Lexical Summary
sheber: Break, fracture, ruin, destruction, collapse
Original Word:שֶׁבֶר
Part of Speech:Noun Masculine
Transliteration:sheber
Pronunciation:SHEH-ber
Phonetic Spelling:(sheh'-ber)
KJV: affliction, breach, breaking, broken(-footed, -handed), bruise, crashing, destruction, hurt, interpretation, vexation
NASB:destruction, brokenness, fracture, ruin, broken, disaster, injury
Word Origin:[fromH7665 (שָׁבַר - broken)]
1. a fracture, figuratively, ruin
2. specifically, a solution (of a dream)
Strong's Exhaustive Concordance
affliction, breach, breaking, broken-footed, bruise, crashing, destruction
Or sheber {shay'-ber}; fromshabar; a fracture, figuratively, ruin; specifically, a solution (of a dream) -- affliction, breach, breaking, broken(-footed, -handed), bruise, crashing, destruction, hurt, interpretation, vexation.
see HEBREWshabar
NAS Exhaustive Concordance
Word Originfrom
shabarDefinitiona breaking, fracture, crushing, breach, crash
NASB Translation2,172* (1), breaches (1), breakdown (1), broken (2), brokenness (3), collapse (1), crash (1), crashing (1), crushed (1), crushes (1), destruction (17), disaster (2), fracture (3), injury (2), interpretation (1), ruin (3), smashing (1).
Brown-Driver-Briggs
I. ,
Jeremiah 4:5 ; — absolute
Isaiah 51:19 +,
Lamentations 3:47;
Proverbs 17:19, construct
Isaiah 1:28 +,
Amos 6:6 +; suffix
Jeremiah 10:19, etc.; plural
Joshua 7:5;
Job 41:17 (dubious, see below), suffix
Psalm 60:4; —
breaking of potteryIsaiah 30:14,fracture of member, limbLeviticus 21:19;Leviticus 24:20 (H), especially figurative of people personifiedAmos 6:6, compareIsaiah 30:26 ("" ),Jeremiah 8:21;Jeremiah 10:19;Jeremiah 14:17;Jeremiah 30:12 ("" ),Jeremiah 30:15 ("" ),Lamentations 2:11;Lamentations 3:48;Lamentations 4:10, also (with ,heal)Jeremiah 6:14;Jeremiah 8:11;Lamentations 2:13;Psalm 60:4, compareNahum 3:19; of sinnersIsaiah 1:28;shattering, crushing, of wall (in figurative)Isaiah 30:13; ""Jeremiah 4:6;Jeremiah 6:1,Jeremiah 4:20;Isaiah 59:7;Isaiah 60:18;Jeremiah 48:3, compareIsaiah 51:19;Lamentations 3:47;Isaiah 15:5, compareJeremiah 48:5; of individualProverbs 16:18;Proverbs 17:19;Proverbs 18:12; figurative,crushing of spirit, compareProverbs 15:4; so ( omitted)Job 41:17from terror, Di De, compare Bi, but dubious; Buhl Bu conjectures , Gie , Du .
crashing,Zephaniah 1:10 ("" , ),Jeremiah 50:22 ("" ),Jeremiah 51:54 ("" ).
breaking of a dream, i.e. its interpretation (solution of mystery)Judges 7:15 (compare GFM).
Joshua 7:5, perhaps (Di Benn Steuern)the quarries as proper name, of a location, Sabarim (> ). —Ezekiel 32:9, read Co Sta Berthol Krae (not Toy).
Topical Lexicon
Overviewשֶׁבֶר (sheber) depicts a rupture—physical, emotional, social, or national—arising when God’s good order is violated. The word gathers ideas of fracture, collapse, ruin, calamity and the pain that follows. Scripture uses the term both to expose the seriousness of sin-induced devastation and to point toward the Lord who alone can mend what is shattered.
Occurrences and Distribution
Approximately forty-four times, sheber appears from the Torah (Leviticus) through the Minor Prophets, clustering heavily in Jeremiah and Lamentations. These settings trace Israel’s history from covenant formation through exile, allowing the word to serve as a theological thread: rebellion produces brokenness; repentance invites healing.
Mosaic Legal Context
Leviticus 24:20 introduces sheber in case law: “fracture for fracture, eye for eye, tooth for tooth.” The statute upholds measured justice, restraining vengeance and illustrating the biblical conviction that every breakage of shalom demands equitable redress.
Wisdom and Poetic Reflections
1. Personal pride and downfall
Proverbs 16:18 warns, “Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall.” Sheber functions here as a moral principle: self-exaltation courts collapse.
2. Emotional and communal pain
Psalm 60:2 pleads, “Heal its fractures, for it is quaking,” acknowledging national turmoil as something only God can stabilize.
3. The human spirit
Job 30:13 speaks of adversaries who “promote my calamity,” showing how relational cruelty deepens inner brokenness.
