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First available on February 3, 2007 Shîn / Sîn 'sh/s, teeth, sharp, repeat'
This letter s[h]în (a dot on the top right of the letter as opposed to
top left distinguishes between the two pronunciations: $ shîn / sîn)
originally seems to have represented a pair of sharp front teeth. The Hebrew
word for 'teeth' is $"a shên (Strong's #8127) from a verb 'to sharpen'. Ancient Hebrew
scripts represented the letter by a much sharper picture of the letter: W.
$"a shên is used for "ivory tusk" and a
compounded derivative is more specific still: $En:hABIye
shen'habbîym (Strong's #8143) meaning "tooth of elephant" from $"a shên with a possibly African word for
elephant, habbîym (1 Kings 10:22; 2 Chronicles 9:21).
$"a shên is also used of the prong or tine
of a fork, especially a 3 pronged fork (e.g., 1 Samuel 2:13), just as the 3-pronged shape of the letter.
Similarly it visually represented a pair of sharp rocky outcrops or crags as
in 1 Samuel 14:4 [Heb. v5] and Job 39:28. The Ancient Greek form of this letter was upside
down compared to the Hebrew (looking like a capital M) and resembled "twin peaks".
The root verb of $"a shên is $FnÒa shânan "to rub something in, making it
sharp, by repetition, to whet" (Strong's #8150). Arabic has the same verb as sanna.
It is used literally of whetting a sword, of sharpened arrows and
metaphorically of the tongue (Psalm 64:4; 140:4) and teaching (Deuteronomy 6:7) which "by repetition" produced a sharpened,
pricked or quickened understanding.
Just as the verb "to sharpen" is used of arrows, swords and teaching, so a
derived word came to be used for "sharp words": $:nÔynÒh shenîynâh (Strong's #8148). We still speak of "pointed sayings". An
English equivalent might well be sarcasm, a cutting remark, from the Greek
sarkazô, literally meaning "to gnash the teeth" or "tear the flesh
like a dog", also beginning with 's'.
The principal word for "scarlet" or deep crimson is $FnÔy shânîy (Strong's #8144), perhaps as in drawing blood by something
sharp, although its unknown origins have also been founded upon the following
root verb, $FnÓh shânâh "to repeat", as in
a garment twice dyed, or "be bright" (Strong's #8138). It was used of the colour of luxury fabric
and of the dye produced by a worm. Its 42 occurrences are significant and
include the tying of a scarlet thread to indicate the firstborn (Genesis 38:28), the colour of the tabernacle curtain and
door furnishings, the rite for cleansing a leper (Leviticus 14:4f.), the salvation of Rahab by hanging a
scarlet thread from her window (Joshua 2:18,21) and the cleansing of our crimson sins to be
as white as snow (Isaiah 1:18).
Proverbs 31:21 speaks of the virtuous wife who clothes her
family in "scarlet", and thus do not fear the winter. Since scarlet was this
colour associated with expensive clothing it may imply
quality and thickness in keeping out the cold. Interestingly, though, the
Greek and other foreign language versions of the Old Testament often render it
by "double garments" rather than "scarlet garments". This may be mistaken, for
the word is plural (not dual as it would be for a "double" item), but it does
indicate the confusion or alternate origin of $FnÔy shânîy possibly from $FnÓh shânâh "to repeat".
The Hebrew $FnÓh shânâh, meaning "to
repeat", may derive perhaps from the idea that tusks and teeth, like most body
parts often occur in pairs, certainly the older forms of the letter have an
element of dualistic symmetry (two repeated halves).
$FnÓh shânâh (Strong's #8138) "to repeat" gives rise to more words along
similar lines, such as, $:nÒyIe
shenayîm "two" (Strong's #8147) and mI$:nÕh
mish'neh "second, double, repetition" (Strong's #4932), hence the Mishnah, the Jewish oral
tradition initially recorded by oral repetition and sometimes seen as a second
edition of the Law and put into writing from the 2nd century onwards. Oddly,
Judaism has sometimes seen the oral law and Mishnah as superior to the
written, however mish'neh literally means "repeated, double",
i.e., "a copy", not the original and could also be used of something
that was "second in rank or order". So no intrinsic superiority or inferiority
should be strongly adhered to. In fact, Joshua 8:32 records Joshua's writing a mish'neh of
the law again on stones for the people.
From the idea of repetition, $FnÓh shânâh
(Strong's #8141) also means "year", that which repeats
itself. As in Rosh Ha-Shanah, the Jewish new year, literally
"head/chief [of] the year".
The letter # shîn also gives rise to words
meaning '2', '3' and '6': $"nÔy shênîy (Strong's #8145) is used for '2' or "second"; $FlA$ shâlash (Strong's #8027) means "to repeat a 3rd time" and the number
'3' $FlO$ shâlôsh (Strong's #7969) is thus derived, as is a 3-stringed musical
instrument, a $FlIy$ shâlîysh (Strong's #7991). Two #s give us
the word for '6', $"$ shêsh (Strong's #8337) or $I%Fh
shishshâh.
To end, another word that sounds very like the letter name of shîn
itself or shên, a "tooth", is the word for "sleep". The Hebrew is $"nÓ( shênâ’ (Strong's #8142), although it could also be spelt $"nÓh shênâh and $EnÓt shenâth. These derive from the root verb yÓ$Aa yâshan "to be weary" (Strong's #3462). One example of the first spelling is in Psalm 127:2, "It is vain to rise up early, or to go to bed
late, . . . for He gives His beloved sleep".
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