שְׂמֹאל semol

Hebrew word for “left” · Strong’s H8040 · used 54 times in 53 verses

Explore it in the Word Atlas

Meaning

1) the left, the left hand, the left side; 1a) left; 1b) left hand; 1c) north (as one faces east)

Senses in the lexicon

• left (49)
• left: north (5)

How it is translated

Glosses given for semol in context, with how often each is used:

• left 23
• left hand 19
• left side 7
• north 5

Where it is used

Also in 10 more books.

Chapters where it is used most

2 Chronicles 4 (3), Genesis 48 (2), Exodus 14 (2), Deuteronomy 17 (2), 2 Samuel 2 (2), 1 Kings 7 (2), Zechariah 4 (2), Genesis 13 (1), Genesis 14 (1), Genesis 24 (1)

Forms

• ושׂמאול 12
• שׂמאלו 4
• משׂמאול 4
• שׂמאול 4
• משׂמאל 3
• ומשׂמאלו 3
• בשׂמאלו 2
• ומשׂמאלם 2
• ושׂמאל 2
• השׂמאול 2

Words used with it

Words that share verses with semol more often than their overall frequency would suggest:

• יָמִין yamin “right” 49
• סוּר sur “to turn aside” 12
• הָלַךְ halakh “to go” 9
• נָטָה natah “to stretch” 5
• חָמֵשׁ chamesh “five” 5
• דֶּרֶךְ derekh “way” 6
• מְנוֹרָה menorah “lampstand” 3
• שְׁנַיִם shenayim “two” 5
• אֶחָד echad “one” 5
• הֵיכָל hekhal “temple” 3
• יָם yam “sea” 4
• יָשַׁב yashav “to dwell” 5

Key verses

The verses using semol that are most connected by cross-references (King James Version):

• Genesis 48:14 — And Israel stretched out his right hand, and laid it upon Ephraim’s head, who was the younger, and his left hand upon Manasseh’s head, guiding his hands…
• Deuteronomy 5:32 — Ye shall observe to do therefore as the LORD your God hath commanded you: ye shall not turn aside to the right hand or to the left.
• Deuteronomy 17:20 — That his heart be not lifted up above his brethren, and that he turn not aside from the commandment, to the right hand, or to the left: to the end that he may…
• Joshua 1:7 — Only be thou strong and very courageous, that thou mayest observe to do according to all the law, which Moses my servant commanded thee: turn not from it to…
• 1 Kings 22:19 — And he said, Hear thou therefore the word of the LORD: I saw the LORD sitting on his throne, and all the host of heaven standing by him on his right hand and…
• Proverbs 3:16 — Length of days is in her right hand; and in her left hand riches and honour.
• Isaiah 54:3 — For thou shalt break forth on the right hand and on the left; and thy seed shall inherit the Gentiles, and make the desolate cities to be inhabited.
• Ezekiel 1:10 — As for the likeness of their faces, they four had the face of a man, and the face of a lion, on the right side: and they four had the face of an ox on the left…
• Ezekiel 16:46 — And thine elder sister is Samaria, she and her daughters that dwell at thy left hand: and thy younger sister, that dwelleth at thy right hand, is Sodom and her…
• Daniel 12:7 — And I heard the man clothed in linen, which was upon the waters of the river, when he held up his right hand and his left hand unto heaven, and sware by him…
• Jonah 4:11 — And should not I spare Nineveh, that great city, wherein are more than sixscore thousand persons that cannot discern between their right hand and their left…
• Zechariah 12:6 — In that day will I make the governors of Judah like an hearth of fire among the wood, and like a torch of fire in a sheaf; and they shall devour all the people…

See all 53 verses in the Word Atlas

Hebrew and Greek text, tagging, glosses and lexicon definitions: STEPBible.org, Tyndale House Cambridge (TAHOT, TAGNT, TBESH, TBESG; CC BY 4.0), adapted. Counts follow King James verse numbering; a word counts each time it is written.