שִׁלוֹ Quail
Every verse in which this word stands — 4 places, in canonical order, first appearance to last. These are the places the lexicon carries under this word's own entry, counting every form the text writes it in, which is the number on the list.
The slav — the bird the wind brought up from the sea, twice, for the people's craving; remembered again in Tehillim 105. Israel ate it at God's own giving, and that is where its status comes from. Quail is the usual rendering; which bird it names, and the tradition a bird must carry before it is eaten, are discussed.
וַיְהִי בָעֶרֶב וַתַּעַל הַשְּׂלָו וַתְּכַס אֶת־הַֽמַּחֲנֶה וּבַבֹּקֶר הָֽיְתָה שִׁכְבַת הַטַּל סָבִיב לַֽמַּחֲנֶֽה
And it came to pass at even, that the quails came up, and covered the camp; and in the morning there was a layer of dew round about the camp.
וְרוּחַ נָסַע מֵאֵת יְהוָה וַיָּגָז שַׂלְוִים מִן־הַיָּם וַיִּטֹּשׁ עַל־הַֽמַּחֲנֶה כְּדֶרֶךְ יוֹם כֹּה וּכְדֶרֶךְ יוֹם כֹּה סְבִיבוֹת הַֽמַּחֲנֶה וּכְאַמָּתַיִם עַל־פְּנֵי הָאָֽרֶץ
And there went forth a wind from the LORD, and brought across quails from the sea, and let them fall by the camp, about a day’s journey on this side, and a day’s journey on the other side, round about the camp, and about two cubits above the face of the earth.
וַיָּקָם הָעָם כָּל־הַיּוֹם הַהוּא וְכָל־הַלַּיְלָה וְכֹל יוֹם הַֽמָּחֳרָת וַיַּֽאַסְפוּ אֶת־הַשְּׂלָו הַמַּמְעִיט אָסַף עֲשָׂרָה חֳמָרִים וַיִּשְׁטְחוּ לָהֶם שָׁטוֹחַ סְבִיבוֹת הַֽמַּחֲנֶֽה
And the people rose up all that day, and all the night, and all the next day, and gathered the quails; he that gathered least gathered ten heaps; and they spread them all abroad for themselves round about the camp.
שָׁאַל וַיָּבֵא שְׂלָו וְלֶחֶם שָׁמַיִם יַשְׂבִּיעֵֽם
They asked, and He brought quails, And gave them in plenty the bread of heaven.
Quick answers
What is the Hebrew word for quail?
Quail in Hebrew is שלו, with a gematria of 336 in the standard method.
How many times is the quail mentioned in the Tanakh?
The word stands 4 times in the Tanakh, first at Exodus 16:13.
A spelling is not a word. The bare letters שלו stand 11 times in the corpus, which is a different question and often a different number: the same letters can spell a name or another word entirely, and the creature written with a particle attached is a spelling that search never returns. It is here, as itself.
See all 11 occurrences of the spelling שלו →