H8034 — שֵׁם (shêm)¶

Core Data¶

Strong's: H8034
Original: שֵׁם
Transliteration: shêm
Pronunciation: shame
Part of Speech: Masculine noun (n-m)
Root: Primitive word (lexicon notes "perhaps rather from [an unused root] through the idea of definite and conspicuous position"); commonly associated with שׂוּם (sûm, H7760, "to set, place")
Occurrences: 771 unique verses (938 tokens) across 35 OT books
First Occurrence: Gen 2:11 — "The name (shem) of the first [is] Pison: that [is] it which compasseth the whole land of Havilah"
Hapax Legomenon: No

Lexicon Definition¶

A primitive word [perhaps rather from through the idea of definite and conspicuous position; compare שׂוּם]; an appellation, as a mark or memorial of individuality; by implication honor, authority, character — base, (in-) fame(-ous), named(-d), renown, report.

Translation Distribution (KJV)¶

Bare "name" senses dominate. Grouping the 150+ phrase variants by head-translation:

Sense Family	Unique Verses	%
"name" / "the name" / "a name" / "name also" / "thy/his/my/our/her/their name" and possessive forms	~700	~91%
"names" (plural forms)	~70	~9%
"renown" / "a renown" / "thy renown"	6	0.8%
"fame" / "his fame" / "the fame"	3	0.4%
"famous"	3	0.4%
"named"	4	0.5%
"report"	1	0.1%
"base" ("of base men")	1	0.1%
"infamous"	1	0.1%

The overwhelmingly dominant gloss is "name"; the connotative glosses (renown, fame, report) make the reputation/character sense visible but are statistically marginal.

Distribution by Book¶

Book	Count	Per 100 Verses
Malachi	7	12.7
Zephaniah	5	9.4
Genesis	95	6.2
1 Chronicles	50	5.3
2 Chronicles	42	5.1
1 Kings	39	4.8
Amos	7	4.8
2 Samuel	30	4.3
Psalms	104	4.2
Esther	7	4.2
Jeremiah	53	3.9
Isaiah	49	3.8
Numbers	46	3.6
Deuteronomy	33	3.4
Zechariah	7	3.3
2 Kings	23	3.2
1 Samuel	25	3.1
Exodus	36	3.0
Micah	3	2.9
Joel	2	2.7
Judges	16	2.6
Nahum	1	2.1
Ezekiel	26	2.0
Hosea	4	2.0
Joshua	11	1.7
Daniel	6	1.7
Nehemiah	7	1.7
Ezra	4	1.4
Ecclesiastes	3	1.4
Leviticus	8	0.9
Proverbs	6	0.7
Lamentations	1	0.6
Job	5	0.5

Density is highest in Malachi and Zephaniah (both heavily concerned with honor/dishonor of YHWH's name) and in Genesis (naming of people, places, altars). The word is genre-ubiquitous — Torah, Former Prophets, Latter Prophets, Writings, Wisdom. It is almost absent from Leviticus, Proverbs, Lamentations, Job relative to their size.

Semantic Categories¶

1. Personal Name / Identifier (people, animals, things)¶

Gen 2:11 — "The name of the first [river] is Pison"
Exo 1:15 — "the name of the one was Shiphrah, and the name of the other Puah"
Exo 2:10 — "she called his name Moses"
1 Sam 1:1 — "there was a certain man... whose name was Elkanah"

2. Place-Name¶

Gen 2:13–14 — "the name of the second river is Gihon... the name of the third river is Hiddekel"
Jdg 1:10–11 — "the name of Hebron before was Kirjath-arba... the name of Debir before was Kirjath-sepher"
Gen 11:9 — "Therefore is the name of it called Babel"

3. Reputation / Fame / Renown¶

Gen 11:4 — "let us make us a name (shem), lest we be scattered"
2 Sam 7:9 — "I have made thee a great name, like unto the name of the great men"
Ecc 7:1 — "A good name is better than precious ointment"
Pro 10:7 — "the memory of the just is blessed: but the name of the wicked shall rot"
Eze 16:14 — "thy renown (shem) went forth among the heathen"

