כָּפַל kâphal — to fold together
Translated in the KJV as double.
a primitive root; to fold together; figuratively, to repeat.
kâphal in each stem
Qal (Pa'al)
Participle (passive) 3Sequential perfect (weqatal) 1
And thou shalt couple five curtains by themselves, and six curtains by themselves, and shalt double the sixth curtain in the forefront of the tabernacle.
Foursquare it shall be being doubled; a span shall be the length thereof, and a span shall be the breadth thereof.
It was foursquare; they made the breastplate double: a span was the length thereof, and a span the breadth thereof, being doubled.
Niph'al
Jussive 1
Also, thou son of man, appoint thee two ways, that the sword of the king of Babylon may come: both twain shall come forth out of one land: and choose thou a place, choose it at the head of the way to the city.
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 ›