slavery. (Ps. 81:5, 6; Isa. 10:27; 14:25; Matt. 23:4) The tribe of Issachar was foretold to “bend down his shoulder to bear burdens.” (Gen. 49:14, 15) In Israel’s history this tribe was willing to take responsibility and do hard work. It supplied many courageous fighters for Judge Barak and, later provided Judge Tola; also, in the time of David, this tribe furnished many wise and valiant men.—Judg. 5:13, 15; 10:1, 2; 1 Chron. 7:1-5; 12:23, 32.

An authority or responsibility was said to rest on one’s shoulder. Isaiah’s prophecy foretold that the princely rule would come to be on the shoulder of Jesus Christ. (Isa. 9:6) Isaiah told unfaithful Shebna that Eliakim would take his place as steward over the king’s house, God putting “the key of the house of David” upon his shoulder. Since a key in such cases represented responsibility and authority, this prophecy may relate to Christ’s receiving the authority of the Kingdom as represented in the Davidic covenant. (Isa. 22:15, 20-22; Luke 1:31-33; compare also Revelation 3:7.) It is interesting to note also that the breast-piece of judgment hung from the shoulder pieces of the high priest’s garments, evidently picturing certain authorities that would depend or rest upon the shoulders of the great High Priest, Jesus Christ.—Ex. 28:6, 7, 12, 22-28; see HIGH PRIEST.

After blessing Joseph’s sons, Ephraim and Manasseh, Jacob said to Joseph: “I do give you one shoulder [of land] more than to your brothers,” thereby designating Joseph as the possessor of firstborn rights. (Gen. 48:22; compare Deuteronomy 21:17; 1 Chronicles 5:1, 2.) Moses said of Benjamin, when he blessed the sons of Israel: “Let the beloved one of Jehovah reside in security by him, . . . and he must reside between his shoulders.” (Deut. 33:12) This seems to refer to the fact that the kings of the line of David would have their seat of government in Benjamin’s territory. The same Hebrew word used here for ‘shoulder’ is translated “side” or “slope” at Joshua 15:8 (AT, Mo, NW), speaking of a slope of the hill on which Jerusalem then stood.—See other examples at Exodus 27:14, 15; Numbers 34:11; Joshua 15:10; 1 Kings 6:8; Ezekiel 25:9.

“Giving a stubborn shoulder” represents resistance against God’s counsel and law (Neh. 9:29; Zech. 7:11), while serving “shoulder to shoulder” indicates unity of action.—Zeph. 3:9.

The officiating priest was given the shoulder of a ram of the Nazirite’s sacrifice at the completion of his vow, this constituting a part of the priest’s portion.—Num. 6:19, 20; see also Deuteronomy 18:3; see LEG.

SHOVEL

This well-known long-handled scooping implement has been in use since early times. Shovels made of copper were employed at the tabernacle when clearing away the ashes from the altar of burnt offering. (Ex. 27:1-3; 38:3; Num. 4:14) Serving the same purpose were the copper shovels the Hebrew-Phoenician workman Hiram made for use at the temple built by Solomon. (1 Ki. 7:13, 14, 40, 45) These were among the temple utensils that the Babylonians carried away in 607 B.C.E.—2 Ki. 25:8, 14; Jer. 52:18.

Shovels, likely made of wood, were used to winnow grain. (Isa. 30:24) The broad winnowing shovel was employed at a threshing floor to scoop up threshed grain and throw it into the air against the wind, which blew away the refuse, such as chaff, and allowed the grain to fall to the threshing floor. John the Baptist prophetically described the Messiah as having in hand a figurative winnowing shovel, with which he would separate symbolic “wheat” from “chaff.”—Matt. 3:1, 12; see WINNOWING.

