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עָרָה ʻârâh — to be (causatively, make) bare

pronounced aw-raw' · Strong's H6168 · 15 occurrences in the Hebrew Bible · 4 stems: Pi'el, Hiph'il, Hitpa'el, Niph'al

Translated in the KJV as leave destitute, discover, empty, make naked, pour, rase, spread self, uncover.

a primitive root; to be (causatively, make) bare; hence, to empty, pour out, demolish.

ʻârâh in each stem

Pi'el

Intensive · active — the action intensified, repeated or brought about; the subject does it

Imperfect (yiqtol) 2Imperative 2Perfect (qatal) 2Wayyiqtol 1Jussive 1Infinitive absolute 1

וַתְּעַ֤ר Gen 24:20 Wayyiqtol, 3rd person feminine singular

And she hasted, and emptied her pitcher into the trough, and ran again unto the well to draw water, and drew for all his camels. (KJV)

וִיעָ֨רוּ֙ 2Chr 24:11 Imperfect (yiqtol), 3rd person masculine plural

Now it came to pass, that at what time the chest was brought unto the king’s office by the hand of the Levites, and when they saw that there was much money, the king’s scribe and the high priest’s officer came and emptied the chest, and took it, and carried it to his place again. Thus they did day by day, and gathered money in abundance. (KJV)

עָ֤רוּ Ps 137:7 Imperative, 2nd person masculine plural

Remember, O Lord, the children of Edom in the day of Jerusalem; who said, Rase it, rase it, even to the foundation thereof. (KJV)

Hiph'il

Causative · active — causing someone or something to do the action; the subject does it

Perfect (qatal) 3

הֶֽעֱרָ֔ה Lev 20:18 Perfect (qatal), 3rd person masculine singular

And if a man shall lie with a woman having her sickness, and shall uncover her nakedness; he hath discovered her fountain, and she hath uncovered the fountain of her blood: and both of them shall be cut off from among their people. (KJV)

הֶעֱרָ֖ה Lev 20:19 Perfect (qatal), 3rd person masculine singular

And thou shalt not uncover the nakedness of thy mother’s sister, nor of thy father’s sister: for he uncovereth his near kin: they shall bear their iniquity. (KJV)

הֶעֱרָ֤ה Isa 53:12 Perfect (qatal), 3rd person masculine singular

Therefore will I divide him a portion with the great, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong; because he hath poured out his soul unto death: and he was numbered with the transgressors; and he bare the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors. (KJV)

Hitpa'el

Intensive · reflexive — the action intensified, repeated or brought about; the subject does it to or for themselves

Participle (active) 1Imperfect (yiqtol) 1

וּ֝מִתְעָרֶ֗ה Ps 37:35 Participle (active), masculine singular

I have seen the wicked in great power, and spreading himself like a green bay tree. (KJV)

וְתִתְעָרִֽי Lam 4:21 Imperfect (yiqtol), 2nd person feminine singular

Rejoice and be glad, O daughter of Edom, that dwellest in the land of Uz; the cup also shall pass through unto thee: thou shalt be drunken, and shalt make thyself naked. (KJV)

Niph'al

Simple · passive — the plain action; the subject has it done to them

Imperfect (yiqtol) 1

יֵ֨עָרֶ֥ה Isa 32:15 Imperfect (yiqtol), 3rd person masculine singular

Until the spirit be poured upon us from on high, and the wilderness be a fruitful field, and the fruitful field be counted for a forest. (KJV)

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 ›

Open in Hebrew Explorer with Verb Anatomy on →

In the app, tap any Hebrew verb while reading: its root, stem and form are named, the letters of the word itself are coloured to show which is which, and the stem's meaning is put in plain English. ʻârâh in the lexicon ›

Morphology from OpenScriptures MorphHB (CC BY 4.0); definitions from Strong's Hebrew Lexicon (public domain); text from the Westminster Leningrad Codex.

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