רָקַע râqaʻ — to pound the earth (as a sign of passion)
Translated in the KJV as beat, make broad, spread abroad (forth, over, out, into plates), stamp, stretch.
a primitive root; to pound the earth (as a sign of passion); by analogy to expand (by hammering); by implication, to overlay (with thin sheets of metal).
râqaʻ in each stem
Qal (Pa'al)
Participle (active) 3Imperfect (yiqtol) 1Imperative 1Infinitive construct 1
Then did I beat them as small as the dust of the earth, I did stamp them as the mire of the street, and did spread them abroad.
To him that stretched out the earth above the waters: for his mercy endureth for ever.
Thus saith God the Lord, he that created the heavens, and stretched them out; he that spread forth the earth, and that which cometh out of it; he that giveth breath unto the people upon it, and spirit to them that walk therein:
Pi'el
Wayyiqtol 2Imperfect (yiqtol) 1
And they did beat the gold into thin plates, and cut it into wires, to work it in the blue, and in the purple, and in the scarlet, and in the fine linen, with cunning work.
And thou shalt lay them up in the tabernacle of the congregation before the testimony, where I will meet with you.
The workman melteth a graven image, and the goldsmith spreadeth it over with gold, and casteth silver chains.
Hiph'il
Imperfect (yiqtol) 1
Hast thou with him spread out the sky, which is strong, and as a molten looking glass?
Pu'al
Participle (passive) 1
Silver spread into plates is brought from Tarshish, and gold from Uphaz, the work of the workman, and of the hands of the founder: blue and purple is their clothing: they are all the work of cunning 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 ›