צוּק tsûwq — to compress, i.e. (figuratively) oppress, distress
Translated in the KJV as constrain, distress, lie sore, press, straiten.
a primitive root; to compress, i.e. (figuratively) oppress, distress.
tsûwq in each stem
Hiph'il
Imperfect (yiqtol) 4Perfect (qatal) 3Participle (active) 3Sequential perfect (weqatal) 1
And thou shalt eat the fruit of thine own body, the flesh of thy sons and of thy daughters, which the Lord thy God hath given thee, in the siege, and in the straitness, wherewith thine enemies shall distress thee:
So that he will not give to any of them of the flesh of his children whom he shall eat: because he hath nothing left him in the siege, and in the straitness, wherewith thine enemies shall distress thee in all thy gates.
And toward her young one that cometh out from between her feet, and toward her children which she shall bear: for she shall eat them for want of all things secretly in the siege and straitness, wherewith thine enemy shall distress thee in thy gates.
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 ›