SHOWBREAD

Twelve cakes of bread that were placed on a table in the Holy compartment of the tabernacle or temple and that were replaced with fresh ones each sabbath. (Ex. 35:13; 39:36; 1 Ki. 7:48; 2 Chron. 13:11; Neh. 10:32, 33) The literal Hebrew designation for the showbread is the “bread of faces.” The word for “face” sometimes denotes ‘presence’ (2 Ki. 13:23) and so the showbread was in front of Jehovah’s face as an offering before him constantly. (Ex. 25:30) The showbread is also referred to as “layer bread” (2 Chron. 2:4), “loaves of presentation” (Mark 2:26) and simply “the loaves.”—Heb. 9:2.

The Kohathites were responsible to bake the show-bread “sabbath by sabbath,” as well as to transport it when the tabernacle was moved. (Num. 4:7; 1 Chron. 9:32) Each of the twelve ring-shaped cakes was made of two omers (2/10 of an ephah; equal to 4 dry quarts or 4.4 liters) of fine flour and, according to Josephus, no leaven was used. On the sabbath the old loaves were removed from the table of showbread on the N side of the Holy (Ex. 26:35) and replaced with twelve fresh ones. The cakes were stacked in two piles consisting of six loaves or layers each. Pure frankincense was put on each stack. Jewish tradition has it that the frankincense was put in golden vessels and not directly on the cakes. When the showbread was removed on the sabbath, the frankincense is said to have been burned on the altar.—Lev. 24:5-8.

The old loaves were something most holy, having been in the Holy before Jehovah for a week, and were to be eaten by the Aaronic priests in a holy place, evidently somewhere in the sanctuary precincts. (Lev. 24:9) There is only one recorded instance in Biblical history regarding the use of the old loaves by non-Aaronites. When David was fleeing from Saul, he requested bread for himself and his men from Ahimelech the high priest. As Ahimelech had no “ordinary bread,” he gave David loaves of showbread that had been replaced. But the high priest, believing that David was on a mission for the king, did this only after being assured that David and his men were ceremonially clean. (1 Sam. 21:1-6) Jesus Christ referred to this incident when the Pharisees objected to his disciples’ plucking ears of grain on the sabbath.—Matt. 12:3-7; Luke 6:1-4.

SHREWMICE

This translates the Hebrew word hhaphar·pa·rohthʹ, also rendered “moles,” “rats” and “mice.” (Isa. 2:20, AV, Mo, Ro) The original-language term is considered to be derived from a root signifying, “to dig, to burrow,” and therefore a number of scholars have suggested that it may denote any of a variety of burrowing animals, including rats, mice, mole rats, jerboas and the like. However, according to Koehler and Baumgartner (Lexicon in Veteris Testamenti Libros, p. 322), hhaphar·pa·rohthʹ designates “shrewmice.”

This creature is a small, mouselike animal covered with fine, short fur. It has a long, slender snout, tiny eyes and rounded ears with a rather crumpled appearance. Of enormous appetite, shrewmice can devour their own weight in food about every three hours. They subsist largely on insects and worms, although also feeding on small animals their own size and larger, such as mice. Among the several varieties of shrewmice found in Palestine by the nineteenth-century naturalist H. B. Tristram were the common shrew and the much smaller pigmy shrew.

SHUA

(Shuʹa) [cry for help].

1. Canaanite father of Judah’s wife, and grandfather of Er, Onan and Shelah.—Gen. 38:2-5, 12; 1 Chron. 2:3.

2. Daughter of Heber of the tribe of Asher.—1 Chron. 7:30, 32.

SHUAH

(Shuʹah) [depression].

The sixth- and last-named son of Abraham by his second wife Keturah. (1 Chron. 1:32) Shuah and his five brothers received gifts from Abraham and were sent out of his household toward the East. (Gen. 25:1, 2, 5, 6) Shuah’s descendants, the Shuhites, are thought by some to have lived along the Euphrates between two of its tributaries, the Balikh and Khabur. The only Shuhite named in the Bible is Job’s companion Bildad.—Job 2:11.