שָׁחַת51 H0516
Do not destroy — Hifil jussive of שָׁחַת, a Psalm superscription formula ('Al-Tashcheth')
This form is the negated Hifil jussive of שָׁחַת ('to destroy, ruin'), appearing in the liturgical superscription אַל־תַּשְׁחֵת ('Do not destroy') found in Psalms 57, 58, 59, and 75. The phrase likely refers to a tune name or liturgical instruction, possibly echoing Moses' intercessory plea in Deuteronomy 9:26. English renders it 'Do not destroy,' Spanish 'no destruyas,' and French 'ne détruis pas' — all preserving the urgent prohibitive force of the Hebrew jussive.
Senses
1. destroy (Hifil jussive negated) — The Hifil jussive (negated) form אַל־תַּשְׁחֵת ('do not destroy'), from the root שָׁחַת meaning 'to ruin, corrupt, destroy.' All eight occurrences appear in the superscriptions of Psalms 57:1, 58:1, 59:1, and 75:1 (each title counted twice in the verse numbering). This is widely understood as a tune name or liturgical direction, possibly alluding to Moses' intercessory cry 'Do not destroy your people' (Deut 9:26) or to a vintner's song (cf. Isa 65:8). Multilingual renderings — English 'do not destroy,' Spanish 'no destruyas,' French 'ne détruis pas' — preserve the prohibitive imperative sense uniformly. 8×
AR["تُهلِك", "تُهْلِكْ", "لا", "لا-"]·ben["ধ্বংস-কর", "ধ্বংস-করো-না", "না-", "সুর-অনুসারে"]·DE["tun-nicht-", "vernichten"]·EN["destroy", "do-not-"]·FR["ne-détruis-pas", "vers"]·heb["אל-", "תשחת"]·HI["अल-", "तश्खेत", "न", "नाश-कर"]·ID["jangan-", "memusnahkan"]·IT["a", "non-distruggere"]·jav["miktam", "nyirnakaken", "sampun-", "sampun-ngrusak"]·KO["멸하지-마소서", "멸하지-말라", "아니", "하지-마소서"]·PT["Não", "destruas", "não"]·RU["не", "не-", "погуби"]·ES["destruyas", "no-"]·SW["usiharibu"]·TR["al-", "taşhet'e-göre", "yapma-", "yok-et"]·urd["اَل-", "تباہ-کر", "تَباہ-کَر", "مت"]
Related Senses
H3808 1. simple negation (not) (4839×)G1722 1. locative: in, within (2442×)H1004b 1. house, dwelling, building (2015×)G3756 1. not (negation particle) (1635×)H4480a 1. source or separation (1198×)H5892b 1. city, town (1093×)G1519 1. direction: into, to, toward (1061×)H3427 1. Qal: to dwell, inhabit (937×)G1537 1. from, out of (source/origin) (886×)H8034 1. Name (designation / identifier) (856×)G3361 1. subjective negation (not) (834×)G1909 1. on, upon (spatial surface) (757×)H0369 1. existential negation: there is not (738×)H5869a 1. in the eyes/sight of (evaluative) (734×)H5650 1. Servant, attendant, subject (723×)H0408 1. prohibitive negation do-not (712×)G2443 1. so that, in order that (purpose/result) (665×)G0575 1. from (649×)G1223 1. through, by means of (582×)H3541 1. thus, so, in this manner (569×)
BDB / Lexicon Reference
[שָׁחַת51] vb. go to ruin (?), only der. spec. (NH Hiph. = BH, Ecclus. שחיתה 30:11 corrupt act; Arabic سَحَتَ extirpate; Ethiopic ሰሐጠ: injure, violate; TelAm. šaḫâtu is fall (especially of city), be prostrate (? of land), perhaps Canaanism (v. WklTelAm. Vocab.), Assyrian poss. šêtu, flee, escape (cf. אבד); Old Aramaic (Zinj.) שחת destroy Lzb374, Aramaic שְׁחַת, ܫܰܚܶܛ (assim. of ܬ), mutilate;—very…