זָכָה zâkâh — to be translucent
Translated in the KJV as be clean, cleanse, be clear, count pure.
a primitive root (compare H2141); to be translucent; figuratively, to be innocent.
zâkâh in each stem
Qal (Pa'al)
Imperfect (yiqtol) 4
What is man, that he should be clean? and he which is born of a woman, that he should be righteous?
How then can man be justified with God? or how can he be clean that is born of a woman?
Behold, thou desirest truth in the inward parts: and in the hidden part thou shalt make me to know wisdom.
Pi'el
Perfect (qatal) 2Imperfect (yiqtol) 1
Verily I have cleansed my heart in vain, and washed my hands in innocency.
Wherewithal shall a young man cleanse his way? by taking heed thereto according to thy word.
Who can say, I have made my heart clean, I am pure from my sin?
Hitpa'el
Imperative 1
Wash you, make you clean; put away the evil of your doings from before mine eyes; cease to do evil;
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 ›
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