H7993 — שָׁלַךְ (shâlak)¶

Core Data¶

Strong's: H7993
Original: שָׁלַךְ
Transliteration: shâlak
Pronunciation: shaw-lak
Part of Speech: Verb (primitive root)
Occurrences: 121 unique verses, 125 verb tokens in OT
Book Count: 26 books
First Occurrence: Gen 21:15 — "And the water was spent in the bottle, and she cast the child under one of the shrubs."
Hapax Legomenon: No

Lexicon Definition¶

A primitive root; to throw out, down or away (literally or figuratively): — adventure, cast (away, down, forth, off, out), hurl, pluck, throw.

Verb Stem Distribution¶

Stem	Count	Voice	Typical Meaning
Hiphil	112	causative active	to throw, cast, hurl, fling (actor actively casts object)
Hophal	13	causative passive	to be cast, be thrown, be flung (object passively cast down)

The verb occurs exclusively in causative stems — never in Qal. This is morphologically significant: shâlak is inherently a causative action. The Hiphil names the agent who does the casting; the Hophal names the object that undergoes being cast, leaving the caster implicit or suppressed. The Hophal participle mušlāḵ ("cast out/down") and Hophal perfect hošlaḵ ("was cast") are the key passive forms.

Translation Distribution (KJV)¶

Translation cluster	Approx. Verses	%
"cast" / "and cast" / "cast him/them/it"	~70	58%
"cast out" / "cast away" / "cast forth" / "cast off"	~25	21%
"cast down"	5	4%
"thrown" / "threwest"	2	2%
"hurl"	1	1%
"pluck(ed)"	2	2%
"adventured"	1	1%
Other idiomatic renderings	~15	12%

(Aggregated from 80+ distinct KJV phrase variants; the dominant English gloss is "cast" with prepositional modifiers.)

Distribution by Book¶

Book	Count	Per 100 Verses
2 Kings	15	2.1
Jeremiah	14	1.0
Ezekiel	10	0.8
Psalms	10	0.4
Exodus	9	0.7
Joshua	5	0.8
2 Samuel	5	0.7
1 Kings	5	0.6
2 Chronicles	5	0.6
Isaiah	5	0.4
Genesis	4	0.3
Judges	4	0.6
Job	4	0.4
Daniel	3	0.8
Deuteronomy	3	0.3
Nehemiah	3	0.7
Numbers	3	0.2
Zechariah	2	0.9
Amos	2	1.4
Micah	2	1.9
Ecclesiastes	2	0.9
Leviticus	2	0.2
Nahum	1	2.1
Jonah	1	2.1
Joel	1	1.4
Lamentations	1	0.6

The verb's highest raw counts are in 2 Kings, Jeremiah, and Ezekiel — the literature of judgment, exile, and removal. By density, Nahum, Jonah, and 2 Kings top the list. Dan 8 contains 3 of the 357 verses (0.8/100), clustered tightly in the little-horn vision (8:7, 8:11, 8:12).

Semantic Categories¶

1. Physical Casting / Discarding (Everyday Action)¶

The literal sense: a person throws an object away, out, or into a location. - Gen 21:15 — "she cast the child under one of the shrubs" (Hagar) - Exo 4:3 — "Cast it on the ground. And he cast it on the ground, and it became a serpent" - Exo 32:24 — "I cast it into the fire, and there came out this calf" - Eccl 3:5-6 — "a time to cast away stones... a time to cast away" (proverbial)

2. Casting Down From Height / Violent Overthrow¶

Object thrown from an elevated position to a lower one. Often involves bodies, corpses, or the demeaning exposure of the dead. - 2 Ki 9:25-26 — "cast him in the portion of the field of Naboth" (Jehu on Joram's corpse) - 2 Ki 9:33 — (context for Jezebel thrown from window, though shalak not in 9:33 itself; cf. the broader Jehu cycle 2 Ki 9:25-26) - Jdg 9:53 — "a certain woman cast a piece of a millstone upon Abimelech's head" - 2 Sa 20:21-22 — "his head shall be thrown to thee over the wall" - Job 18:7 — "his own counsel shall cast him down" - Eze 19:12 — "she was cast down to the ground" (vine parable — Hophal perfect 3fs)

3. Casting of Corpses (Dishonorable Burial / Exposure)¶

A distinct sub-pattern: the dead are "cast" rather than buried — sign of judgment or shame. - Jos 8:29 — "cast it [the king of Ai's corpse] at the entering of the gate" - Jos 10:27 — "cast them into the cave" - 1 Ki 13:24-28 — "his carcase was cast in the way" (Hophal participle 3x) - Jer 14:16 — "the people... shall be cast out in the streets" (Hophal participle mp) - Jer 22:19 — "with the burial of an ass... cast forth beyond the gates" - Jer 36:30 — "his dead body shall be cast out" (Hophal participle 3fs)

