Word

כָּהָה

kâhâh · H3543 · Hebrew · 10 occurrences

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Meanings

to falter, to grow faint

Process by which humans gradually lose strength and energy after a prolonged time of activity

Examples
Isaiah 42:4 “He will not be disheartened or crushed Until He has established justice on the earth; And the coastlands will wait expectantly for His law.”
Literally: (one's) spirit weakens; hence: process by which humans lose their courage and grow afraid ((one's) courage fails)

Examples
Ezekiel 21:7 “And when they say to you, ‘Why are you groaning?’ you shall say, ‘Because of the news, for it is coming; and every heart will melt, all hands will go limp, every spirit will be disheartened, and all knees will drip with water. Behold, it is coming and it will happen,’ declares the Lord GOD.”
to fade

Literally: to weaken; hence: process by which a condition gradually loses its intensity

Examples
Leviticus 13:6 “The priest shall then look at him again on the seventh day, and if the infected area has faded and the infection has not spread on the skin, then the priest shall pronounce him clean; it is only a rash. And he shall wash his clothes and be clean.
Leviticus 13:56 “But if the priest looks, and indeed the mark has faded after it has been washed, then he shall tear it out of the garment or out of the leather, whether from the warp or from the woof;
to restrain

Literally: to weaken (someone) causative process by which humans try to weaken the resolve of other humans to engage in a certain activity

Examples
1 Samuel 3:13 “For I have told him that I am going to judge his house forever for the wrongdoing that he knew, because his sons were bringing a curse on themselves and he did not rebuke them.
to become weak, to grow dim

Literally: to weaken; hence: process by which parts of the human body gradually lose their ability to function as they should

Examples
Genesis 27:1 Now it came about, when Isaac was old and his eyes were too dim to see, that he called his older son Esau and said to him, “My son.” And he said to him, “Here I am.”
Deuteronomy 34:7 Although Moses was 120 years old when he died, his eyesight was not dim, nor had his vigor left him.
Job 17:7 “My eye has also become inexpressive because of grief, And all my body parts are like a shadow.

How it’s used In 3 roles

Every occurrence, grouped by the words it is grammatically related to.

the word studied the word it goes with

Who or what does itSubject

9 occurrences in 4 groups

עַיִןeye, sight 4
נֶגַעplague, disease 2
Not stated: he, she or it 2
רוּחַspirit, wind 1

With prepositionsPrepositional phrases

4 occurrences in 4 groups

אַחַרafter, behind+ כָּבַסto wash 1
מִןfrom+ כַּעַסvexation 1
מִןfrom+ רָאָהto see 1
בin/on/with+ הֶםthem 1

With adverbsAdverbs

3 occurrences in 1 groups

לֹאnot 3

When two words share a role, as in “Paul and Barnabas said”, the verse appears under each, so a section’s counts can add up to more than the number of occurrences.

MACULA Greek Linguistic Datasets, available at https://github.com/Clear-Bible/macula-greek/, licensed CC BY 4.0; MACULA Hebrew Linguistic Datasets © 2022-2024 by Biblica, Inc., CC BY 4.0. Westminster Leningrad Codex (tanach.us). OpenScriptures Hebrew Bible morphology (hb.openscriptures.org), CC BY 4.0.

Near synonyms 3 words

לָאָה lâʼâh · H3811 · to wear oneself out, to wear (someone) out: Both words describe states of diminished capacity or failing strength, and both include "faint" as a shared sense.
נָשַׁת nâshath · H5405 · to become dry, to dry up, to be parched: Both lexemes share the sense of failing: כָּהָה (kâhâh, H3543) has a much broader semantic range (darken, dim, faint, restrain, and more) beyond "fail," while נָשַׁת (nâshath, H5405) is glossed simply as "fail."
רָפָה râphâh · H7503 · to grow weak, to be discouraged: Both lexemes denote states of weakening, failing, or becoming faint, and both share multiple semantic domains (Weak, Afraid, Lax, Non-Engage).

