בָּטָא bâṭâʼ — to babble

pronounced baw-taw' · Strong's H981 · 4 occurrences in the Hebrew Bible · 2 stems: Pi'el, Qal (Pa'al)

Translated in the KJV as pronounce, speak.

or בָּטָה; a primitive root; to babble; hence, to vociferate angrily.

bâṭâʼ in each stem

Pi'el 3×

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

Infinitive construct 1Imperfect (yiqtol) 1Wayyiqtol 1

לְבַטֵּ֨א Lev 5:4 Infinitive construct

Or if a soul swear, pronouncing with his lips to do evil, or to do good, whatsoever it be that a man shall pronounce with an oath, and it be hid from him; when he knoweth of it, then he shall be guilty in one of these. (KJV)

וַ֝יְבַטֵּ֗א Ps 106:33 Wayyiqtol, 3rd person masculine singular

Because they provoked his spirit, so that he spake unadvisedly with his lips. (KJV)

Qal (Pa'al) 1×

Simple · active — the plain action; the subject does it

Participle (active) 1

בּ֭וֹטֶה Prov 12:18 Participle (active), masculine singular

There is that speaketh like the piercings of a sword: but the tongue of the wise is health. (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. bâṭâʼ 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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