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חָתַם châtham — to close up

pronounced khaw-tham' · Strong's H2856 · 26 occurrences in the Hebrew Bible · 4 stems: Qal (Pa'al), Niph'al, Hiph'il, Pi'el

Translated in the KJV as make an end, mark, seal, stop.

a primitive root; to close up; especially to seal.

châtham in each stem

Qal (Pa'al) 22×

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

Participle (passive) 10Wayyiqtol 3Imperative 3Imperfect (yiqtol) 3Infinitive absolute 1Participle (active) 1Infinitive construct 1

חָתֻ֖ם Deut 32:34 Participle (passive), masculine singular

Is not this laid up in store with me, and sealed up among my treasures? (KJV)

וַתַּחְתֹּ֖ם 1Kgs 21:8 Wayyiqtol, 3rd person feminine singular

So she wrote letters in Ahab’s name, and sealed them with his seal, and sent the letters unto the elders and to the nobles that were in his city, dwelling with Naboth. (KJV)

הֶֽחָת֔וּם Neh 10:1 Participle (passive), masculine singular

Now those that sealed were, Nehemiah, the Tirshatha, the son of Hachaliah, and Zidkijah, (KJV)

Niph'al

Simple · passive — the plain action; the subject has it done to them

Participle (passive) 1Infinitive absolute 1

וְנֶחְתָּ֖ם Esth 3:12 Participle (passive), masculine singular

Then were the king’s scribes called on the thirteenth day of the first month, and there was written according to all that Haman had commanded unto the king’s lieutenants, and to the governors that were over every province, and to the rulers of every people of every province according to the writing thereof, and to every people after their language; in the name of king Ahasuerus was it written, and sealed with the king’s ring. (KJV)

וְנַחְתּ֛וֹם Esth 8:8 Infinitive absolute

Write ye also for the Jews, as it liketh you, in the king’s name, and seal it with the king’s ring: for the writing which is written in the king’s name, and sealed with the king’s ring, may no man reverse. (KJV)

Hiph'il

Causative · active — causing someone or something to do the action; the subject does it

Perfect (qatal) 1

הֶחְתִּ֤ים Lev 15:3 Perfect (qatal), 3rd person masculine singular

And this shall be his uncleanness in his issue: whether his flesh run with his issue, or his flesh be stopped from his issue, it is his uncleanness. (KJV)

Pi'el

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

Perfect (qatal) 1

חִתְּמוּ Job 24:16 Perfect (qatal), 3rd person common plural

In the dark they dig through houses, which they had marked for themselves in the daytime: they know not the light. (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. châtham 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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