1. destroy (Hifil jussive negated) — The Hifil jussive of שָׁחַת meaning 'to destroy, to ruin', appearing in the Psalm superscription phrase אַל־תַּשְׁחֵת ('Do not destroy', Ps 57:1, 58:1, 59:1, 75:1). The two clusters split the negation particle (אַל, 'do not') from the verb stem (תַּשְׁחֵת, 'destroy'), but these form a single lexical construction. Cross-lingual evidence confirms semantic unity: eng 'do not destroy', spa 'no destruyas', hin 'न नाश कर', arb 'لا تُهلِك', kor '멸하지 마소서', swa 'usiharibu'. Both clusters belong to the same Hifil causative sense of bringing destruction or ruin. 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"]
Senses
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…