Hebrew Nuggets, Lesson 16: Shalom (Part 2)

Articles Leave a Comment

The second of a two-part study of the word "Shalom."

Hebrew Nuggets is an article series that introduces beginners to Hebrew letters, Hebrew vocabulary and spiritual insights from the Hebrew tradition.

Revised: 29-Sept.-2015
As we saw in our last lesson, shalom is a very flexible word and can refer to much more than peace. All of the meanings we mentioned—“friendship,” “well-being,” “safety” and “salvation”—are clearly related to peace. And they also are all aspects of “completeness,” the fundamental meaning of the Hebrew root שׁ-ל-ם (sh-l-m).

Hebrew NuggetsThe word shalom appears in the Hebrew Scriptures 226 times, yet we find it nowhere in English translations of the Bible. It is never simply transliterated as “shalom,” but is always translated by English equivalents such as “peace.” Today, however, shalom has become an international word.

In addition to the many sides of shalom we mentioned previously, every visitor to Israel quickly learns two further uses of the word. In modern Hebrew, “Shalom” has become the way to say both “Hello” and “Goodbye,” thus, Israelis bless one another with shalom when they meet and when they part.

Paid Content
Premium Members and Friends of JP must be logged in to access this content:

If you do not have a paid subscription, please consider registering as a Premium Member starting at $10/month (paid monthly) or only $5/month (paid annually): Register

One Time Purchase Rather Than Membership
Rather than purchasing a membership subscription, you may purchase access to this single page for $1.99 USD. To purchase access we strongly encourage users to first register for a free account with JP (
Register), which will make the process of accessing your purchase much simpler. Once you have registered you may login and purchase access to this page at this link:

Login & Purchase
To read the next lesson, click here. For the transliteration system used in this series, click here.
This article originally appeared in issue 16 of the Jerusalem Perspective magazine. Click on the image above to view a PDF of the original magazine article.

Leave a Reply

  • David N. Bivin

    David N. Bivin
    Facebook

    David N. Bivin is founder and editor of Jerusalem Perspective. A native of Cleveland, Oklahoma, U.S.A., Bivin has lived in Israel since 1963, when he came to Jerusalem on a Rotary Foundation Fellowship to do postgraduate work at the Hebrew University. He studied at the Hebrew…
    [Read more about author]

  • JP Login

  • JP Content

  • Suggested Reading

  • DONATIONS: All donations received via PayPal will be used to increase the services available on JerusalemPerspective.com.

    Articles, blogs, forum messages and other types of posts published by Jerusalem Perspective online express the views of their respective authors, and do not necessarily reflect the views of JP, David Bivin or other members of the Jerusalem School of Synoptic Research.

    Copyright 1987 - 2025
    © Jerusalem Perspective
    All Rights Reserved