בָּתַר bâthar — to chop up
Translated in the KJV as divide.
a primitive root,; to chop up.
bâthar in each stem
Pi'el
Intensive · active — the action intensified, repeated or brought about; the subject does it
Wayyiqtol 1
וַיְבַתֵּ֤ר Gen 15:10 Wayyiqtol, 3rd person masculine singular
And he took unto him all these, and divided them in the midst, and laid each piece one against another: but the birds divided he not.
Qal (Pa'al)
Simple · active — the plain action; the subject does it
Perfect (qatal) 1
בָתָֽר Gen 15:10 Perfect (qatal), 3rd person masculine singular
And he took unto him all these, and divided them in the midst, and laid each piece one against another: but the birds divided he not.
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 ›