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קָרָא qârâʼ — to call out to (i.e. properly, address by name, but used in a wide variety of applications)

pronounced kaw-raw' · Strong's H7121 · 737 occurrences in the Hebrew Bible · 3 stems: Qal (Pa'al), Niph'al, Pu'al

Translated in the KJV as bewray, that are bidden, call (for, forth, self, upon), cry, famous, guest, invite, mention, name.

a primitive root (rather identical with H7122 through the idea of accosting a person met); to call out to (i.e. properly, address by name, but used in a wide variety of applications).

qârâʼ in each stem

Qal (Pa'al) 667×

Simple · active — the plain action; the subject does it

Wayyiqtol 282Perfect (qatal) 124Imperfect (yiqtol) 105Imperative 47Sequential perfect (weqatal) 37Infinitive construct 36Participle (active) 25Participle (passive) 10Jussive 1

וַיִּקְרָ֨א Gen 1:5 Wayyiqtol, 3rd person masculine singular

And God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And the evening and the morning were the first day. (KJV)

וַיִּקְרָ֧א Gen 1:8 Wayyiqtol, 3rd person masculine singular

And God called the firmament Heaven. And the evening and the morning were the second day. (KJV)

וַיִּקְרָ֨א Gen 1:10 Wayyiqtol, 3rd person masculine singular

And God called the dry land Earth; and the gathering together of the waters called he Seas: and God saw that it was good. (KJV)

Niph'al 63×

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

Perfect (qatal) 26Imperfect (yiqtol) 24Wayyiqtol 6Participle (active) 3Sequential perfect (weqatal) 2Participle (passive) 2

יִקָּרֵ֣א Gen 2:23 Imperfect (yiqtol), 3rd person masculine singular

And Adam said, This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh: she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man. (KJV)

יִקָּרֵ֥א Gen 17:5 Imperfect (yiqtol), 3rd person masculine singular

Neither shall thy name any more be called Abram, but thy name shall be Abraham; for a father of many nations have I made thee. (KJV)

יִקָּרֵ֥א Gen 21:12 Imperfect (yiqtol), 3rd person masculine singular

And God said unto Abraham, Let it not be grievous in thy sight because of the lad, and because of thy bondwoman; in all that Sarah hath said unto thee, hearken unto her voice; for in Isaac shall thy seed be called. (KJV)

Pu'al

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

Perfect (qatal) 3Sequential perfect (weqatal) 3Participle (passive) 1

קֹ֥רָא Isa 48:8 Perfect (qatal), 3rd person masculine singular

Yea, thou heardest not; yea, thou knewest not; yea, from that time that thine ear was not opened: for I knew that thou wouldest deal very treacherously, and wast called a transgressor from the womb. (KJV)

מְקֹרָאִ֑י Isa 48:12 Participle (passive), masculine singular

Hearken unto me, O Jacob and Israel, my called; I am he; I am the first, I also am the last. (KJV)

וְקֹרָ֤א Isa 58:12 Sequential perfect (weqatal), 3rd person masculine singular

And they that shall be of thee shall build the old waste places: thou shalt raise up the foundations of many generations; and thou shalt be called, The repairer of the breach, The restorer of paths to dwell in. (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 ›

Open in Hebrew Explorer with Verb Anatomy on →

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. qârâʼ 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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