מָצָא mâtsâʼ — properly, to come forth to, i.e. appear or exist
Translated in the KJV as be able, befall, being, catch, × certainly, come (on, to, to hand), deliver, be enough find(-ing, occasion, out).
a primitive root; properly, to come forth to, i.e. appear or exist; transitively, to attain, i.e. find or acquire; figuratively, to occur, meet or be present.
mâtsâʼ in each stem
Qal (Pa'al)
Perfect (qatal) 130Imperfect (yiqtol) 83Wayyiqtol 45Sequential perfect (weqatal) 18Infinitive construct 13Participle (active) 12Imperative 5Cohortative 1Jussive 1
And Adam gave names to all cattle, and to the fowl of the air, and to every beast of the field; but for Adam there was not found an help meet for him.
Behold, thou hast driven me out this day from the face of the earth; and from thy face shall I be hid; and I shall be a fugitive and a vagabond in the earth; and it shall come to pass, that every one that findeth me shall slay me.
And the Lord said unto him, Therefore whosoever slayeth Cain, vengeance shall be taken on him sevenfold. And the Lord set a mark upon Cain, lest any finding him should kill him.
Niph'al
Perfect (qatal) 44Participle (active) 41Imperfect (yiqtol) 39Wayyiqtol 10Sequential perfect (weqatal) 4Infinitive absolute 1Participle (passive) 1Infinitive construct 1
And he spake unto him yet again, and said, Peradventure there shall be forty found there. And he said, I will not do it for forty’s sake.
And he said unto him, Oh let not the Lord be angry, and I will speak: Peradventure there shall thirty be found there. And he said, I will not do it, if I find thirty there.
And he said, Behold now, I have taken upon me to speak unto the Lord: Peradventure there shall be twenty found there. And he said, I will not destroy it for twenty’s sake.
Hiph'il
Wayyiqtol 2Perfect (qatal) 2Imperfect (yiqtol) 2Participle (active) 2
And he slew the burnt offering; and Aaron’s sons presented unto him the blood, which he sprinkled round about upon the altar.
And they presented the burnt offering unto him, with the pieces thereof, and the head: and he burnt them upon the altar.
He slew also the bullock and the ram for a sacrifice of peace offerings, which was for the people: and Aaron’s sons presented unto him the blood, which he sprinkled upon the altar round about,
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 ›