4. Divine Hurling / YHWH as Subject¶

God throws, flings, or hurls in judgment — often with decisive, overwhelming force. - Exo 15:25 — "the LORD shewed him a tree, which when he had cast into the waters" - Jos 10:11 — "the LORD cast down great stones from heaven" (the Beth-horon hailstones) - Jon 2:3 — "thou hadst cast me into the deep" (Jonah speaking; divine hurling in 1:15 through sailors; here the cast is attributed to God) - Neh 9:11 — "thou threwest [them] into the deeps" (Egyptians in Red Sea) - Psa 147:17 — "He casteth forth his ice like morsels" - Nah 3:6 — "I will cast abominable filth upon thee" - Mic 7:19 — "thou wilt cast all their sins into the depths of the sea"

5. Covenant Rejection / Casting Out of the Land or Presence¶

Metaphorical casting — God removes a people or person from covenant standing, from His presence, or from the land. - Deu 29:28 — "cast them into another land" - 2 Ki 13:23 — "neither cast he them from his presence as yet" - 2 Ki 17:20 — God "cast them out of his sight" - 2 Ki 24:20 — "he had cast them out from his presence" - Jer 7:15 — "I will cast you out of my sight" - Jer 52:3 — "till he had cast them out from his presence" - Psa 51:11 — "Cast me not away from thy presence" - Psa 71:9 — "Cast me not off in the time of old age"

6. Discarding as Religious / Moral Act¶

Throwing something away as an act of renunciation, repentance, or purification. - Eze 18:31 — "Cast away from you all your transgressions" - Eze 20:7-8 — "Cast ye away every man the abominations of his eyes" - Isa 2:20 — "a man shall cast his idols of silver... to the moles and to the bats" - Nah 9:26 — "cast thy law behind their backs" (negative: repudiation of Torah) - 2 Ch 33:15 — Manasseh "cast them out of the city" (idols)

7. Apocalyptic / Exalted-Being Cast From Heaven¶

A distinct theological pattern: a figure of cosmic or royal pretension is hurled down from an exalted position — the heaven-to-earth / height-to-ground vector applied to rebellious grandeur. - Isa 14:19 — "thou art cast out of thy grave like an abominable branch" (Hophal perfect 2ms; the taunt against the king of Babylon, whose fall is described earlier in 14:12 with nāp̄al) - Eze 28:17 — "I will cast thee to the ground, I will lay thee before kings" (Hiphil perfect 1s + 2ms suffix; spoken to the prince of Tyre) - Dan 8:11 — "the place of his sanctuary was cast down" (Hophal perfect 3ms: hušlaḵ) - Dan 8:12 — "it cast down the truth to the ground" (Hiphil imperfect 3fs) - Lam 2:1 — "the Lord... cast down from heaven unto the earth the beauty of Israel" (Hiphil perfect 3ms)

Note the directional vector: from a height (heaven, grave, throne, sanctuary, the beauty of Israel) to the ground/earth. The Hophal passive is concentrated in this category — the exalted object does not cast itself; it is cast by an unnamed (or suppressed) agent.

Common Collocations¶

Word	Strong's	Co-occurrences	Typical Pattern
עַל (ʻal)	H5921	44x (36%)	"cast upon/on/against" — the target or landing surface
אֲשֶׁר (ʼăsher)	H834	26x (21%)	relative clause modifying what/who is cast
יְהֹוָה (Yᵉhôvâh)	H3068	26x (21%)	YHWH as agent or addressee of casting
כֹּל (kôl)	H3605	26x (21%)	totality — "all" that is cast
פָּנִים (pânîym)	H6440	26x (21%)	"cast from [my] face/presence" — covenant rejection idiom
אָמַר (ʼâmar)	H559	22x (18%)	speech framing the casting command
אֶרֶץ (ʼerets)	H776	12x (10%)	"to the ground/earth/land" — landing point
מֶלֶךְ (melek)	H4428	12x (10%)	casting of/by kings; royal corpses and deposals
אֶבֶן (ʼeben)	H68	11x (9%)	"cast stones" — stoning, hail, memorial
יָד (yâd)	H3027	10x (8%)	"from [his/their] hand" — manual casting
מִן (min)	H4480	10x (8%)	"from" — source location of the cast
בַּיִת (bayith)	H1004	9x (7%)	house/temple as site or target

Dominant pattern: hišlîḵ X ʻal Y ("cast X upon Y") or hišlîḵ X min-paneḵā ("cast X from thy presence"). The directional prepositions — ʻal, min, el, tachath — carry most of the theological weight.

