שָׁוָה shâvâh — properly, to level, i.e. equalize
Translated in the KJV as avail, behave, bring forth, compare, countervail, (be, make) equal, lay, be (make, a-) like, make plain, profit.
a primitive root; properly, to level, i.e. equalize; figuratively, to resemble; by implication, to adjust (i.e. counterbalance, be suitable, compose, place, yield, etc.).
shâvâh in each stem
Pi'el
Perfect (qatal) 6Participle (active) 2Imperfect (yiqtol) 2
He maketh my feet like hinds’ feet: and setteth me upon my high places.
I have set the Lord always before me: because he is at my right hand, I shall not be moved.
He teacheth my hands to war, so that a bow of steel is broken by mine arms.
Qal (Pa'al)
Imperfect (yiqtol) 4Participle (active) 3Perfect (qatal) 1
And Haman said unto king Ahasuerus, There is a certain people scattered abroad and dispersed among the people in all the provinces of thy kingdom; and their laws are diverse from all people; neither keep they the king’s laws: therefore it is not for the king’s profit to suffer them.
Yet all this availeth me nothing, so long as I see Mordecai the Jew sitting at the king’s gate.
For we are sold, I and my people, to be destroyed, to be slain, and to perish. But if we had been sold for bondmen and bondwomen, I had held my tongue, although the enemy could not countervail the king’s damage.
Hiph'il
Imperfect (yiqtol) 2
To whom will ye liken me, and make me equal, and compare me, that we may be like?
What thing shall I take to witness for thee? what thing shall I liken to thee, O daughter of Jerusalem? what shall I equal to thee, that I may comfort thee, O virgin daughter of Zion? for thy breach is great like the sea: who can heal thee?
Nitpa'el
Perfect (qatal) 1
A continual dropping in a very rainy day and a contentious woman are alike.
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 ›