What does שָׁנִי (shānī) mean in the Bible?
שָׁנִי (shānī): Scarlet dye from an insect; represents wealth, royalty, and sin's crimson stain in prophetic imagery.
Hebrew · H8144
שָׁנִי
Crimson , properly, the insect or its color, also stuff dyed with it
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שָׁנִי H8144
Pronunciation shānī
What does שָׁנִי (shānī) mean in the Bible?
שָׁנִי (shānī): Scarlet dye from an insect; represents wealth, royalty, and sin's crimson stain in prophetic imagery.
Full entry for שָׁנִי (H8144) · Open the biblical lexicon
Questions this entry answers
How does the BSB render H8144?
The BSB source-word alignment has 42 aligned rows for this entry. Common renderings include . . . (27), scarlet yarn (3), in scarlet (2), a scarlet thread (1), and scarlet wool (1).
Where does שָׁנִי (shānī) appear in Scripture?
The source-word alignment first shows this entry at Genesis 38:28. Its strongest book concentrations include Exodus (26), Leviticus (5), Genesis (2), Joshua (2).
Source Word Evidence
BSB source-word alignment connects this entry to exact verse rows, English rendering, source form, transliteration, and parsing.
How English Renders It . . . 27× Exodus 25:4, Exodus 26:1, Exodus 26:31, Exodus 26:36
scarlet yarn 3× Leviticus 14:4, Leviticus 14:6, Leviticus 14:49
in scarlet 2× 2 Samuel 1:24, Proverbs 31:21
a scarlet thread 1× Genesis 38:28
and scarlet wool 1× Numbers 19:6
and the scarlet yarn 1× Leviticus 14:52
are like a scarlet 1× Song Of Solomon 4:3
like scarlet 1× Isaiah 1:18
scarlet 1× Joshua 2:18
the scarlet 1× Joshua 2:21
the scarlet thread 1× Genesis 38:30
the scarlet yarn 1× Leviticus 14:51
yourself in scarlet 1× Jeremiah 4:30
Show sample aligned rows
Genesis 38:28 שָׁנִי֙ to a scarlet thread Noun - masculine singular Genesis 38:30 הַשָּׁנִ֑י to the scarlet thread Article | Noun - masculine singular Exodus 25:4 שָׁנִ֖י to . . . Noun - masculine singular Exodus 26:1 שָׁנִ֔י to . . . Noun - masculine singular Exodus 26:31 שָׁנִ֖י to . . . Noun - masculine singular Exodus 26:36 שָׁנִ֖י to . . . Noun - masculine singular Exodus 27:16 שָׁנִ֛י to . . . Noun - masculine singular Exodus 28:5 הַשָּׁנִ֖י to . . . Article | Noun - masculine singular Exodus 28:6 שָׁנִ֛י to . . . Noun - masculine singular Exodus 28:8 שָׁנִ֖י to . . . Noun - masculine singular
Usage map
A compact distribution from source-word alignment before the full evidence tables.
First aligned row Genesis 38:28
Aligned rows 42
Books represented 10
Genesis 2 Exodus 26 Leviticus 5 Numbers 2 Joshua 2 2 Samuel 1 Proverbs 1 Song Of Solomon 1 Isaiah 1 Jeremiah 1
Source forms
שָׁנִ֖י 13x šā·nî Exodus 25:4, Exodus 26:31, Exodus 26:36, Exodus 28:8
הַשָּׁנִ֖י 5x haš·šā·nî Exodus 28:5, Exodus 35:25, Exodus 38:23, Exodus 39:3
שָׁנִ֔י 4x šā·nî Exodus 26:1, Exodus 28:33, Exodus 36:8, Numbers 4:8
שָׁנִ֛י 3x šā·nî Exodus 27:16, Exodus 28:6, Exodus 28:15
וּשְׁנִ֥י 2x ū·šə·nî Leviticus 14:4, Leviticus 14:49
שָׁנִי֙ 2x šā·nî Genesis 38:28, 2 Samuel 1:24
הַשָּׁנִ֑י 1x haš·šā·nî Genesis 38:30
הַשָּׁנִ֛י 1x haš·šā·nî Exodus 35:35
Parsing patterns
Noun - masculine singular 24x Genesis 38:28, Exodus 25:4, Exodus 26:1, Exodus 26:31
Article | Noun - masculine singular 10x Genesis 38:30, Exodus 28:5, Exodus 35:25, Exodus 35:35
Conjunctive waw | Noun - masculine singular construct 3x Leviticus 14:4, Leviticus 14:49, Numbers 19:6
Noun - masculine singular construct 2x Leviticus 14:6, Leviticus 14:51
Conjunctive waw, Preposition-b | Noun - masculine singular construct 1x Leviticus 14:52
Noun - masculine plural 1x Proverbs 31:21
Preposition-k, Article | Noun - masculine plural 1x Isaiah 1:18
Evidence Summary
Hebrew word. Scarlet dye from an insect; represents wealth, royalty, and sin's crimson stain in prophetic imagery.
Source Gloss
crimson , properly, the insect or its color, also stuff dyed with it
Extended definition Source: Open Scriptures Hebrew Lexicon + Brown-Driver-Briggs
Scarlet dye from an insect; represents wealth, royalty, and sin's crimson stain in prophetic imagery.
crimson, properly, the insect or its color, also stuff dyed with it BDB: scarlet Usage: crimson, scarlet (thread).
Grammatical Forms
How this word appears across different grammatical cases and numbers.
Selected Scripture Witness
Selected passage-level study witnesses for this word. This section is not the full occurrence list.
Old Testament Witnesses
A deep red dye, often associated with vivid color and used here as a metaphor for conspicuous, serious guilt.
Showing 1 selected witness from 42 lexical occurrence verses.
Word Origins
שָׁנִי is of uncertain origin - no further derivation.
Why This Word Matters
The scarlet imagery underscores how obvious and serious Judah’s sin is, magnifying the wonder that God can transform such visible guilt into radiant purity. Isaiah 1:10-20
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.
Sources
MorphGNT Strong's Dictionary XML — CC0 1.0 Public Domain
Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible (morphhb/OSHB) — CC BY 4.0
Open Scriptures Hebrew Lexicon — CC BY 4.0
Berean Standard Bible (BSB) source-word alignment - CC0 Public Domain