קָסַם qâçam — properly, to distribute, i.e. determine by lot or magical scroll
Translated in the KJV as divine(-r, -ation), prudent, soothsayer, use.
a primitive root; properly, to distribute, i.e. determine by lot or magical scroll; by implication, to divine.
qâçam in each stem
Qal (Pa'al)
Participle (active) 11Infinitive construct 3Imperative 2Imperfect (yiqtol) 2Wayyiqtol 1
For these nations, which thou shalt possess, hearkened unto observers of times, and unto diviners: but as for thee, the Lord thy God hath not suffered thee so to do.
Balaam also the son of Beor, the soothsayer, did the children of Israel slay with the sword among them that were slain by them.
And the Philistines called for the priests and the diviners, saying, What shall we do to the ark of the Lord? tell us wherewith we shall send it to his place.
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 ›