רָקַח râqach — to perfume
Translated in the KJV as apothecary, compound, make, prepare, spice.
a primitive root; to perfume.
râqach in each stem
Qal (Pa'al)
Participle (active) 5Imperfect (yiqtol) 1
And thou shalt make it an oil of holy ointment, an ointment compound after the art of the apothecary: it shall be an holy anointing oil.
Whosoever compoundeth any like it, or whosoever putteth any of it upon a stranger, shall even be cut off from his people.
And thou shalt make it a perfume, a confection after the art of the apothecary, tempered together, pure and holy:
Pu'al
Participle (passive) 1
And they buried him in his own sepulchres, which he had made for himself in the city of David, and laid him in the bed which was filled with sweet odours and divers kinds of spices prepared by the apothecaries’ art: and they made a very great burning for him.
Hiph'il
Imperative 1
Heap on wood, kindle the fire, consume the flesh, and spice it well, and let the bones be burned.
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 ›