H7650 — שָׁבַע (shaba)¶

Core Data¶

Strong's: H7650
Original: שָׁבַע
Transliteration: shâbaʻ
Pronunciation: shaw-bah
Part of Speech: Verb (primitive root)
Root: Denominative from H7651 שֶׁבַע (sheba, "seven") — to seven oneself, i.e. swear as if by repeating a declaration seven times
Occurrences: 175 unique verses (217 tokens) across 27 books
First Occurrence: Gen 21:23 — "Now therefore swear unto me here by God that thou wilt not deal falsely with me, nor with my son, nor with my son's son..."
Hapax Legomenon: No

Lexicon Definition¶

A primitive root; properly to be complete, but used only as a denominative from H7651; to seven oneself, i.e. swear (as if by repeating a declaration seven times): — adjure, charge (by an oath, with an oath), feed to the full (by mistake for H7646), take an oath, straitly, (cause to, make to) swear.

Verb Stem Distribution¶

Stem	Count	Typical Meaning
Niphal	103	swear, take an oath (reflexive — "bind oneself by oath")
Hiphil	21	cause to swear, put under oath, adjure

The verb occurs exclusively in Niphal (83%) and Hiphil (17%). No Qal, Piel, or other stems are attested. The Niphal reflexive sense ("swear oneself") is the standard form for oath-taking. The Hiphil causative ("make someone swear") appears when one party administers an oath to another.

Translation Distribution (KJV)¶

Translation	Verses	%
sware / sware unto	47	26.9%
swear / swear unto / swear by	30	17.1%
I have sworn / hath sworn / have sworn / had sworn	32	18.3%
I charge / charged / shall charge	10	5.7%
adjure / adjured	4	2.3%
took an oath	3	1.7%
straitly	2	1.1%
sweareth / swearers	6	3.4%
Other verb forms	41	23.4%

The overwhelming majority of translations center on "swear/sware/sworn" (>80%). The secondary cluster "charge/adjure" (8%) reflects the Hiphil causative — putting someone under oath. "Took an oath" and "straitly" are minor periphrastic renderings.

Distribution by Book¶

Book	Count	Per 100 Verses
Deuteronomy	33	3.4
Amos	4	2.7
Joshua	15	2.3
Zephaniah	1	1.9
Malachi	1	1.8
1 Samuel	11	1.4
1 Kings	10	1.2
Genesis	17	1.1
Jeremiah	13	1.0
Judges	6	1.0
Micah	1	1.0
2 Samuel	6	0.9
Zechariah	2	0.9
Numbers	8	0.6
Psalms	12	0.5
Isaiah	7	0.5
Leviticus	4	0.5
2 Chronicles	4	0.5
Nehemiah	2	0.5
Ecclesiastes	1	0.5
Exodus	5	0.4
Ezra	1	0.4
2 Kings	2	0.3
Daniel	1	0.3
Ezekiel	2	0.2
Song of Solomon	5	0.0
Hosea	1	0.5

Patterns: Deuteronomy dominates with 33 occurrences (19% of all uses) at the highest density (3.4/100v), reflecting Moses's repeated appeals to the patriarchal oath. The Pentateuch + Joshua together account for 83 uses (47%), concentrated around God's land-oath to the fathers. Prophetic books (Jeremiah, Isaiah, Amos) account for 25 uses, often quoting or invoking the divine oath. The word is absent from wisdom literature except Ecclesiastes (1x) and Song of Solomon (5x — the "I charge you" refrain).

Semantic Categories¶

1. Divine Oath to the Patriarchs (Land Promise)¶

The most frequent use — God swearing to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob to give the land to their descendants. This formula recurs throughout Deuteronomy and the historical books. - Gen 26:3 — "I will perform the oath which I sware unto Abraham thy father" - Deu 1:8 — "go in and possess the land which the LORD sware unto your fathers, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob" - Deu 34:4 — "This is the land which I sware unto Abraham, unto Isaac, and unto Jacob" - Jos 21:43 — "the LORD gave unto Israel all the land which he sware to give unto their fathers"

2. Divine Oath of Judgment or Decree¶

God swearing by himself, his holiness, or his right hand to announce irrevocable judgment or decree. - Gen 22:16 — "By myself have I sworn, saith the LORD, for because thou hast done this thing..." - Psa 95:11 — "Unto whom I sware in my wrath that they should not enter into my rest" - Psa 110:4 — "The LORD hath sworn, and will not repent, Thou art a priest for ever after the order of Melchizedek" - Isa 45:23 — "I have sworn by myself, the word is gone out of my mouth in righteousness, and shall not return" - Amo 4:2 — "The Lord GOD hath sworn by his holiness"

3. Interpersonal Covenant Oath¶

Humans swearing to one another to establish or seal an agreement, treaty, or promise. - Gen 21:23-24 — Abimelech to Abraham: "swear unto me here by God"... "I will swear" - Gen 25:33 — "Jacob said, Swear to me this day; and he sware unto him" - Jos 9:15 — "Joshua made peace with them, and made a league with them... and the princes of the congregation sware unto them" - 1Sa 20:42 — "we have sworn both of us in the name of the LORD"

4. Adjuration — Placing Another Under Oath (Hiphil)¶

Causing someone to swear, administering an oath. Concentrated in the Hiphil stem. - Gen 24:3 — "I will make thee swear by the LORD, the God of heaven" - Num 5:19 — "the priest shall charge her by an oath" - Jos 6:26 — "Joshua adjured them at that time, saying, Cursed be the man..." - 1Ki 22:16 — "How many times shall I adjure thee that thou tell me nothing but that which is true?"

