שָׁפַט shâphaṭ — to judge, i.e. pronounce sentence (for or against)
Translated in the KJV as avenge, × that condemn, contend, defend, execute, judge, × needs, plead, reason, rule.
a primitive root; to judge, i.e. pronounce sentence (for or against); by implication, to vindicate or punish; by extenssion, to govern; passively, to litigate (literally or figuratively).
shâphaṭ in each stem
Qal (Pa'al)
Participle (active) 68Imperfect (yiqtol) 43Sequential perfect (weqatal) 20Wayyiqtol 14Infinitive construct 13Perfect (qatal) 12Imperative 12Jussive 2Infinitive absolute 1
And Sarai said unto Abram, My wrong be upon thee: I have given my maid into thy bosom; and when she saw that she had conceived, I was despised in her eyes: the Lord judge between me and thee.
That be far from thee to do after this manner, to slay the righteous with the wicked: and that the righteous should be as the wicked, that be far from thee: Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right?
And they said, Stand back. And they said again, This one fellow came in to sojourn, and he will needs be a judge: now will we deal worse with thee, than with them. And they pressed sore upon the man, even Lot, and came near to break the door.
Niph'al
Participle (active) 5Infinitive construct 3Sequential perfect (weqatal) 3Cohortative 2Imperfect (yiqtol) 2Perfect (qatal) 2
Now therefore stand still, that I may reason with you before the Lord of all the righteous acts of the Lord, which he did to you and to your fathers.
And it came to pass, that, when Jehu was executing judgment upon the house of Ahab, and found the princes of Judah, and the sons of the brethren of Ahaziah, that ministered to Ahaziah, he slew them.
Put them in fear, O Lord: that the nations may know themselves to be but men. Selah.
Po'el
Participle (active) 1
Whom, though I were righteous, yet would I not answer, but I would make supplication to my judge.
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 ›