שֶׁבַח m. (preced.) 1) improvement, gain. B. Kam. 95ᵇ שלשה שמין להן הש׳ ומעלין וכ׳ there are three persons for whose benefit the value of an improvement is assessed to be payable in money; they are: the share which the first-born has to pay to the plain heir, if the estate has increased in value before division &c. Ib., a. fr. ש׳ המגיע לכתפים, v. כַּתָּף. Ib. דמי צמרו ושְׁבָחוֹ the original value of his wool and its additional value (through dyeing). Ib. IX, 4; Keth. 80ᵃ, v. הוֹצָאָה. B. Mets. 14ᵃ, v. שִׁעְבּוּד. Pes. 27ᵃ, a. e. יש ש׳ עצים בפת the bread contains the benefit derived from the wood used in baking bread, i.e. bread baked by a fire made of forbidden wood (e.g. an ăsherah) is forbidden; a. fr. —2) excellency, superiority, praise. Num. R. s. 1613 לא במקום הש׳ וכ׳ they built the cities not on the best soil &c., opp. פְּסוֹלֶת. Ib. להודיעך שְׁבָחָהּ של וכ׳ to let thee know the superiority of the land of Israel, v. שָׁבַח. Erub. 18ᵇ מקצת שבחו של אדם וכ׳ you may tell part of a man’s praise in his presence, but not all of it. Pes. X, 4 מתחיל בגנות ומסיים בש׳ you begin (the recitation of the Agadah on the Passover eve) with disgrace (telling of the slavery or idolatry of the ancestors), and close with praise. Ib. 117ᵃ בעשרה מאמרות של ש׳ וכ׳ the Book of Psalms uses ten expressions of praise &c.; גדול … שכולל שם וש׳ the highest of all is Halleluiah, because it contains the Name of the Lord and praise. Kidd. 33ᵇ (ref. to Ex. XXXIII, 8) וחד אמר לש׳ and one says, they looked after Moses with the purpose of praising him, v. גְּנַאי; a. fr.—Tosef. Meg. IV (III), 39; Meg. 25ᵇ קורין אותו לש׳ are in reading changed for a more aesthetic expression, v. גְּנַאי.—[Tanḥ. Vaëra 9 ומראה שבחן, read: שַׁחֲצוֹ, v. שַׁחַץ I.]