סָמַךְ çâmak — to prop (literally or figuratively)
Translated in the KJV as bear up, establish, hold, lay, lean, lie hard, put, rest self, set self, stand fast, stay, sustain.
a primitive root; to prop (literally or figuratively); reflexively, to lean upon or take hold of (in a favorable or unfavorable sense).
çâmak in each stem
Qal (Pa'al)
Sequential perfect (weqatal) 16Perfect (qatal) 7Participle (active) 6Wayyiqtol 5Imperfect (yiqtol) 3Participle (passive) 3Imperative 1
And Isaac answered and said unto Esau, Behold, I have made him thy lord, and all his brethren have I given to him for servants; and with corn and wine have I sustained him: and what shall I do now unto thee, my son?
And thou shalt cause a bullock to be brought before the tabernacle of the congregation: and Aaron and his sons shall put their hands upon the head of the bullock.
Thou shalt also take one ram; and Aaron and his sons shall put their hands upon the head of the ram.
Niph'al
Wayyiqtol 2Imperfect (yiqtol) 2Perfect (qatal) 2
And Samson took hold of the two middle pillars upon which the house stood, and on which it was borne up, of the one with his right hand, and of the other with his left.
Now, behold, thou trustest upon the staff of this bruised reed, even upon Egypt, on which if a man lean, it will go into his hand, and pierce it: so is Pharaoh king of Egypt unto all that trust on him.
With him is an arm of flesh; but with us is the Lord our God to help us, and to fight our battles. And the people rested themselves upon the words of Hezekiah king of Judah.
Pi'el
Imperative 1
Stay me with flagons, comfort me with apples: for I am sick of love.
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 ›