To sharpen
שָׁנַןStrong’s H8150shanan (sha-nan)
Appears in 9 verses of the Old Testament
In short
Shanan is the Hebrew word usually translated “sharpened”, “sharpen” and “repeat them”. It appears in 9 verses of the Old Testament.
“And thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up.”
Meaning
- To sharpen, whet(Qal) to whet, sharpen · (Piel) to sharpen, teach (incisively) · (Hithpolel) to be pierced
How it's translated
- sharpened 4
- they sharpen 2
- and you will repeat them 1
- i sharpen 1
- i was pierced 1
Word-by-word English from the STEPBible tagged text.
Where it's used most
- Psalms 5
- Deuteronomy 2
- Proverbs 1
- Isaiah 1
4 books in all.
Explore in Scripture
- Deuteronomy 32:41If I whet my glittering sword, and mine hand take hold on judgment; I will render vengeance to mine enemies, and will reward them that hate me.
- Psalms 45:5Thine arrows are sharp in the heart of the king’s enemies; whereby the people fall under thee.
- Psalms 64:3Who whet their tongue like a sword, and bend their bows to shoot their arrows, even bitter words:
- Psalms 73:21Thus my heart was grieved, and I was pricked in my reins.
- Psalms 120:4Sharp arrows of the mighty, with coals of juniper.
- Psalms 140:3They have sharpened their tongues like a serpent; adders’ poison is under their lips. Selah.
Hebrew dictionary
שָׁנַן shanan · to sharpen
1) to sharpen, whet 1a) (Qal) to whet, sharpen 1b) (Piel) to sharpen, teach (incisively) 1c)(Hithpolel) to be pierced
From STEPBible’s Hebrew lexicon (based on Brown-Driver-Briggs).
Webster's 1828 Dictionary
How the English word “sharpen” was understood when the King James Version was still the common Bible of English readers.
SHARPEN, verb transitive
- To make sharp; to give a keen edge or a fine point to a thing; to edge; to point; as, to sharpen a knife, an ax or the teeth of a saw; to sharpen a sword.“All of the Israelites went down to the Philistines to sharpen every man his share and his coulter, and his ax and his mattock” 1 Samuel 13:20
- To make more eager or active; as, to sharpen the edge of industry.
- To make more pungent and painful.
- To make more quick, acute or ingenious.
All definitions and other forms of “sharpen”
- To render perception more quick or acute.
- To render more keen; to make more eager for food or for any gratification; as, to sharpen the appetite; to sharpen a desire.
- To make biting, sarcastic or severe.
- To render less flat, or more shrill or piercing.
- To make more tart or acid; to make sour; as, the rays of the sun sharpen vinegar.
- To make more distressing; as, to sharpen grief or other evis.
- In music, to raise a sound by means of a sharp.
SH'ARPEN, verb intransitive
To grow or become sharp.
Noah Webster, An American Dictionary of the English Language (1828). Verse references are checked against the KJV. Read the full entry.
Verses are from the King James Version. Word meanings come from the original Hebrew, not from any one translation.