H7838 H7838
Black, dark-colored; used of hair, horses, and skin complexion in ritual, prophetic, and poetic texts.
An adjective meaning 'black' or 'dark,' applied to physical color in three distinct contexts. In Leviticus 13:31 and 13:37, priestly law uses it to assess hair color in skin-disease diagnosis — black hair signals health. Song of Solomon employs it both for the beloved's self-description ('I am dark,' 1:5) and for the lover's locks ('his locks are black,' 5:11). Zechariah's vision features black horses (6:2, 6:6) as agents of divine purpose. The Spanish 'morena' for Song 1:5 captures the warmth of the term better than a stark 'black,' hinting at sun-darkened beauty rather than mere color.
Senses
1. black, dark (color) — Black or dark in color, describing observable physical appearance. The Spanish rendering 'morena' (Song 1:5) versus 'negro' (Lev 13:31) reveals a semantic nuance: the word covers both neutral color description (hair in priestly diagnosis, Lev 13:31, 37; horses in prophetic vision, Zech 6:2, 6) and an aesthetically charged darkness (the beloved's sun-kissed complexion, Song 1:5; the lover's raven hair, Song 5:11). All uses share the core denotation of dark coloring. 6×
AR["أَسْوَدُ", "السُّودُ", "سُودٌ", "شْحُورَه", "شْحُورُوت"]·ben["কালো"]·DE["[השחרים]", "[שחורה]", "[שחרות]", "[שחרים]", "schwarz"]·EN["black", "dark", "the-black"]·FR["Noire", "noir", "noires", "sombre"]·heb["ה-שחורים", "שחורה", "שחורות", "שחורים", "שחר"]·HI["और-उगा", "काली", "काले", "नहीं"]·ID["Hitam", "hitam"]·IT["[השחרים]", "[שחרים]", "black", "dark", "nero"]·jav["Cemeng", "cemeng"]·KO["검으며", "검은", "그-검은"]·PT["Negra", "negros", "os-pretos", "preto", "pretos"]·RU["-чёрные", "Черна", "чёрного", "чёрные", "чёрный"]·ES["Morena", "los-negros", "negro", "negros"]·SW["mweusi", "nyeusi", "weusi"]·TR["kara", "siyah", "siyah-"]·urd["سیاہ", "کالا", "کالی"]
Related Senses
H4325 1. water, waters (582×)H6965b 1. Qal: to rise, arise, get up (432×)H2091 1. gold (the metal) (389×)H0068 1. stone, rock (material/object) (267×)H5178a 1. bronze/copper as metal (131×)H6083 1. dust, dry earth, soil (108×)H8313 1. burn, set fire to (94×)H2734 1. anger was kindled (82×)G5204 1. water (80×)H2822 1. darkness, absence of light (80×)G5457 1. light (illumination) (71×)G0450 1. rise, stand up (physical) (69×)H6965b 2. Qal: to stand firm, endure, be valid (50×)H6999a 2. burn sacrifice on altar (Hifil) (45×)H5553 1. rock, cliff (physical feature) (43×)H6965b 4. Hifil: to establish, confirm (covenant/kingdom/word) (40×)H1197a 1. burn, be on fire (39×)H4306 1. rain, showers (38×)H1653 1. rain, precipitation (34×)G4655 1. darkness (30×)
BDB / Lexicon Reference
† שָׁחֹר adj. black;—שׁ׳ of hair Lv 13:31, 37 (P), so fpl. שְׁחֹרוֹת Ct 5:11; of skin, fs. שְׁחוֹרָה 1:5; of horses, mpl. שְׁחֹרִים Zc 6:2, 6.