Synonyms¶

H2554 חמס — returned by search_relationships.py as a near-neighbor in the force / violence field that overlaps with violent hurling and assault imagery.

Antonyms¶

No antonyms were returned by search_relationships.py for H7993.

Easily Confused Words¶

Word	Strong's	Shared KJV	Key Difference
נָפַל (nāphal)	H5307	"cast," "cast down," "fall"	nāphal is intransitive "fall" — actor collapses of own weight/will; shâlak is transitive "cast" — actor is thrown by another
טוּל (ṭûwl)	H2904	"cast," "cast out," "hurl"	ṭûwl means "pitch/hurl" (fewer occurrences, often physical throwing); shâlak is the broader, more common casting verb
יָצַק (yâtsaq)	H3332	"cast," "pour"	yâtsaq = pour (liquids, molten metal); shâlak = throw (solid objects, persons)
שָׁפַךְ (shâphak)	H8210	"cast," "pour out," "shed"	shâphak = pour/spill (blood, water, wrath); shâlak = throw objects
שָׁלַח (shâlach)	H7971	"cast away," "send away"	shâlach = send/dispatch (with purpose, often polite); shâlak = hurl/discard (with force, often violent)
גָּרַשׁ (gârash)	H1644	"cast out"	gârash = drive/expel from a location (dispossession); shâlak = throw (spatial trajectory)
יָרַשׁ (yârash)	H3423	"cast out"	yârash = dispossess, take possession by driving out; shâlak = the act of throwing itself
נָדַח (nâdach)	H5080	"cast out"	nâdach = push off, banish (to exile); shâlak = throw (immediate physical act)
קָטַר, נָשַׁל (nâshal)	H5394	"cast," "pluck off"	nâshal = slip off, divest (as clothing, sandal); shâlak = forceful throw
יָרַד (yârad)	H3381	"cast down," "descend"	yârad = go down (intrans., self-motion); shâlak = throw down (trans., external force)

The key theological distinction is between nāphal ("fell" — often reflexive/passive collapse, used of Lucifer in Isa 14:12) and shâlak Hophal ("was cast" — requires an implied external agent). Both appear in the apocalyptic-fall motif, but they describe different phases of the same event.

Semantic Domains¶

UBS / Relationship Domains¶

[002002001012] Move — search_relationships.py places shâlak in the broad movement field, reflecting literal throwing and sending objects away from their source.
[002002001002] Blow — the same tool also links the verb to forceful propulsion / striking language, fitting violent hurling contexts.
[002003003003] Bear — secondary overlap with transfer / carrying vocabulary, since shâlak causes an object to move under another agent's force.
[002003003004] Non-Bear — the relationship data also connects shâlak to the opposite field of throwing off or casting away what is no longer borne.
[002003001006] Detach — a strong fit for "cast off / cast out / cast away" uses that separate an object or person from a prior place.
[002003002012] Free — related release / removal field, especially where casting ejects someone from restraint or attachment.
[002003003013] Fail — secondary failure / collapse field returned by the tool, aligning with "cast down" judgment contexts.
[002003003010] End — termination field linked to casting away into loss, ruin, or final removal.
[002003003015] Innocent — a peripheral relational field surfaced by the tool where removal language intersects with clearing away guilt or defilement.
[002001001024] Impact — direct physical-force field matching places where the cast object strikes ground, wall, or target.
[002003003022] Unsafe — danger/judgment field associated with casting into peril, destruction, or exposure.
[002001002031] Unwilling — rejection field that fits discarding or expelling something against its will or against covenantal standing.

LXX Mapping¶

Greek Equivalent	Strong's	Co-occ	PMI Score	Notes
ῥίπτω (rhíptō)	G4496	57	7.28	Primary LXX rendering — "hurl, fling, throw with force"
ἐμβάλλω (embállō)	G1685	7	4.36	"throw into" (often into fire, pit, sea)
ἐκβάλλω (ekbállō)	G1544	7	4.17	"cast out" (from land, city, presence)
βάλλω (bállō)	G906	5	4.37	generic "throw"
καθαιρέω (kathairéō)	G2507	5	3.94	"bring down, tear down" — used in height-to-ground casting

The dominant bridge is rhíptō. The LXX translators consistently pair shâlak with rhíptō when the action involves forceful hurling. Notably, the NT's apocalyptic casting language — especially Rev 12:9-10 ("the dragon was cast out" — eblēthē, aorist passive of bállō) — continues the Hophal pattern: the exalted rebellious being is cast down by an unnamed or divine agent. Rev 12 uses bállō rather than rhíptō, but the passive voice preserves the Hophal's grammatical signature.