Semantic domains 5 entries

Weak002001001069: The verb describes a weakened, failing condition, as with Isaac's eyes grown too dim to see clearly in Genesis 27:1.
Afraid002001002001: The verb's sense of restraint can involve a failure to rebuke out of fear or reluctance, as with Eli's failure to restrain his sons in 1 Samuel 3:13.
Lax002001003012: The verb describes something growing dull, faded, or lax in intensity, as with an infection that has faded in Leviticus 13:6 and 13:56.
Non-Engage002003003012: The verb's sense of "restrain" describes a failure to engage or intervene, as with Eli's failure to rebuke his sons' wrongdoing in 1 Samuel 3:13.
Unable002001001065: The verb describes an inability resulting from dimmed sight, as with eyes too dim to see in Genesis 27:1, though Moses' eyesight remained undimmed in Deuteronomy 34:7.

Word family 3 words

Words formed from the same root. They share a form, not always a meaning.

כָּהָהkâhâh · H3543כֵּהֶה kêheh · H3544 · (one's) courage fails, faded, dull · 7×כֵּהָה kêhâh · H3545 · weakening · 1×

Brown-Driver-Briggs Hebrew Lexicon H3543. kahah I. [כָּהָה] verb be or grow dim, faint (Late Hebrew id.; Aramaic כְּהָא;…

H3543. kahah
I. [כָּהָה] verb be or grow dim, faint (Late Hebrew id.; Aramaic כְּהָא; compare Arabic be , i.e. weak, cowardly) —
Qal Perfect3feminine singular כָּֽהֲתָה Deu 34:7; Imperfect יִכְהֶה Isa 42:4; Isa 42:3feminine singular תִּכְהֶה Zec 11:17; וַתֵּ֫כַהּ Job 17:7; וַתִּכְהֶיןָ Gen 27:1; Infinitive absolute כָּהֹה Zec 11:17; — grow dim, of eye Gen 27:1 (J), Deu 34:7; Job 17:7; of violent putting out of eye Zec 11:17 (twice in verse); he shall not grow dim Isa 42:4, of servant of ׳י under figure of lamp or fire (see Kay Che De), or grow faint (compare Di).
Pi`el Perfect3feminine singular וְכִהֲתָה consecutive Eze 21:12 (subject כָּלרֿוּחַ; || כָּללֵֿב וְנָמֵס) grow faint (Pi`el intransitive, Ges§ 52 k, Köi. 187; but read perhaps כָּֽהֲתָה).
II. [כָּהָה] verb Pi`el rebuke (Syriac , Mandean כהא (NöM. 72) id.), only 1Sa 3:13 followed by בָּם כִהָה וְלֹא בְּ,.
כהן (√ of following; meaning dubious, see Dr2Sa 8:18; Arabic verb is divine, and (Qor 52:29) is a seer, the organ (mostly) of a jinn, rarely of a god: the and the כֹּהֵן must have been originally identical (both alike being guardians of an oracle, at a sanctuary); but their functions diverged: the gradually lost his connection with the sanctuary, and sank to be a mere diviner; the כהן acquired fuller sacrificial functions: see RSEnc. Brit. ed. 9, xix. 727; WeSkizzen iii. 130 ff., 167; NowArchaeology ii. 89 f.; Phoenician כהן is priest, כהנת priestess).

Brown, Driver and Briggs, A Hebrew and English Lexicon of the Old Testament (1906), public domain

Topical studies with this word 5 entries

Unable4 occurrences Weak1 occurrence Afraid1 occurrence Lax2 occurrences Non-Engage1 occurrence

Meanings adapted from the UBS Dictionary of the Greek New Testament, © United Bible Societies, CC BY-SA 4.0 and the UBS Dictionary of Biblical Hebrew (from the Semantic Dictionary of Biblical Hebrew), © United Bible Societies, CC BY-SA 4.0; MACULA Greek Linguistic Datasets, available at https://github.com/Clear-Bible/macula-greek/, licensed CC BY 4.0; MACULA Hebrew Linguistic Datasets © 2022-2024 by Biblica, Inc., CC BY 4.0. Westminster Leningrad Codex (tanach.us). OpenScriptures Hebrew Bible morphology (hb.openscriptures.org), CC BY 4.0.

Sources

eRhema lexical overview, based on the UBS Dictionary of Biblical Hebrew and the UBS Dictionary of the Greek New Testament (© United Bible Societies, CC BY-SA 4.0) and Macula Hebrew and Greek (Clear Bible, CC BY 4.0); released under CC BY-SA 4.0