Prophetic Warnings
1. Judah and Jerusalem
Jeremiah repeatedly employs sheber to unveil superficial religion. “They have healed the brokenness of My people superficially” (Jeremiah 6:14). Priests and prophets offer false reassurance while refusing to confront sin’s root, leaving the fracture unclosed.
2. Foreign nations
Egypt (Jeremiah 46:11), Moab (Jeremiah 48:38) and Nineveh (Nahum 3:19) each face incurable sheber, proving that no empire escapes divine scrutiny.
3. Eschatological upheaval
Zephaniah 1:10 ties “a loud crashing from the hills” to the Day of the LORD; cosmic judgment will reverberate like the breaking of a fortress wall.
Promise of Restoration
The same prophets announce healing:
•Isaiah 30:26 – “when the LORD binds up the brokenness of His people and heals the wounds He inflicted.”
•Jeremiah 30:17 – “I will restore you to health and heal your wounds.”
Brokenness is not God’s final word; judgment is antidote to covenant unfaithfulness, but mercy triumphs for the repentant remnant.
Pastoral and Ministry Implications
1. Depth before remedy
Jeremiah 6:14 warns leaders not to “bandage the wound lightly.” Authentic ministry names the fracture’s cause—sin—and directs sufferers to the Redeemer.
2. Hope for the crushed in spirit
The repeated cry, “For the brokenness of the daughter of my people I am crushed” (Jeremiah 8:21), models compassionate identification with those who hurt.
3. Preaching the whole counsel
Sheber teaches that both judgment and restoration belong in proclamation; withholding either distorts the gospel.
Christological and Eschatological Trajectory
While sheber never appears in the New Testament Greek, its theology culminates in the Messiah:
• He who “was pierced for our transgressions” (Isaiah 53:5) takes the ultimate fracture upon Himself.
• His body, “broken for you” (1 Corinthians 11:24), becomes the means by which all other brokenness is healed.
• Revelation anticipates a new creation where “there will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain” (Revelation 21:4), the complete reversal of sheber.
Key Old Testament References
Leviticus 24:20;Job 30:13;Psalm 60:2;Proverbs 16:18;Isaiah 30:13, 30:26;Jeremiah 6:14; 8:21; 10:19; 30:12-17; 46:11; 48:38;Lamentations 3:47;Nahum 3:19;Zephaniah 1:10.
Forms and Transliterations
בְּשֶׁ֖בֶר בר בשבר וְהַשֶּׁ֛בֶר וְהַשָּֽׁבֶר׃ וְשֶׁ֖בֶר וְשֶׁ֥בֶר וְשֶׁ֧בֶר וָשֶׁ֖בֶר וָשֶׁ֥בֶר וּמִשֵּׁ֥בֶר והשבר והשבר׃ ומשבר ושבר כְּשֵׁ֨בֶר כשבר לְשִׁבְרֵ֑ךְ לְשִׁבְרֶ֔ךָ לשברך מִ֝שְּׁבָרִ֗ים משברים נִשְׁבְּרָ֗ה נשברה שְׁבָרֶ֣יהָ שִׁבְר֖וֹ שִׁבְרְךָ֙ שִׁבְרִ֔י שִׁבְרֵ֔ךְ שִׁבְרֵ֖ךְ שִׁבְרָֽהּ׃ שֵׁ֥בֶר שֶׁ֔בֶר שֶׁ֖בֶר שֶׁ֙בֶר֙ שֶׁ֚בֶר שֶׁ֣בֶר שֶׁ֤בֶר שֶׁ֥בֶר שֶׁ֭בֶר שָֽׁבֶר׃ שבר שבר׃ שברה׃ שברו שברי שבריה שברך bə·še·ḇer ḇer bəšeḇer beShever kə·šê·ḇer kəšêḇer keShever lə·šiḇ·re·ḵā lə·šiḇ·rêḵ leshivRech leshivRecha ləšiḇrêḵ ləšiḇreḵā miš·šə·ḇā·rîm mishshevaRim miššəḇārîm niš·bə·rāh nišbərāh nishbeRah šā·ḇer šāḇer šə·ḇā·re·hā še·ḇer šê·ḇer šəḇārehā šeḇer šêḇer Shaver shevaReiha Shever shivRah shivRech shivreCha shivRi shivRo šiḇ·rāh šiḇ·rə·ḵā šiḇ·rêḵ šiḇ·rî šiḇ·rōw šiḇrāh šiḇrêḵ šiḇrəḵā šiḇrî šiḇrōw ū·miš·šê·ḇer umishShever ūmiššêḇer vaShever vehashShaver vehashShever ver veShever wā·še·ḇer wāšeḇer wə·haš·šā·ḇer wə·haš·še·ḇer wə·še·ḇer wəhaššāḇer wəhaššeḇer wəšeḇer
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