השכים

Hebrew

Root
שׁ־כ־ם (sh-k-m)
2 terms

Etymology

Denominative of שְׁכֶם (sh'khem, “shoulder”) with the proper meaning of "putting a load on the back of a beast of burden", an activity which nomadic tribes tend to do very early in the morning as preparation for their continuing journey. This proper idea became more general and put an emphasis on the aspect of waking up early, thus developing to "rising early and doing something" and finally to simply "rising early in the morning".

Pronunciation

• (Modern Israeli Hebrew) IPA^(key): /(h)iʃˈkim/

Verb

הִשְׁכִּים • (hishkím) (hif'il construction)

1. (intransitive) to rise early in the morning (often followed by בַּבֹּקֶר)
   • Tanach, Genesis 19:27, with translation of the Jewish Publication Society:

     וַיַּשְׁכֵּם אַבְרָהָם בַּבֹּקֶר אֶל־הַמָּקוֹם אֲשֶׁר־עָמַד שָׁם אֶת־פְּנֵי יְהֹוָה׃

     And Abraham got up early in the morning to the place where he had stood before the LORD.

   • Tanach, Exodus 24:4, with translation of the Jewish Publication Society:

     וַיִּכְתֹּב מֹשֶׁה אֵת כׇּל־דִּבְרֵי יְהֹוָה וַיַּשְׁכֵּם בַּבֹּקֶר וַיִּבֶן מִזְבֵּחַ תַּחַת הָהָר וּשְׁתֵּים עֶשְׂרֵה מַצֵּבָה לִשְׁנֵים עָשָׂר שִׁבְטֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל׃

     And Moses wrote all the words of the LORD, and rose up early in the morning, and builded an altar under the mount, and twelve pillars, according to the twelve tribes of Israel.

Conjugation

Conjugation of הִשְׁכִּים (see also Appendix:Hebrew verbs)

non-finite forms		to-infinitive		לְהַשְׁכִּים
		action noun		הַשְׁכָּמָה
finite forms		singular		plural
		m	f	m	f
past	first	הִשְׁכַּמְתִּי		הִשְׁכַּמְנוּ
	second	הִשְׁכַּמְתָּ	הִשְׁכַּמְתְּ	הִשְׁכַּמְתֶּם	הִשְׁכַּמְתֶּן
	third	הִשְׁכִּים	הִשְׁכִּימָה	הִשְׁכִּימוּ
present		מַשְׁכִּים	מַשְׁכִּימָה	מַשְׁכִּימִים	מַשְׁכִּימוֹת
future	first	אַשְׁכִּים		נַשְׁכִּים
	second	תַּשְׁכִּים	תַּשְׁכִּימִי	תַּשְׁכִּימוּ	תַּשְׁכֵּמְנָה1
	third	יַשְׁכִּים	תַּשְׁכִּים	יַשְׁכִּימוּ	תַּשְׁכֵּמְנָה1
imperative		הַשְׁכֵּם	הַשְׁכִּימִי	הַשְׁכִּימוּ	הַשְׁכֵּמְנָה1

¹ Rare in Modern Hebrew.

References

• H7925 in Strong, James (1979) Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance to the Bible
• Klein, Ernest (1987) “שָׁכַם”, in A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the Hebrew Language for Readers of English‎^[1], Jerusalem: Carta, →ISBN, page 657c
• Jastrow, Marcus (1903) A Dictionary of the Targumim, the Talmud Babli and Yerushalmi, and the Midrashic Literature, London, New York: Luzac & Co., G.P. Putnam's Sons, page 1574b