נָשַׁךְ nâshak — to strike with a sting (as a serpent)
Translated in the KJV as bite, lend upon usury.
a primitive root; to strike with a sting (as a serpent); figuratively, to oppress with interest on a loan.
nâshak in each stem
Qal (Pa'al)
Imperfect (yiqtol) 4Participle (active) 3Perfect (qatal) 2Participle (passive) 1Sequential perfect (weqatal) 1
Dan shall be a serpent by the way, an adder in the path, that biteth the horse heels, so that his rider shall fall backward.
And the Lord said unto Moses, Make thee a fiery serpent, and set it upon a pole: and it shall come to pass, that every one that is bitten, when he looketh upon it, shall live.
And Moses made a serpent of brass, and put it upon a pole, and it came to pass, that if a serpent had bitten any man, when he beheld the serpent of brass, he lived.
Hiph'il
Imperfect (yiqtol) 3
Unto a stranger thou mayest lend upon usury; but unto thy brother thou shalt not lend upon usury: that the Lord thy God may bless thee in all that thou settest thine hand to in the land whither thou goest to possess it.
When thou shalt vow a vow unto the Lord thy God, thou shalt not slack to pay it: for the Lord thy God will surely require it of thee; and it would be sin in thee.
Pi'el
Wayyiqtol 1Sequential perfect (weqatal) 1
And the Lord sent fiery serpents among the people, and they bit the people; and much people of Israel died.
For, behold, I will send serpents, cockatrices, among you, which will not be charmed, and they shall bite you, saith the Lord.
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 ›