H7941 — שֵׁכָר (shêkâr)¶

Core Data¶

Strong's: H7941
Original: שֵׁכָר
Transliteration: shêkâr
Pronunciation: shay-kawr
Part of Speech: Masculine noun
Root: שָׁכַר (shakar, H7937) — to be or become drunk, intoxicated
Occurrences: 23 tokens in 20 verses across 9 books (OT only)
First Occurrence: Lev 10:9 — "Do not drink wine nor strong drink, thou, nor thy sons with thee, when ye go into the tabernacle of the congregation, lest ye die"
Hapax Legomenon: No

Lexicon Definition¶

From H7937 (shakar, "to be drunken"); an intoxicant, i.e. intensely alcoholic liquor: — strong drink, drunkard, strong wine. (BDB: "intoxicating drink, strong drink"; HALOT: a fermented beverage other than grape wine — typically made from grain, date, pomegranate, or honey, distinct from yayin but always clearly inebriating.)

Translation Distribution (KJV)¶

Translation	Verses	%
strong drink (various phrasings)	19	95%
strong wine (Num 28:7)	1	5%
drunkards (Psa 69:12)	1	5%

Nearly monolithic rendering as "strong drink." The outlier at Num 28:7 ("strong wine" poured as drink offering) uses the same lexeme; the Psa 69:12 translation "drunkards" renders the cognate sense of those who habitually consume shekar.

Distribution by Book¶

Book	Count	Per 100 Verses
Micah	1	1.0
Judges	3	0.5
Isaiah	6	0.5
Proverbs	3	0.3
Numbers	2	0.2
Deuteronomy	2	0.2
Leviticus	1	0.1
1 Samuel	1	0.1
Psalms	1	0.0

Pattern: Concentrated in legal texts (Lev, Num, Deu — cultic regulation), Prophets (Isa, Mic — rebuke of intoxication), and Wisdom (Pro — moral warning). Absent from all historical books except Judges (Samson/Nazirite context) and 1 Samuel (Hannah's denial). No NT equivalent outside G4608 σίκερα (one occurrence, Luke 1:15 — John the Baptist).

Semantic Categories¶

1. Cultic Prohibition to Priests¶

Drinking shekar while officiating is a capital offense; it imperils the ability to distinguish holy from profane. - Lev 10:9 — "Do not drink wine nor strong drink... when ye go into the tabernacle of the congregation, lest ye die" - Eze 44:21 (cognate prohibition) — echoes this priestly guard (uses yayin alone; shekar implied)

2. Nazirite Abstention¶

The Nazirite vow bars every product of the vine and any shekar — a total separation from inebriants. - Num 6:3 — "He shall separate [himself] from wine and strong drink, and shall drink no vinegar of wine, or vinegar of strong drink" - Jdg 13:4, 7, 14 — the angel's triple instruction regarding Samson's mother: "drink not wine nor strong drink" - 1 Sam 1:15 — Hannah's defense: "I have drunk neither wine nor strong drink" (echoing Nazirite language)

3. Permitted Festival Use Before the LORD¶

In the tithe-feast at the central sanctuary, the Israelite may purchase shekar with redeemed tithe money and consume it in worshipful rejoicing. - Deut 14:26 — "thou shalt bestow that money for whatsoever thy soul lusteth after, for oxen, or for sheep, or for wine, or for strong drink... and thou shalt eat there before the LORD thy God, and thou shalt rejoice" - Num 28:7 — "the strong wine [shekar] to be poured unto the LORD for a drink offering" (daily tamid libation)

4. Wilderness Withholding / Covenant Memory¶

A deliberate deprivation underscoring dependence on YHWH. - Deut 29:6 — "Ye have not eaten bread, neither have ye drunk wine or strong drink: that ye might know that I am the LORD your God"

5. Prophetic Indictment of Intoxication¶

Shekar epitomizes self-indulgence and moral/spiritual derangement in leaders and populace. - Isa 5:11 — "Woe unto them that rise up early in the morning, that they may follow strong drink" - Isa 5:22 — "Woe unto them that are mighty to drink wine, and men of strength to mingle strong drink" - Isa 28:7 — "the priest and the prophet have erred through strong drink... they err in vision, they stumble in judgment" - Isa 29:9; 56:12 — staggering, greedy drunkenness - Mic 2:11 — a false prophet suitable to a people who want prophecies "of wine and of strong drink"

6. Wisdom Warnings¶

Proverbs depicts shekar as both dangerous and, in one narrow case, merciful. - Prov 20:1 — "Wine is a mocker, strong drink is raging: and whosoever is deceived thereby is not wise" - Prov 31:4 — "It is not for kings... to drink wine; nor for princes strong drink" (impairment of judgment) - Prov 31:6 — "Give strong drink unto him that is ready to perish" (palliative, terminal use)

