חָתַל châthal — to swathe

pronounced khaw-thal' · Strong's H2853 · 2 occurrences in the Hebrew Bible · 2 stems: Hoph'al, Pu'al

Translated in the KJV as × at all, swaddle.

a primitive root; to swathe.

châthal in each stem

Hoph'al 1×

Causative · passive — causing someone or something to do the action; the subject has it done to them

Infinitive absolute 1

וְהָחְתֵּ֖ל Ezek 16:4 Infinitive absolute

And as for thy nativity, in the day thou wast born thy navel was not cut, neither wast thou washed in water to supple thee; thou wast not salted at all, nor swaddled at all. (KJV)

Pu'al 1×

Intensive · passive — the action intensified, repeated or brought about; the subject has it done to them

Perfect (qatal) 1

חֻתָּֽלְתְּ Ezek 16:4 Perfect (qatal), 2nd person feminine singular

And as for thy nativity, in the day thou wast born thy navel was not cut, neither wast thou washed in water to supple thee; thou wast not salted at all, nor swaddled at all. (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. châthal 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.

Open Hebrew Explorer — 30+ free study tools →

Hebrew Explorer Weekly

One email, every Friday

This week’s Torah portion, a Hebrew word from it, an archaeology discovery, and what’s new — in time for Shabbat. Free, and one click to stop.

See a recent issue