Bible Dictionary
SHOULDER-BLADE
The shoulder-blade is the flat bone of the upper back. Job uses it in a curse calling for his shoulder and arm to be disabled if he had acted unjustly.
Definition
The shoulder-blade is the bone of the upper back to which the shoulder and arm are related. The biblical term occurs only in the passage describing the shoulder-blade and the adjoining arm.
Biblical Usage
In Job, the shoulder-blade appears in a curse calling for the speaker’s shoulder to fall from it and his arm to be broken if he had acted unjustly.
Related Figures
Historical Bible Dictionaries
International Standard Bible Encyclopedia (ISBE)
<p>shol'der-blad (shikhmah): "Then let my shoulder (kathephi) fall from the shoulder-blade (shikhmah), and mine arm (zeroa` be broken from the bone (qaneh)" (Job 31:22). The Hebrew word is the feminine form of shekhem (see SHOULDER). It is found only in this passage.</p>