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נָכָה nâkâh — to strike (lightly or severely, literally or figuratively)

pronounced naw-kaw' · Strong's H5221 · 500 occurrences in the Hebrew Bible · 4 stems: Hiph'il, Hoph'al, Pu'al, Niph'al

Translated in the KJV as beat, cast forth, clap, give, × go forward, × indeed, kill, make, murderer, punish, slaughter, slay(-er.

a primitive root; to strike (lightly or severely, literally or figuratively).

nâkâh in each stem

Hiph'il 481×

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

Wayyiqtol 194Perfect (qatal) 106Imperfect (yiqtol) 46Participle (active) 40Infinitive construct 38Sequential perfect (weqatal) 36Imperative 13Cohortative 4Infinitive absolute 3Jussive 1

הַכּוֹת Gen 4:15 Infinitive construct

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. (KJV)

לְהַכּ֥וֹת Gen 8:21 Infinitive construct

And the Lord smelled a sweet savour; and the Lord said in his heart, I will not again curse the ground any more for man’s sake; for the imagination of man’s heart is evil from his youth; neither will I again smite any more every thing living, as I have done. (KJV)

וַיַּכּ֤וּ Gen 14:5 Wayyiqtol, 3rd person masculine plural

And in the fourteenth year came Chedorlaomer, and the kings that were with him, and smote the Rephaims in Ashteroth Karnaim, and the Zuzims in Ham, and the Emims in Shaveh Kiriathaim, (KJV)

Hoph'al 16×

Causative · passive — causing someone or something to do the action; the subject has it done to them

Perfect (qatal) 8Participle (passive) 6Wayyiqtol 1Imperfect (yiqtol) 1

וַיֻּכּ֗וּ Exod 5:14 Wayyiqtol, 3rd person masculine plural

And the officers of the children of Israel, which Pharaoh’s taskmasters had set over them, were beaten, and demanded, Wherefore have ye not fulfilled your task in making brick both yesterday and to day, as heretofore? (KJV)

מֻכִּ֖ים Exod 5:16 Participle (passive), masculine plural

There is no straw given unto thy servants, and they say to us, Make brick: and, behold, thy servants are beaten; but the fault is in thine own people. (KJV)

וְהֻכָּ֣ה Exod 22:1 Perfect (qatal), 3rd person masculine singular

If a man shall steal an ox, or a sheep, and kill it, or sell it; he shall restore five oxen for an ox, and four sheep for a sheep. (KJV)

Pu'al

Intensive · passive — the action intensified, repeated or brought about; the subject has it done to them

Perfect (qatal) 2

נֻכָּ֑תָה Exod 9:31 Perfect (qatal), 3rd person feminine singular

And the flax and the barley was smitten: for the barley was in the ear, and the flax was bolled. (KJV)

נֻכּ֑וּ Exod 9:32 Perfect (qatal), 3rd person common plural

But the wheat and the rie were not smitten: for they were not grown up. (KJV)

Niph'al

Simple · passive — the plain action; the subject has it done to them

Sequential perfect (weqatal) 1

וְנִכָּ֥ה 2Sam 11:15 Sequential perfect (weqatal), 3rd person masculine singular

And he wrote in the letter, saying, Set ye Uriah in the forefront of the hottest battle, and retire ye from him, that he may be smitten, and die. (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 ›

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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. nâkâh 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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