זָעַם zâʻam — properly, to foam at the mouth, i.e. to be enraged
Translated in the KJV as abhor, abominable, angry, defy, indignation.
a primitive root; properly, to foam at the mouth, i.e. to be enraged.
zâʻam in each stem
Qal (Pa'al)
Perfect (qatal) 3Imperfect (yiqtol) 2Participle (passive) 2Sequential perfect (weqatal) 2Imperative 1Participle (active) 1
And he took up his parable, and said, Balak the king of Moab hath brought me from Aram, out of the mountains of the east, saying, Come, curse me Jacob, and come, defy Israel.
How shall I curse, whom God hath not cursed? or how shall I defy, whom the Lord hath not defied?
If he turn not, he will whet his sword; he hath bent his bow, and made it ready.
Niph'al
Participle (active) 1
The north wind driveth away rain: so doth an angry countenance a backbiting tongue.
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 ›