To spill forth (blood, a libation, liquid metal; or even a solid, i.e. to mound up); also (figuratively) to expend (life, soul, complaint, money, etc.); intensively, to sprawl out
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What this page is: Each lexicon entry shows the original Hebrew or Greek word behind the English translation: its meaning, its range of use, and where it appears in Scripture.
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H8210 describes causing liquid, blood, complaint, or another substance to flow out, with contexts ranging from ordinary pouring and ritual action to prayer, violence, and judgment. The concrete motion remains important even when the verb carries figurative force, and the object poured determines whether the act expresses worship, lament, waste, guilt, generosity, or harm.
Reader summary
Full entry for שָׁפַךְ (H8210) · Open the biblical lexicon
H8210 describes causing liquid, blood, complaint, or another substance to flow out, with contexts ranging from ordinary pouring and ritual action to prayer, violence, and judgment. The concrete motion remains important even when the verb carries figurative force, and the object poured determines whether the act expresses worship, lament, waste, guilt.
The BSB source-word alignment has 115 aligned rows for this entry. Common renderings include pour out (9), I will pour out (8), shed (6), pour (4), You have shed (3).
The source-word alignment first shows this entry at Genesis 9:6. Its strongest book concentrations include Ezekiel (33), Psalms (12), Leviticus (8), Jeremiah (7).
H8210 describes causing liquid, blood, complaint, or another substance to flow out, with contexts ranging from ordinary pouring and ritual action to prayer, violence, and judgment. The concrete motion remains important even when the verb carries figurative force, and the object poured determines whether the act expresses worship, lament, waste, guilt, generosity, or harm.
In 1Sam. 1. 15, hannah answers the accusation of drunkenness by explaining that she has been pouring out her soul before the Lord. In 1Sam. 7. 6, israel pours water before the Lord while fasting and confessing sin, and Samuel intercedes for the people. H8210 opens teaching on embodied lament and worship while also giving Scripture direct language for bloodshed, accountability, and lives treated as expendable.
It corrects sentimental use of pouring imagery that ignores the verbs violent contexts, as well as claims that emotional disclosure itself guarantees faithful worship. H8210 can carry prayer and guilt in very different directions: Hannah pours out her soul before the Lord, Israel pours water in a scene of confession and intercession, and David is denied temple-building because he has shed much blood.
For H8210, responsible teaching keeps lexical meaning, passage context, canonical synthesis, and present application distinguishable. The verb does not glorify violence, make every intense emotion a divine message, or turn ritual pouring into a technique that controls Gods response.
H8210 appears across passages that develop poured prayer, ritual action, bloodshed, costly expenditure, judgment, and honest lament before God. For H8210, the immediate setting decides which part of the range is active, so the witnesses must remain distinct rather than being merged into one formula.
“No, my lord,” Hannah replied. “I am a woman troubled in spirit. I have not had any wine or strong drink, but I have poured out my soul before the Lord.
Hannah answers the accusation of drunkenness by explaining that she has been pouring out her soul before the Lord.
When they had gathered at Mizpah, they drew water and poured it out before the Lord. On that day they fasted, and there they confessed, “We have sinned against the Lord.” And Samuel judged the Israelites at Mizpah.
Israel pours water before the Lord while fasting and confessing sin, and Samuel intercedes for the people.
But this word of the Lord came to me: ‘You have shed much blood and waged great wars. You are not to build a house for My Name because you have shed so much blood on the ground before Me.
David recounts that his abundant bloodshed prevents him from building the house for the LORDs name.
BSB source-word alignment connects this entry to exact verse rows, English rendering, source form, transliteration, and parsing.
How English Renders ItA compact distribution from source-word alignment before the full evidence tables.
Hebrew word. To pour out violently or completely—especially blood sacrifice or divine wrath; implies total expenditure or loss.
To pour out violently or completely—especially blood sacrifice or divine wrath; implies total expenditure or loss.
to spill forth (blood, a libation, liquid metal; or even a solid, i.e. to mound up); also (figuratively) to expend (life, soul, complaint, money, etc.); intensively, to sprawl out BDB: pour out Usage: cast (up), gush out, pour (out), shed(-der, out), slip.
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.
Selected passage-level study witnesses for this word. This section is not the full occurrence list.
Showing 1 selected witness from 117 lexical occurrence verses.
שָׁפַךְ is a primitive root - no further derivation.
Conveys generous divine initiative in blessing.Isaiah 44:1-5
Compound and idiomatic phrases that include this word. Follow a link to study the phrase and how its parts work together.
H8210 can carry prayer and guilt in very different directions: Hannah pours out her soul before the Lord, Israel pours water in a scene of confession and intercession, and David is denied temple-building because he has shed much blood. H8210 describes causing liquid, blood, complaint, or another substance to flow out, with contexts ranging from ordinary pouring and ritual action to prayer, violence, and judgment.
The selected witnesses keep the teaching concrete: 1Sam. 1. 15 shows that hannah answers the accusation of drunkenness by explaining that she has been pouring out her soul before the Lord. , while 1Sam. 7. 6 shows that israel pours water before the Lord while fasting and confessing sin, and Samuel intercedes for the people.. 1Chr. 22. 8 adds that david recounts that his abundant bloodshed prevents him from building the house for the LORDs name..
H8210 opens teaching on embodied lament and worship while also giving Scripture direct language for bloodshed, accountability, and lives treated as expendable. It corrects sentimental use of pouring imagery that ignores the verbs violent contexts, as well as claims that emotional disclosure itself guarantees faithful worship. A church teaching H8210 faithfully will name both the promise and the boundary carried by these contexts, attend to vulnerable hearers, and refuse to make the lexical item prove more than its passages support.
The verb does not glorify violence, make every intense emotion a divine message, or turn ritual pouring into a technique that controls Gods response.
1Sam.1.15
H8210 is a Hebrew verb for pouring, spilling, or shedding; its object and construction distinguish liquid offerings, exposed contents, poured prayer, shed blood, and related figurative uses.
Prophets use pouring language for wrath and for the promised Spirit, while the New Testament speaks of Christ shedding blood and of lives poured out in service. These trajectories require contextual distinction rather than one undifferentiated sacrifice metaphor.