and so on.

a. bare, from Old English bær, bare;

b. ballast, from Old Swedish and Old Danish bar, bare.

Both a and b from Germanic *bazaz.

voB OT:954  (bôš) be ashamed, put to shame, disconcerted, disappointed.

hv*WB OT:955 (bûšâ) shame.

hn`v=B* (bošnâ) shame.

What follows is somewhat edited from TWOT.

The primary meaning of this root is "to fall into disgrace, normally through failure, either of self or of an object of trust." Along with its derivatives, it occurs 155 times, 130 times in the prophets or the Psalms. 38 occurrences are found in Jeremiah and 20 in Isaiah. As these parallels suggest, the force of bôš is somewhat in contrast to the primary meaning of the English "to be ashamed," in that the English stresses the inner attitude, the state of mind, while the Hebrew means "to come to shame" and stresses the sense of public disgrace, a physical state. Likewise, in Akkadian the G-stem of this root means "to come to shame" and the D-stem "to put to shame."

The second usage of bôš expresses that sense of confusion, embarrassment, and dismay when matters turn out contrary to one's expectations. Thus, Job speaks of the shame of the caravaneers when they do not find water in the expected place (Job 6:20). So also, Israel will be shamed when God cuts off the rain (Jer 14:3). In a more profound sense, Israel and the nations will be shamed by their idols when they fail them (Isa 42:17; Jer 22:22; Hos 10:6).

The third usage and the one that is most common carries the above thought further expressing the disgrace which is the result of defeat at the hands of an enemy, either in battle or in some other manner. In particular, the awful shame of being paraded as captives is thought of (Mic 1:11; cf. also Jer 2:26). Involved here are all the nuances of confusion, disillusionment, humiliation, and brokenness which the word connotes. The prophets normally use the word with this sense, promising Israel that unless she repents and turns from her idolatrous ways, she will certainly experience the shame of defeat and exile. (Cf. Isa 1:29; 30:5; Jer 2:36; 9:19 [H 18]; Ezra 9:6; Dan 9:7; etc.)

Intimately associated with this third use of the word is the question of trust. If Israel seeks to insure her own glory by refusing to trust in God but rather trusts in idols (Isa 1:29) or in foreign nations (Isa 20:5; 30:3,5), she will not get glory, but shame and disgrace. On the other hand, if one will humbly submit to God, he will find his true glory, for God will not let that person come to shame (Isa 29:22; Joel 2:26,27; Zeph 3:19). It is this promise of which the Psalmist continually reminds God (Ps 25:3; 31:17; Ps 37:19; 119:46).

Similarly, although Israel's enemies may triumph over her for a period, they must inevitably, because of their idolatry and their lack of trust in God, be brought to abject shame (Isa 41:11; Jer 46:24; 51:47.) Again, it is the Psalmist's fervent expectation that because he trusts in God, those who are attempting to destroy him must themselves be brought low in disgrace (Ps 6:10 [H 11]; Ps 22:6; 40:14; Ps 109:28).

Fourthly, shame results from imprudent or immoral action. This use is found in 1 Sam 20:30. From Saul's perspective Jonathan made a fool of himself not only by committing a grave injustice against the reigning king, but also by jeapordizing his mother's position who would become part of David's harem. Likewise Joab accused David of not thinking things through and thus acting foolishly (2 Sam 19:5. But this usage is largely restricted to Proverbs. All the occurrences are Hiphil participles in references which describe explicitly or implicitly the actions of those who bring disgrace upon their parents or spouses (Prov 10:5; 12:4; 14:35; etc.).

The final use of bôš is the one which coincides most closely with the common English connotation: a feeling of guilt from having done what is wrong. Jeremiah (Jer 6:15) is horrified that the people are not ashamed having committed abomination (idolatry). Similarly, Ezekiel (Ezek 16:63) indicates that God's grace, manifested in the restoration, will not allay, but increase Judah's sense of shame. Not until then will she see what a terrible thing it was to trust idols instead of the living God. Ezra, discovering the situation in Jerusalem, cries out that he is ashamed because "our iniquities are higher than our heads."

From Akkadian:

List of References

BDB: Hebrew and English Lexicon of the Old Testament, F. Brown, S. R. Driver, and C. A. Briggs, Oxford University Press, Oxford, 1951. Now available electronically from Logos Bible Software, as Enhanced Brown-Driver-Briggs Hebrew and English Lexicon, electronic edition, Logos Research Systems, Oak Harbor, WA, 2000.

SEC: Strong's Exhaustive Concordance, J. Strong, Abingdon Press, New York, 1890. Now available on line from multiple sources, such as BIBLESOFT, 22014 7th Ave. South, Seattle, WA 98198.

OED: Oxford English Dictionary, Oxford University Press, 1971. Now available on line from Online Subscription Department, Oxford University Press, 198 Madison Avenue, New York, NY 10016.

TWOT: Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament by R. Laird Harris, Gleason L. Archer, and Bruce K. Waltke, Moody Press, 1980. Now available on line from multiple sources, such as BIBLESOFT, 22014 7th Ave. South, Seattle, WA 98198.

The Word: Isaac Mozeson, SPI Books, New York, 1989

I offer no references for words that come from various other languages, and that can be traced by browsing the World Wide Web.