שָׁשָׁא shâshâʼ — to annihilate
Translated in the KJV as leave by the sixth part.
a primitive root; apparently,; to annihilate.
shâshâʼ in each stem
Pi'el
Intensive · active — the action intensified, repeated or brought about; the subject does it
Sequential perfect (weqatal) 1
וְשִׁשֵּׁאתִ֔יךָ Ezek 39:2 Sequential perfect (weqatal), 1st person common singular
And I will turn thee back, and leave but the sixth part of thee, and will cause thee to come up from the north parts, and will bring thee upon the mountains of Israel:
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 ›