5. Solemn Charge / Entreaty (Song of Solomon)¶

The distinctive refrain in Song of Solomon where the beloved charges the daughters of Jerusalem, using shaba in a non-oath entreaty formula. - Song 2:7 — "I charge you, O ye daughters of Jerusalem, by the roes, and by the hinds of the field, that ye stir not up, nor awake my love" - Song 3:5 — same formula repeated - Song 5:8 — "I charge you, O daughters of Jerusalem, if ye find my beloved, that ye tell him" - Song 8:4 — same formula repeated

6. Personal Vow or Oath of Commitment¶

An individual swearing to God or making a binding personal commitment. - Psa 119:106 — "I have sworn, and I will perform it, that I will keep thy righteous judgments" - Psa 132:2 — "How he sware unto the LORD, and vowed unto the mighty God of Jacob" - Num 30:2 — "If a man... swear an oath to bind his soul with a bond; he shall not break his word"

7. False or Forbidden Swearing¶

Swearing falsely, by false gods, or in prohibited contexts. - Lev 19:12 — "ye shall not swear by my name falsely, neither shalt thou profane the name of thy God" - Jer 5:2 — "though they say, The LORD liveth; surely they swear falsely" - Jer 7:9 — "Will ye steal, murder, and commit adultery, and swear falsely, and burn incense unto Baal?" - Hos 4:15 — "come not ye unto Gilgal, neither go ye up to Bethaven, nor swear, The LORD liveth" - Zep 1:5 — "them that worship and that swear by the LORD, and that swear by Malcham"

Common Collocations¶

Word	Strong's	Co-occurrences	Typical Pattern
יְהֹוָה (Yehowah)	H3068	90x (51%)	"the LORD sware," "swear by the LORD," "the LORD hath sworn"
אָמַר (ʼamar)	H559	64x (37%)	"sware, saying..." — introduces the oath content
אָב (ʼab)	H1	46x (26%)	"sware unto your/their fathers" — patriarchal oath formula
אֶרֶץ (ʼerets)	H776	46x (26%)	"the land which he sware" — land-oath context
אֱלֹהִים (ʼelohiym)	H430	42x (24%)	"swear by God," "God hath sworn"
נָתַן (nathan)	H5414	41x (23%)	"land which he sware to give them"
יִשְׂרָאֵל (Yisraʼel)	H3478	20x (11%)	"sware unto Israel," "God of Israel" in oath contexts
יַעֲקֹב (Yaʻaqob)	H3290	16x (9%)	Patriarchal recipient of the oath
מֶלֶךְ (melek)	H4428	16x (9%)	Royal oath-taking or oath administered by king

Note: The dominance of YHWH (51%), father (26%), and land (26%) in collocations reflects the centrality of the divine land-oath to the patriarchs in the word's usage.

Word Family / Cognates¶

H7651 שֶׁבַע (sheba) — seven; the etymological source — swearing connected to the number seven, possibly from the ritual of sevening (repeating an oath seven times or offering seven sacrifices)
H7621 שְׁבוּעָה (shebuʻah) — oath; feminine passive participle of H7650 — the resulting oath itself
H7620 שָׁבוּעַ (shabuwa) — week, period of seven; related through shared root

Synonyms¶

From SDBH semantic domain [002004001009013] Vow: - H423 אָלָה (ʼalah) — oath-curse, imprecation (32v) — the self-curse dimension of an oath - H422 אָלָה (ʼalah) — to adjure, swear-curse (6v) — verb form emphasizing the imprecation - H5087 נָדַר (nadar) — to vow (28v) — voluntary promise to God, less binding than shaba - H1285 בְּרִית (beriyth) — covenant (264v) — the larger covenant framework that oaths seal

Antonyms¶

From SDBH semantic domain [002004001009012] Revile (shaba as opposite of curse-speech): - H7043 קָלַל (qalal) — to curse, make light of

Easily Confused Words¶

Word	Strong's	Shared Translation	Key Difference
ὀμνύω (omnyo)	G3660	swear / sware	Greek NT verb; direct LXX equivalent of shaba
אָלָה (ʼalah)	H423	oath	ʼalah = oath-as-curse/imprecation; shaba = oath-as-binding-commitment
צָוָה (tsavah)	H6680	charged	tsavah = command/appoint; shaba "charge" = place under oath

LXX Mapping¶

Greek Equivalent	Co-occurrence	PMI Score	Notes
ὀμνύω (omnyo) G3660	143x	34.74	Primary equivalent — near one-to-one bridge
ὁρκίζω (horkizo) G3726	18x	20.34	"Put on oath, adjure" — used for Hiphil "cause to swear"
ὅρκος (horkos) G3727	12x	13.84	"Oath" (noun) — used when LXX renders the verb nominally

The dominant mapping is H7650 → G3660 ὀμνύω with 143 co-occurrences (82% of H7650's 175 verses), making this one of the strongest LXX bridges in the vocabulary.