עָגַן ʻâgan — to debar, i.e. from marriage
Translated in the KJV as stay.
a primitive root; to debar, i.e. from marriage.
ʻâgan in each stem
Niph'al
Simple · passive — the plain action; the subject has it done to them
Imperfect (yiqtol) 1
תֵּֽעָגֵ֔נָה Ruth 1:13 Imperfect (yiqtol), 2nd person feminine plural
Would ye tarry for them till they were grown? would ye stay for them from having husbands? nay, my daughters; for it grieveth me much for your sakes that the hand of the Lord is gone out against me.
What the stems mean
A Hebrew verb is its root letters set into a pattern. The pattern — the binyan — is the grammar's way of saying three things at once: whether the action is simple, intensive or causative, and whether its subject is active, passive or reflexive. That is why one Hebrew word can need six English ones. All seven binyanim, explained ›