שָׁנַן shânan — to point (transitive or intransitive)
Translated in the KJV as prick, sharp, teach diligently, whet.
a primitive root; to point (transitive or intransitive); intensively, to pierce; figuratively, to inculcate.
shânan in each stem
Qal (Pa'al)
Participle (passive) 4Perfect (qatal) 3
If I whet my glittering sword, and mine hand take hold on judgment; I will render vengeance to mine enemies, and will reward them that hate me.
Thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever: the sceptre of thy kingdom is a right sceptre.
That they may shoot in secret at the perfect: suddenly do they shoot at him, and fear not.
Pi'el
Sequential perfect (weqatal) 1
And thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up.
Hitpolel
Imperfect (yiqtol) 1
Thus my heart was grieved, and I was pricked in my reins.
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 ›