4. Character / Identity Revealed¶

Exo 33:19 — "I will proclaim the name (shem) of the LORD before thee"
Exo 34:5–7 — "the LORD descended in the cloud... and proclaimed the name of the LORD... The LORD, The LORD God, merciful and gracious..." (name = recited attributes)
Isa 52:6 — "Therefore my people shall know my name: therefore they shall know in that day that I am he that doth speak"
Psa 20:1 — "the name of the God of Jacob defend thee"
Psa 111:9 — "holy and reverend is his name"

5. Memorial / Posterity (Continuation of a Person)¶

Deu 25:6 — "succeed in the name of his brother which is dead, that his name be not put out of Israel"
2 Sam 18:18 — "I have no son to keep my name in remembrance... he called the pillar after his own name"
Isa 56:5 — "an everlasting name (shem olam), that shall not be cut off"
Job 18:17 — "he shall have no name in the street"

6. "Shem YHWH" — The Name of the LORD (divine self-disclosure / presence / authority)¶

Exo 20:7 / Deu 5:11 — "Thou shalt not take the name of the LORD thy God in vain"
Deu 12:5, 11, 21 — "the place which the LORD your God shall choose... to put his name there"
Psa 20:1 — "the name of the God of Jacob defend thee"
Psa 111:9 — "holy and reverend is his name"
Pro 18:10 — "The name of the LORD is a strong tower"
Mic 4:5 — "we will walk in the name of the LORD our God for ever and ever"
Mal 1:11 — "my name shall be great among the Gentiles"

7. "Calling on / Calling by the Name of YHWH" — Worship / Invocation Formula¶

Gen 4:26 — "then began men to call upon the name of the LORD" (qara b'shem YHWH)
Gen 12:8 — "there he builded an altar unto the LORD... and called upon the name of the LORD"
Gen 13:4; 21:33; 26:25 — patriarchal altar-and-name formula
1 Ki 18:24 — "call ye on the name of your gods, and I will call on the name of the LORD"
Joe 2:32 — "whosoever shall call on the name of the LORD shall be delivered"
Zep 3:9 — "that they may all call upon the name of the LORD, to serve him"

8. Acting "In the Name of" / "For the Name" (Authority / Purpose)¶

Deu 18:5, 7, 22 — priests/prophets speak "in the name of the LORD"
1 Sam 17:45 — "I come to thee in the name of the LORD of hosts"
Psa 118:26 — "Blessed be he that cometh in the name of the LORD"
Eze 20:9, 14, 22 — "I wrought for my name's sake, that it should not be polluted"
Isa 48:9, 11 — "For my name's sake will I defer mine anger"

Common Collocations¶

Word	Strong's	Co-occurrences	Typical Pattern
יְהֹוָה (YHWH)	H3068	286x (37%)	shem YHWH — "the name of the LORD"
בֵּן (ben)	H1121	198x (26%)	"his son's name was..." — naming at birth
קָרָא (qara)	H7121	196x (25%)	qara shem — "called [his/its] name" (naming formula); qara b'shem — "call on the name"
אָמַר (amar)	H559	152x (20%)	"[he] said... name" — speech introducing name
אֱלֹהִים (elohim)	H430	122x (16%)	shem elohim / shem elohecha — "the name of God"
בַּיִת (bayith)	H1004	109x (14%)	"house for my name" — temple-name theology (Deu 12; 1 Ki 8)
יִשְׂרָאֵל (Israel)	H3478	102x (13%)	"name of Israel"; "my name on the children of Israel"
אֶרֶץ (erets)	H776	84x (11%)	"name in all the earth" — universality (Psa 8:1, 9)
אִישׁ (ish)	H376	79x (10%)	"a man whose name was..."
אָב (ab)	H1	69x (9%)	"name of his/my father" — patronymic / legacy
עַם (am)	H5971	63x (8%)	"a people called by thy name"; "my name among my people"

