Low
שָׁפָלStrong’s H8217shaphal (sha-phal)
Appears in 16 verses of the Old Testament
In short
Shaphal is the Hebrew word usually translated “lowly”, “deep” and “lowly of”. It appears in 16 verses of the Old Testament.
“And if, when the priest seeth it, behold, it be in sight lower than the skin, and the hair thereof be turned white; the priest shall pronounce him unclean: it is a plague of leprosy broken out of the boil.”
Meaning
- Low, humblelow (in height) · low (in station), humble (of condition or spirit) · humiliated · lowly (as subst)
How it's translated
- lowly 6
- deep 2
- and deep 2
- and lowly 2
- and a lowly of 2
- low of 1
- low 1
- the lowly 1
Word-by-word English from the STEPBible tagged text.
Where it's used most
- Ezekiel 6
- Leviticus 4
- 2 Samuel 1
- Job 1
- Psalms 1
- Proverbs 1
8 books in all.
Explore in Scripture
- Leviticus 13:21But if the priest look on it, and, behold, there be no white hairs therein, and if it be not lower than the skin, but be somewhat dark; then the priest shall shut him up seven days:
- Leviticus 13:26But if the priest look on it, and, behold, there be no white hair in the bright spot, and it be no lower than the other skin, but be somewhat dark; then the priest shall shut him up seven days:
- Leviticus 14:37And he shall look on the plague, and, behold, if the plague be in the walls of the house with hollow strakes, greenish or reddish, which in sight are lower than the wall;
- 2 Samuel 6:22And I will yet be more vile than thus, and will be base in mine own sight: and of the maidservants which thou hast spoken of, of them shall I be had in honour.
- Job 5:11To set up on high those that be low; that those which mourn may be exalted to safety.
- Psalms 138:6Though the LORD be high, yet hath he respect unto the lowly: but the proud he knoweth afar off.
Hebrew dictionary
שָׁפָל shaphal · low
1) low, humble 1a) low (in height) 1b) low (in station), humble (of condition or spirit) 1c) humiliated 1d) lowly (as subst)
From STEPBible’s Hebrew lexicon (based on Brown-Driver-Briggs).
Webster's 1828 Dictionary
How the English word “low” was understood when the King James Version was still the common Bible of English readers.
LOW, adjective
- Not high or elevated; depressed below any given surface or place. low ground or land, is land below the common level. low is opposed to high, and both are relative terms.
- Not rising to the usual height; as a man of low stature.
- Declining near the horizon.
- Deep; descending far below the adjacent ground; as a low valley.
All definitions and other forms of “low”
- Sunk to the natural level of the ocean by the retiring of the tide; as low water.
- Below the usual rate or amount, or below the ordinary value; as a low price of corn; low wages.
- Not high or loud; as a low voice.
- Grave; depressed in the scale of sounds; as a low note.
- Near or not very distant from the equator; as a low latitude.
- Late in time; modern as the lower empire.
- Dejected; depressed in vigor; wanting strength or animation; as low spirits; low in spirits.
- Depressed in condition; in a humble state.
- Humble in rank; in a mean condition; as men of high and low condition; the lower walks of life; a low class of people.
- Mean; abject; groveling; base; as a person of low mind.
- Dishonorable; mean; as a low trick or stratagem.
- Not elevated or sublime; not exalted in thought or diction; as a low comparison; a low metaphor; low language.
- Vulgar; common; as a low education.
- Submissive; humble; reverent.
- Weak; exhausted of vital energy.
- Feeble; weak; without force; as a low pulse.
- Moderate; not inflammatory; as a low fever.
- Moderate; not intense; as a low heat; a low temperature.
- Impoverished; in reduced circumstances.
- Moderate; as a low calculation or estimate.
- Plain; simple; not rich, high seasoned or nourishing; as a low diet.
LOW, adverb
- Not aloft; not on high; often in composition; as low-brow'd rocks.
- Under the usual price; at a moderate price.
- Near the ground; as, the bird flies very low
- In a mean condition; in composition; as a low-born fellow; a low-born lass.
- In time approaching our own.
- With a depressed voice; not loudly; as, speak low
- In a state of subjection, poverty or disgrace; as, to be brought low by oppression, by want or by vice.
LOW, verb transitive
To sink; to depress. [Not used.]
LOW, verb intransitive
[Latin lugeo, to weep, the sense of which is, to cry out.]
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.