What does שִׁפְחָה (šipĕḥāh) mean in the Bible?
שִׁפְחָה (šipĕḥāh): Household slave with legal standing within family structure; often contrasted with free women in covenant contexts.
Hebrew · H8198
שִׁפְחָה
A female slave (as a member of the household)
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שִׁפְחָה H8198
Pronunciation šipĕḥāh
What does שִׁפְחָה (šipĕḥāh) mean in the Bible?
שִׁפְחָה (šipĕḥāh): Household slave with legal standing within family structure; often contrasted with free women in covenant contexts.
Full entry for שִׁפְחָה (H8198) · Open the biblical lexicon
Questions this entry answers
How does the BSB render H8198?
The BSB source-word alignment has 63 aligned rows for this entry. Common renderings include and maidservants (9), maidservant (6), maidservants (6), servant (4), your maidservant (4).
Where does שִׁפְחָה (šipĕḥāh) appear in Scripture?
The source-word alignment first shows this entry at Genesis 12:16. Its strongest book concentrations include Genesis (28), 2 Samuel (7), 1 Samuel (6), Jeremiah (6).
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 and maidservants 9× Genesis 12:16, Genesis 20:14, Genesis 24:35, Genesis 32:5
maidservant 6× Genesis 16:1, Genesis 16:3, Genesis 25:12, Genesis 29:29
maidservants 6× Genesis 30:43, Genesis 32:22, Genesis 33:1, 1 Samuel 8:16
servant 4× Genesis 16:8, Genesis 30:7, Genesis 30:10, Genesis 30:12
your maidservant 4× Ruth 2:13, 1 Samuel 28:21, 2 Samuel 14:7, 2 Samuel 14:19
your servant 4× Genesis 16:6, 1 Samuel 25:27, 2 Samuel 14:15, 2 Kings 4:2
. . . 2× Jeremiah 34:9, Jeremiah 34:16
her servant 2× Genesis 30:4, Genesis 30:9
his servant girl 2× Genesis 29:24, Genesis 29:29
my maidservant 2× Genesis 16:2, Genesis 30:18
- 1× Jeremiah 34:16
again 1× Jeremiah 34:11
and a maidservant 1× Proverbs 30:23
and female slaves 1× Deuteronomy 28:68
And now your servant 1× 2 Samuel 14:17
and women 1× 2 Chronicles 28:10
And your maidservant 1× 2 Samuel 14:6
as her maidservant 1× Genesis 29:24
maid 1× Isaiah 24:2
May your maidservant 1× 1 Samuel 1:18
may your servant 1× 2 Samuel 14:12
my servant 1× Genesis 16:5
of a maidservant 1× Psalms 123:2
of the servant girl 1× Exodus 11:5
of your servant girls 1× Ruth 2:13
ready to serve 1× 1 Samuel 25:41
the maidservants 1× Genesis 33:2
Then the maidservants 1× Genesis 33:6
to your maidservant 1× 2 Kings 4:16
to your servant 1× 1 Samuel 28:22
where a servant girl 1× 2 Samuel 17:17
with a slave girl 1× Leviticus 19:20
Show sample aligned rows
Genesis 12:16 וּשְׁפָחֹ֔ת to and maidservants Conjunctive waw | Noun - feminine plural Genesis 16:1 שִׁפְחָ֥ה to maidservant Noun - feminine singular Genesis 16:2 שִׁפְחָתִ֔י to my maidservant Noun - feminine singular construct | first person common singular Genesis 16:3 שִׁפְחָתָ֔הּ to maidservant Noun - feminine singular construct | third person feminine singular Genesis 16:5 שִׁפְחָתִי֙ to my servant Noun - feminine singular construct | first person common singular Genesis 16:6 שִׁפְחָתֵךְ֙ to your servant Noun - feminine singular construct | second person feminine singular Genesis 16:8 שִׁפְחַ֥ת to servant Noun - feminine singular construct Genesis 20:14 וּשְׁפָחֹ֔ת to and maidservants Conjunctive waw | Noun - feminine plural Genesis 24:35 וּשְׁפָחֹ֔ת to and maidservants Conjunctive waw | Noun - feminine plural Genesis 25:12 שִׁפְחַ֥ת to maidservant Noun - feminine singular construct
Usage map
A compact distribution from source-word alignment before the full evidence tables.
