The term shaman (šaman) comes from the Manchu-Tungus verb ša,
'to know'. The shaman is consulted to
determine the cause of trouble that comes upon a family or a community. The trouble may take the form of illness, drought, war, or a perceived curse. The
shaman may be a male or a female, or androgynous. The shaman comes to "know" by consulting spirits, usually in a trace state. His or her knowing is of an occult
nature. In the shaman’s worldview, troubles result when the spirits are offended and/or the
spirit world is in disharmony. The shaman’s tools are usually a drum, a
medicine bag, amulets, fetishes, masks, fire, and smoke.
The Hebrew words shemen (Strong's #8081) and shamen (Strong's
#8082) refer to oil. The verb form is שמן (shaman, Strong's #8080) and means
“to be fat.”
There is no relation between the Tungus term shaman and the Hebrew terms shamen/shaman. As Calvin Steck has written, “Homophonic resemblances occur regularly across languages, and there is no significance other than curious amusement. Consider the Hebrew student’s gag line/ mi מי is who, hu הוא is he, hi היא is she, and shi שּׁי is that.”
The terms šaman (Tungus) and shamen/shaman (Hebrew) have totally different cultural contexts. The two languages are not related. Hebrew is a Semitic language in the Afro-Asiatic family. Tungusic (Manchu-Tungus) languages are in the Altaic family with Turkic and Mongolian languages.
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