חָגַג châgag — properly, to move in a circle, i.e. (specifically) to march in a sacred procession, to observe a festival
Translated in the KJV as celebrate, dance, (keep, hold) a feast, reel to and fro.
a primitive root (compare H2283, H2328); properly, to move in a circle, i.e. (specifically) to march in a sacred procession, to observe a festival; by implication, to be giddy.
châgag in each stem
Qal (Pa'al)
Imperfect (yiqtol) 7Sequential perfect (weqatal) 3Infinitive construct 3Participle (active) 2Imperative 1
And afterward Moses and Aaron went in, and told Pharaoh, Thus saith the Lord God of Israel, Let my people go, that they may hold a feast unto me in the wilderness.
And this day shall be unto you for a memorial; and ye shall keep it a feast to the Lord throughout your generations; ye shall keep it a feast by an ordinance for ever.
Three times thou shalt keep a feast unto me in the year.
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 ›