identifies Assyria before picturing its advance as powerful waters overflowing into Judah.
- Leviticus 15:10-14 distinguishes prescribed washing and rinsing within Israel's stated ritual conditions and subsequent cleansing procedure.
- Song of Songs 8:6-7 praises love's strength through waters that cannot extinguish or sweep it away and wealth that cannot purchase it.
- Isaiah 28:15-19 pictures water flooding a refuge of lies within a particular prophetic indictment.
- Isaiah 66:10-14 uses river and flowing-stream imagery in a promise of comfort and abundance for Jerusalem.
- First Corinthians 13:6-8 joins love's endurance with rejoicing in truth, a thematic comparison rather than a quotation of the Hebrew poem.
The verb's range includes flowing over, washing and sweeping away. A wooden utensil, a land and love in a poem require different explanations; an image's positive or threatening force comes from its own passage.
From Old to New Testament
Song of Songs 8:6-7 celebrates love that waters cannot extinguish or wealth purchase. First Corinthians 13:6-8 speaks of enduring love that rejoices in truth. These are thematically related teachings with different settings and vocabulary, not interchangeable definitions. Their comparison must not turn endurance into a requirement to conceal wrongdoing or remain exposed to violence.
Passage contextCanonical parallelPastoral application