צָבָה tsâbâh — to amass, i.e. grow turgid
Translated in the KJV as fight swell.
a primitive root; to amass, i.e. grow turgid; specifically, to array an army against.
tsâbâh in each stem
Hiph'il
Infinitive construct 1
And this water that causeth the curse shall go into thy bowels, to make thy belly to swell, and thy thigh to rot: And the woman shall say, Amen, amen.
Qal (Pa'al)
Sequential perfect (weqatal) 1
And when he hath made her to drink the water, then it shall come to pass, that, if she be defiled, and have done trespass against her husband, that the water that causeth the curse shall enter into her, and become bitter, and her belly shall swell, and her thigh shall rot: and the woman shall be a curse among her people.
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 ›