Word Family / Cognates¶

H8036 שֻׁם (shum) — Aramaic cognate, "name" (Dan, Ezra; 1-verse overlap with H8034 via translation)
H7760 שׂוּם (sum) — "to set, place, put" — often proposed etymological kin (name = that which is "set" as a marker)
H8035 שֵׁם (Shem) — proper name "Shem" (son of Noah), same spelling as common noun
H2143 זֵכֶר / זֵכֶר (zekher) — "remembrance, memorial" — frequent parallel with shem (Exo 3:15: "this is my name... this is my memorial")

Synonyms¶

H1433 גֹּדֶל — greatness / greatness-language returned by search_relationships.py alongside reputation and renown uses of shem.
H8416 תְּהִלָּה — praise; overlaps where shem denotes public honor or celebrated reputation.
H8597 תִּפְאֶרֶת — beauty, glory, splendor; adjacent honor-language in the same semantic field.

Antonyms¶

No antonyms were returned by search_relationships.py for H8034.

Easily Confused Words¶

Word	Strong's	Shared Translation	Key Difference
שֻׁם (shum)	H8036	"name" (KJV overlap in several verses)	Aramaic equivalent — used only in Aramaic sections (Dan, Ezra)
אֶבֶן־הָעֵזֶר (Eben-ha-ezer)	H72	"the name of it"	Proper compound name — not a semantic rival; incidental translation overlap
אַדִּיר (addir)	H117	"famous"	addir = "mighty, majestic"; overlaps in gloss "famous" but means greatness, not identity
קָרִיא (qariy)	H7148	"famous, renowned"	Passive participle of qara — "one called, select"; overlaps only in the "famous" gloss
נָקַב (naqab)	H5344	"named"	Verb "to pierce, designate by name" — act of naming, not the name itself
ὄνομα (onoma)	G3686	"name"	NT Greek counterpart — semantically parallel (see LXX Mapping)

Semantic Domains¶

UBS / Relationship Domains¶

[002004002010] Name — search_relationships.py places shem in the core naming field alongside related naming vocabulary such as H2143 זֵכֶר and H7121 קָרָא.
[002003002007] Control — the relationship data also links shem to authority / control language, fitting uses where a name stands for delegated power or claim.
[002004002007] Know — another strong overlap, since "name" often marks recognition, disclosure, and known identity.
[003001016] Self — shem is tied to selfhood / personhood in contexts where a name stands for the person, reputation, or enduring identity.
[003001007] Names of People — the tool further groups shem with proper-name vocabulary, reflecting its routine use for personal naming formulas.

LXX Mapping¶

Greek Equivalent	Strong's	Co-occ	PMI	Score	Notes
ὄνομα (onoma)	G3686	716	4.79	31.50	Dominant LXX rendering — the standard equivalent across virtually every sense
ἐπικαλέομαι (epikaleomai)	G1941	66	3.91	16.46	Verb "call upon" — renders the qara b'shem idiom ("call on the name")
καλέω (kaleo)	G2564	113	3.21	15.21	Verb "call / name" — covers the naming-formula sense
συγγένεια (syngeneia)	G4772	16	3.73	10.58	"Kindred" — renders shem when it carries patronymic/lineage sense
βεβηλόω (bebeloo)	G953	22	3.30	10.34	"Profane" — used where shem YHWH is profaned
ἐξομολογέω (exomologeo)	G1843	24	3.11	10.02	"Confess, give thanks" — renders hodah l'shem ("give thanks to the name")
ὀνομάζω (onomazo)	G3687	9	4.27	9.82	"To name" — derivative verb
ἐκλέγομαι (eklegomai)	G1586	28	2.85	9.60	"Choose" — contexts where God "chooses a place to put his name"

The primary bridge is H8034 shem ↔ G3686 onoma — effectively a 1:1 semantic mapping across the Hebrew-Greek Bible. The NT "name of the Lord" theology (Acts 2:21; Phil 2:9–11; John 17:6) is semantically continuous with shem YHWH.