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זָרַע zâraʻ — to sow

pronounced zaw-rah' · Strong's H2232 · 56 occurrences in the Hebrew Bible · 4 stems: Qal (Pa'al), Niph'al, Hiph'il, Pu'al

Translated in the KJV as bear, conceive seed, set with sow, yield.

a primitive root; to sow; figuratively, to disseminate, plant, fructify.

zâraʻ in each stem

Qal (Pa'al) 46×

Simple · active — the plain action; the subject does it

Imperfect (yiqtol) 17Participle (active) 9Sequential perfect (weqatal) 5Imperative 4Wayyiqtol 3Perfect (qatal) 3Participle (passive) 2Cohortative 1Infinitive construct 1Jussive 1

זֹרֵ֣עַ Gen 1:29 Participle (active), masculine singular

And God said, Behold, I have given you every herb bearing seed, which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree, in the which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed; to you it shall be for meat. (KJV)

וַיִּזְרַ֤ע Gen 26:12 Wayyiqtol, 3rd person masculine singular

Then Isaac sowed in that land, and received in the same year an hundredfold: and the Lord blessed him. (KJV)

וּזְרַעְתֶּ֖ם Gen 47:23 Sequential perfect (weqatal), 2nd person masculine plural

Then Joseph said unto the people, Behold, I have bought you this day and your land for Pharaoh: lo, here is seed for you, and ye shall sow the land. (KJV)

Niph'al

Simple · passive — the plain action; the subject has it done to them

Imperfect (yiqtol) 4Sequential perfect (weqatal) 2

יִזָּרֵ֑עַ Lev 11:37 Imperfect (yiqtol), 3rd person masculine singular

And if any part of their carcase fall upon any sowing seed which is to be sown, it shall be clean. (KJV)

וְנִזְרְעָ֥ה Num 5:28 Sequential perfect (weqatal), 3rd person feminine singular

And if the woman be not defiled, but be clean; then she shall be free, and shall conceive seed. (KJV)

יִזָּרֵ֑עַ Deut 21:4 Imperfect (yiqtol), 3rd person masculine singular

And the elders of that city shall bring down the heifer unto a rough valley, which is neither eared nor sown, and shall strike off the heifer’s neck there in the valley: (KJV)

Hiph'il

Causative · active — causing someone or something to do the action; the subject does it

Participle (active) 2Imperfect (yiqtol) 1

מַזְרִ֣יעַ Gen 1:11 Participle (active), masculine singular

And God said, Let the earth bring forth grass, the herb yielding seed, and the fruit tree yielding fruit after his kind, whose seed is in itself, upon the earth: and it was so. (KJV)

מַזְרִ֤יעַ Gen 1:12 Participle (active), masculine singular

And the earth brought forth grass, and herb yielding seed after his kind, and the tree yielding fruit, whose seed was in itself, after his kind: and God saw that it was good. (KJV)

תַזְרִ֔יעַ Lev 12:2 Imperfect (yiqtol), 3rd person feminine singular

Speak unto the children of Israel, saying, If a woman have conceived seed, and born a man child: then she shall be unclean seven days; according to the days of the separation for her infirmity shall she be unclean. (KJV)

Pu'al

Intensive · passive — the action intensified, repeated or brought about; the subject has it done to them

Perfect (qatal) 1

זֹרָ֔עוּ Isa 40:24 Perfect (qatal), 3rd person common plural

Yea, they shall not be planted; yea, they shall not be sown: yea, their stock shall not take root in the earth: and he shall also blow upon them, and they shall wither, and the whirlwind shall take them away as stubble. (KJV)

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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In the app, tap any Hebrew verb while reading: its root, stem and form are named, the letters of the word itself are coloured to show which is which, and the stem's meaning is put in plain English. zâraʻ in the lexicon ›

Morphology from OpenScriptures MorphHB (CC BY 4.0); definitions from Strong's Hebrew Lexicon (public domain); text from the Westminster Leningrad Codex.

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