קָטַל qâṭal — properly, to cut off, i.e. (figuratively) put to death
Translated in the KJV as kill, slay.
a primitive root; properly, to cut off, i.e. (figuratively) put to death.
qâṭal in each stem
Qal (Pa'al)
Simple · active — the plain action; the subject does it
Imperfect (yiqtol) 3
יִ֭קְטְלֵנִי Job 13:15 Imperfect (yiqtol), 3rd person masculine singular
Though he slay me, yet will I trust in him: but I will maintain mine own ways before him.
יִֽקְטָל Job 24:14 Imperfect (yiqtol), 3rd person masculine singular
The murderer rising with the light killeth the poor and needy, and in the night is as a thief.
תִּקְטֹ֖ל Ps 139:19 Imperfect (yiqtol), 2nd person masculine singular
Surely thou wilt slay the wicked, O God: depart from me therefore, ye bloody men.
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 ›