Definition

a guard (the man, the post or the prison); a deposit (figuratively); also (as observed) a usage (abstractly), or an example (concretely)

Etymology

from H8104 (שָׁמַר);

Where the KJV renders it

• diligence
• guard
• office
• prison
• ward
• watch

Every distinct English word the King James Version uses to translate this Hebrew term. The variety shows what readers in English receive across many different surface words — the same underlying word, scattered across the English Bible under different names.

What the first audience heard

A deep-dive treatment of this word is in the works. The featured chapter above carries the long form of what this word meant to its first audience.