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רָחַב râchab — to broaden (intransitive or transitive, literal or figurative)

pronounced raw-khab' · Strong's H7337 · 25 occurrences in the Hebrew Bible · 3 stems: Hiph'il, Qal (Pa'al), Niph'al

Translated in the KJV as be an en- large, make room, make wide.

a primitive root; to broaden (intransitive or transitive, literal or figurative).

râchab in each stem

Hiph'il 21×

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

Perfect (qatal) 7Imperfect (yiqtol) 7Imperative 3Sequential perfect (weqatal) 1Participle (active) 1Wayyiqtol 1Infinitive construct 1

הִרְחִ֧יב Gen 26:22 Perfect (qatal), 3rd person masculine singular

And he removed from thence, and digged another well; and for that they strove not: and he called the name of it Rehoboth; and he said, For now the Lord hath made room for us, and we shall be fruitful in the land. (KJV)

וְהִרְחַבְתִּ֖י Exod 34:24 Sequential perfect (weqatal), 1st person common singular

For I will cast out the nations before thee, and enlarge thy borders: neither shall any man desire thy land, when thou shalt go up to appear before the Lord thy God thrice in the year. (KJV)

יַרְחִיב֩ Deut 12:20 Imperfect (yiqtol), 3rd person masculine singular

When the Lord thy God shall enlarge thy border, as he hath promised thee, and thou shalt say, I will eat flesh, because thy soul longeth to eat flesh; thou mayest eat flesh, whatsoever thy soul lusteth after. (KJV)

Qal (Pa'al)

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

Perfect (qatal) 2Sequential perfect (weqatal) 1

רָ֤חַב 1Sam 2:1 Perfect (qatal), 3rd person masculine singular

And Hannah prayed, and said, My heart rejoiceth in the Lord, mine horn is exalted in the Lord: my mouth is enlarged over mine enemies; because I rejoice in thy salvation. (KJV)

וְרָחַ֖ב Isa 60:5 Sequential perfect (weqatal), 3rd person masculine singular

Then thou shalt see, and flow together, and thine heart shall fear, and be enlarged; because the abundance of the sea shall be converted unto thee, the forces of the Gentiles shall come unto thee. (KJV)

וְֽרָחֲבָ֡ה Ezek 41:7 Perfect (qatal), 3rd person feminine singular

And there was an enlarging, and a winding about still upward to the side chambers: for the winding about of the house went still upward round about the house: therefore the breadth of the house was still upward, and so increased from the lowest chamber to the highest by the midst. (KJV)

Niph'al

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

Participle (active) 1

נִרְחָֽב Isa 30:23 Participle (active), masculine singular

Then shall he give the rain of thy seed, that thou shalt sow the ground withal; and bread of the increase of the earth, and it shall be fat and plenteous: in that day shall thy cattle feed in large pastures. (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. râchab 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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