דָּבַק dâbaq — properly, to impinge, i.e. cling or adhere
Translated in the KJV as abide fast, cleave, follow close, be joined, keep, overtake, pursue hard, stick, take.
a primitive root; properly, to impinge, i.e. cling or adhere; figuratively, to catch by pursuit.
dâbaq in each stem
Qal (Pa'al)
Imperfect (yiqtol) 15Perfect (qatal) 14Wayyiqtol 4Sequential perfect (weqatal) 3Infinitive construct 3
Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh.
Behold now, thy servant hath found grace in thy sight, and thou hast magnified thy mercy, which thou hast shewed unto me in saving my life; and I cannot escape to the mountain, lest some evil take me, and I die:
And his soul clave unto Dinah the daughter of Jacob, and he loved the damsel, and spake kindly unto the damsel.
Hiph'il
Wayyiqtol 6Perfect (qatal) 3Imperfect (yiqtol) 2Sequential perfect (weqatal) 1
And he took his brethren with him, and pursued after him seven days’ journey; and they overtook him in the mount Gilead.
The Lord shall make the pestilence cleave unto thee, until he have consumed thee from off the land, whither thou goest to possess it.
And when they were a good way from the house of Micah, the men that were in the houses near to Micah’s house were gathered together, and overtook the children of Dan.
Pu'al
Imperfect (yiqtol) 2
When the dust groweth into hardness, and the clods cleave fast together?
Behold, the hope of him is in vain: shall not one be cast down even at the sight of him?
Hoph'al
Participle (passive) 1
For dogs have compassed me: the assembly of the wicked have inclosed me: they pierced my hands and my feet.
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 ›