גָּלַח gâlach — properly, to be bald, i.e. (causatively) to shave
Translated in the KJV as poll, shave.
a primitive root; properly, to be bald, i.e. (causatively) to shave; figuratively to lay waste.
gâlach in each stem
Pi'el
Imperfect (yiqtol) 8Sequential perfect (weqatal) 5Wayyiqtol 4Infinitive construct 1
Then Pharaoh sent and called Joseph, and they brought him hastily out of the dungeon: and he shaved himself, and changed his raiment, and came in unto Pharaoh.
He shall be shaven, but the scall shall he not shave; and the priest shall shut up him that hath the scall seven days more:
And he that is to be cleansed shall wash his clothes, and shave off all his hair, and wash himself in water, that he may be clean: and after that he shall come into the camp, and shall tarry abroad out of his tent seven days.
Pu'al
Perfect (qatal) 2Participle (passive) 1
That he told her all his heart, and said unto her, There hath not come a razor upon mine head; for I have been a Nazarite unto God from my mother’s womb: if I be shaven, then my strength will go from me, and I shall become weak, and be like any other man.
Howbeit the hair of his head began to grow again after he was shaven.
That there came certain from Shechem, from Shiloh, and from Samaria, even fourscore men, having their beards shaven, and their clothes rent, and having cut themselves, with offerings and incense in their hand, to bring them to the house of the Lord.
Hitpa'el
Sequential perfect (weqatal) 1Infinitive construct 1
He shall be shaven, but the scall shall he not shave; and the priest shall shut up him that hath the scall seven days more:
And the priest shall take the sodden shoulder of the ram, and one unleavened cake out of the basket, and one unleavened wafer, and shall put them upon the hands of the Nazarite, after the hair of his separation is shaven:
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 ›