שָׁמַט shâmaṭ — to fling down
Translated in the KJV as discontinue, overthrow, release, let rest, shake, stumble, throw down.
a primitive root; to fling down; incipiently to jostle; figuratively, to let alone, desist, remit.
shâmaṭ in each stem
Qal (Pa'al)
Perfect (qatal) 2Imperative 2Imperfect (yiqtol) 1Infinitive absolute 1Wayyiqtol 1Sequential perfect (weqatal) 1
But the seventh year thou shalt let it rest and lie still; that the poor of thy people may eat: and what they leave the beasts of the field shall eat. In like manner thou shalt deal with thy vineyard, and with thy oliveyard.
And this is the manner of the release: Every creditor that lendeth ought unto his neighbour shall release it; he shall not exact it of his neighbour, or of his brother; because it is called the Lord’s release.
And when they came to Nachon’s threshingfloor, Uzzah put forth his hand to the ark of God, and took hold of it; for the oxen shook it.
Hiph'il
Jussive 1
Of a foreigner thou mayest exact it again: but that which is thine with thy brother thine hand shall release;
Niph'al
Perfect (qatal) 1
When their judges are overthrown in stony places, they shall hear my words; for they are sweet.
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 ›