7. Community Reproach¶

Associated with public disgrace and the songs of the dissolute. - Psa 69:12 — "I was the song of the drunkards" (shekar-cognate sense) - Isa 24:9 — "strong drink shall be bitter to them that drink it" (judgment reversal)

Common Collocations¶

Word	Strong's	Co-occurrences	Typical Pattern
שָׁתָה shathah (drink)	H8354	11x (55%)	"drink not wine nor shekar" — prohibition formula
יַיִן yayin (wine)	H3196	~17x (via LXX oinos pairing)	yayin-weshekar pair — nearly every shekar verse names yayin alongside
לֹא / אַל (negation)	H3808 / H408	13x combined	prohibitive contexts dominate
אָכַל ʼakal (eat)	H398	6x (30%)	eating/drinking paired — feast or abstention scenes
כֹּל kol (all/any)	H3605	6x (30%)	"any strong drink" — totality of prohibition
יְהוָה YHWH	H3068	4x (20%)	tabernacle / before-the-LORD contexts
שָׁגָה shagah (err, stagger)	H7686	2x (10%)	Isa 28:7 — staggering through shekar
רוּחַ ruach (spirit)	H7307	2x (10%)	"spirit of falsehood" (Mic 2:11); Hannah's sorrowful spirit

Key fact for wine/alcohol studies: Of 20 shekar verses, ~17 also contain yayin (H3196). The two words are used as a hendiadys-like pair ("yayin weshekar") covering the full range of inebriating drink. Whatever moral/legal status is assigned to shekar in a given verse is almost always assigned jointly to yayin — they form a linked pair.

Word Family / Cognates¶

H7937 שָׁכַר (shakar) — verb: to become drunk, be intoxicated (the root verb)
H7910 שִׁכּוֹר (shikkor) — adjective: drunken, a drunkard
H7943 שִׁכָּרוֹן (shikkaron) — noun: drunkenness
H7912 (Aram. שְׁכַח) — unrelated; do not conflate

Synonyms¶

H2558 חֹמֶץ — beverage-field neighbor returned by search_relationships.py.
H3196 יַיִן — the paired wine term that dominates shekar's collocational environment.

Antonyms¶

No antonyms were returned by search_relationships.py for H7941.

Easily Confused Words¶

Word	Strong's	Shared Translation / Overlap	Key Difference
יַיִן yayin	H3196	both render as "wine" in some English Bibles; paired in 85%+ of shekar verses	yayin = fermented grape wine specifically; shekar = intoxicant broader than grapes (grain, date, honey); yayin can occasionally be used of fresh/diluted wine, shekar never is
תִּירוֹשׁ tirosh	H8492	sometimes rendered "new wine" or "wine"	tirosh = must/new wine, often in early fermentation stage; never classed with shekar; Hos 4:11 pairs yayin + tirosh (not shekar)
חֶמֶר chemer / chamar	H2561	"wine" in some translations	chemer emphasizes foaming/red character; poetic; not the cultic/legal term
σίκερα síkera	G4608	direct Greek loanword of shekar; "strong drink" in Luke 1:15	Identical semantic field — used of John the Baptist's abstention, inheriting Nazirite prohibition language

UBS Semantic Domains¶

[001002010007] Liquids — search_relationships.py places shêkâr among beverage/liquid terms including H1818 דָּם, H2461 חָלָב, and H2558 חֹמֶץ.
[001002008003005] Wine — tighter wine/drink cluster with H2558 חֹמֶץ, H2561 חֶמֶר, H3196 יַיִן, H4197 מֶזֶג, and H4469 מִמְסָךְ.

LXX Mapping¶

Greek Equivalent	Strong's	Co-occ	PMI	Notes
σίκερα síkera	G4608	13	10.30	Direct transliteration — dedicated Greek term for shekar; NT: Luke 1:15 only
οἶνος oinos	G3631	17	6.97	When LXX compresses yayin+shekar pair; also used alone where shekar stands by itself
πίνω pinō	G4095	11	6.04	The co-occurring verb "to drink"
μέθη methē	G3178	3	8.88	"drunkenness" — rendered where shekar implies the state, not the substance

Primary bridge: σίκερα (G4608) is the dedicated LXX/NT calque of shekar and preserves the Hebrew category of "intoxicant broader than grape wine." Where the LXX uses oinos for shekar it is treating yayin+shekar as a summary pair, not denying shekar's inebriating character. No LXX rendering of shekar is ever by a non-intoxicant term (e.g., grape juice, must).