שָׁסַף shâçaph — to cut in pieces, i.e. slaughter
Translated in the KJV as hew in pieces.
a primitive root; to cut in pieces, i.e. slaughter.
shâçaph in each stem
Pi'el
Intensive · active — the action intensified, repeated or brought about; the subject does it
Wayyiqtol 1
וַיְשַׁסֵּ֨ף 1Sam 15:33 Wayyiqtol, 3rd person masculine singular
And Samuel said, As thy sword hath made women childless, so shall thy mother be childless among women. And Samuel hewed Agag in pieces before the Lord in Gilgal.
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 ›