First aligned row Genesis 12:16
Aligned rows 63
Books represented 16
Genesis 28 Exodus 1 Leviticus 1 Deuteronomy 1 Ruth 2 1 Samuel 6 2 Samuel 7 2 Kings 3 2 Chronicles 1 Esther 1 Psalms 1 Proverbs 1 Ecclesiastes 1 Isaiah 2 Jeremiah 6 Joel 1
Source forms
שִׁפְחַ֥ת 4x šip̄·ḥaṯ Genesis 16:8, Genesis 25:12, Genesis 30:10, Genesis 35:26
וּשְׁפָחֹ֔ת 3x ū·šə·p̄ā·ḥōṯ Genesis 12:16, Genesis 20:14, Genesis 24:35
שִׁפְחַ֣ת 3x šip̄·ḥaṯ Genesis 30:7, Genesis 30:12, Genesis 35:25
הַשְּׁפָח֛וֹת 2x haš·šə·p̄ā·ḥō·wṯ Genesis 33:2, Genesis 33:6
וְלִשְׁפָח֖וֹת 2x wə·liš·p̄ā·ḥō·wṯ Deuteronomy 28:68, 2 Chronicles 28:10
וְלִשְׁפָחֽוֹת׃ס 2x wə·liš·p̄ā·ḥō·wṯ Jeremiah 34:11, Jeremiah 34:16
שִׁפְחָתָ֔הּ 2x šip̄·ḥā·ṯāh Genesis 16:3, Genesis 30:9
שִׁפְחָת֑וֹ 2x šip̄·ḥā·ṯōw Genesis 29:24, Genesis 29:29
Parsing patterns
Noun - feminine singular construct | second person masculine singular 10x Ruth 2:13, 1 Samuel 1:18, 1 Samuel 25:27, 1 Samuel 28:21
Noun - feminine singular construct 7x Genesis 16:8, Genesis 25:12, Genesis 30:7, Genesis 30:10
Conjunctive waw | Noun - feminine plural 6x Genesis 12:16, Genesis 20:14, Genesis 24:35, Genesis 30:43
Conjunctive waw, Preposition-l | Noun - feminine plural 6x Deuteronomy 28:68, 2 Chronicles 28:10, Esther 7:4, Isaiah 14:2
Article | Noun - feminine plural 5x Genesis 33:1, Genesis 33:2, Genesis 33:6, Jeremiah 34:11
Noun - feminine singular construct | third person masculine singular 5x Genesis 29:24, Genesis 29:29, Jeremiah 34:9, Jeremiah 34:10
Noun - feminine singular 4x Genesis 16:1, Genesis 29:24, Leviticus 19:20, Psalms 123:2
Noun - feminine singular construct | first person common singular 3x Genesis 16:2, Genesis 16:5, Genesis 30:18
Evidence Summary
Hebrew word. Household slave with legal standing within family structure; often contrasted with free women in covenant contexts.
Source Gloss
a female slave (as a member of the household)
Extended definition Source: Open Scriptures Hebrew Lexicon + Brown-Driver-Briggs
Household slave with legal standing within family structure; often contrasted with free women in covenant contexts.
a female slave (as a member of the household) BDB: maid Usage: (bond-, hand-) maid(-en, -servant), wench, bondwoman, womanservant.
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.
Biblical Witnesses
A female slave designated for sexual relations, legally distinct from a wife
A female servant who usurps her mistress's social position and household authority
Showing 2 selected witnesses from 63 lexical occurrence verses.
Word Origins
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