גָּמָא gâmâʼ — to absorb

pronounced gaw-maw' · Strong's H1572 · 2 occurrences in the Hebrew Bible · 2 stems: Hiph'il, Pi'el

Translated in the KJV as swallow, drink.

a primitive root (literally or figuratively) to absorb; to absorb.

gâmâʼ in each stem

Hiph'il 1×

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

Imperative 1

הַגְמִיאִ֥ינִי Gen 24:17 Imperative, 2nd person feminine singular

And the servant ran to meet her, and said, Let me, I pray thee, drink a little water of thy pitcher. (KJV)

Pi'el 1×

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

Imperfect (yiqtol) 1

יְגַמֶּא Job 39:24 Imperfect (yiqtol), 3rd person masculine singular

He swalloweth the ground with fierceness and rage: neither believeth he that it is the sound of the trumpet. (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. gâmâʼ 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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