Word

כָּרָה

kârâh · H3738 · Hebrew · 14 occurrences

See all 14 in Search

Meanings

to dig, to hew out

Action by which humans break up and move earth or stone, usually with a tool, and with the purpose of creating a hole

Examples
Genesis 26:25 So he built an altar there and called upon the name of the LORD, and pitched his tent there; and there Isaac’s servants dug a well.
Genesis 50:5 ‘My father made me swear, saying, “Behold, I am about to die; in my grave which I dug for myself in the land of Canaan, there you shall bury me.” Now then, please let me go up and bury my father; then I will return.’”
Exodus 21:33 “Now if someone opens a pit, or digs a pit and does not cover it, and an ox or a donkey falls into it,
to plot, to concoct, to rake up

Literally: to dig out evil; hence: action by which humans are exercising their minds in order to determine what must be done to do evil

Examples
Proverbs 16:27 A worthless person digs up evil, While his words are like scorching fire.
to give an open ear

Literally: to hew out two ears; hence, probably: causative action by which deities cause humans to be willing and obedient by giving them ears that are willing to listen

Examples
Psalm 40:6 You have not desired sacrifice and meal offering; You have opened my ears; You have not required burnt offering and sin offering.

How it’s used In 5 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

14 occurrences in 10 groups

Not stated: they 3
Other words · 9 groups that occur once or twice (11) 11

What it acts on, or what is saidObject

11 occurrences in 8 groups

שׁוּחָהpit 2
שִׁיחָהpit 2
בּוֹרpit, cistern 2
אֹזֶןear 1
רַעevil, bad 1
שַׁחַתpit 1

With prepositionsPrepositional phrases

8 occurrences in 8 groups

לto/for+ נִיme 3
בin/on/with+ עִירcity, town 1
בin/on/with+ אֶרֶץland, earth, ground 1
לto/for+ לָכַדto capture, to take, to catch 1
לto/for+ נֶפֶשׁsoul, life 1
לto/for+ פָּנִיםface, presence, before 1

With adverbsAdverbs

1 occurrences in 1 groups

שָׁםthere 1

What it doesIt is the subject

1 occurrences in 1 groups

נָפַלto fall 1

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.

In the other Testament 1 word

ὀρύσσω orýssō · G3736 · to dig, to excavate: Greek ὀρύσσω serves as the standard LXX rendering for Hebrew כָּרָה in its core sense of physically digging or excavating earth, representing direct translation equivalence for this primary meaning.

Semantic domains 7 entries

Exist002002002005: This word's extended idiomatic sense describes something "happening" or befalling a person (as in Isaiah 22:1's idiom "what has happened to you"), an event coming into being.
Think002004002013: This entry carries no independent “Think” sense of its own; every tagged occurrence is the verb “dig”, as in “Now if someone opens a pit, or digs a pit and does not cover it, and an ox or a donkey falls in it” (Exodus 21:33). The “Think” domain is bundle-shared with the related lexemes כָּרָא (Kârâʼ, H3735) and כָּרָה (kârâh, H3739) rather than independently attested here.
Willing002001002028: This entry carries no independent "Willing" sense of its own; every genuine tagged occurrence of כָּרָה (Genesis 26:25, 50:5, Exodus 21:33) concerns digging a well or grave, not willingness. The domain is bundle-shared with a related sense.
Possess002003002019: This entry carries no independent "Possess" sense of its own; every genuine tagged occurrence concerns digging, not possession. The domain is bundle-shared with a related sense.
Speak002004001009008: This entry carries no independent "Speak" sense of its own; every genuine tagged occurrence of this כָּרָה (Genesis 26:25, 50:5, Exodus 21:33, and its many others) concerns digging a well, grave, or pit, not speech. The domain is bundle-shared with the identically-spelled homonym meaning "buy, prepare" (כָּרָה (kârâh, H3739)), whose own sense of preparing a feast is the closer fit for this domain; see כָּרָה (kârâh, H3739).
Festivals002002002011: This word's idiomatic sense "make a banquet" (2 Kings 6:23, the great feast Elisha provided) connects it with festival and banquet terms.
Afraid002001002001: The idiom "what has happened to you" (Isaiah 22:1) can carry an ominous, distressing connotation when the event in view is threatening, an extension toward fear.

Word family 2 words

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

כָּרָהkârâh · H3738מִכְרֶה mikreh · H4379 · salt pits, patches of salt · 1×

Brown-Driver-Briggs Hebrew Lexicon H3738. karah [כאר] see II. כור. II. [כוּר] verb meaning dubious, perhaps bore, or dig, or…

H3738. karah
[כאר] see II. כור.
II. [כוּר] verb meaning dubious, perhaps bore, or dig, or hew (DlProl. 121 compare Assyrian kâru, fell trees (DlHWB 324)) — only
Qal Perfect3plural כארו = כָּארוּ for כָּרוּ Psa 22:17 (כָּאֲרִי ᵑ0, see אֲרִי) they have bored (digged, hewn) my hands and my feet (si vera lectio; compare Vrss De Pe Che Bae and others; some, however, deriving from כרה in this sense); hence perhaps following.
I. כָּרָה verb dig (Late Hebrew id.; Aramaic כְּרָא, Ethiopic Arabic (with and especially Dozyii. 461); Syriac is be short, cut off (i.e. rounded off ?), Arabic ball; ᵑ7. כְּרֵי heap DalmGr. 109; Syriac Mishna כרי id.; Assyrian karê large vessels for holding corn, etc., DlHWB 353, compare kirû (dubious) WklTel Am. Vocab.; BaZMG 1887, 615 conjectures be round as orig √ meaning, and compare Arabic the leg is round); —
Qal Perfect3masculine singular כָּרָה2Ch 16:14; Psa 7:16; Psa 7:2masculine singular כָּרִיתָ Psa 40:7; Psa 40:1singular בָּרִיתִי Gen 50:5; Gen 50:3plural כָּרוּ Jer 18:20 Jer 18:3t.; sf כָּרוּהָ Num 21:18; Imperfect3masculine singular יִכְרֶה Exo 21:33; Exo 21:3masculine plural וַיִּכְרוּ Gen 26:25; Participle כֹּרֶה Pro 16:27; Pro 26:27; — dig a grave, קֶבֶר Gen 50:5 (J), compare 2Ch 16:14; a well, בְּאֵר Gen 26:25 (J), Num 21:18 (song in J E); a pit, בּוֺר Exo 21:33; figurative of plotting against others Psa 7:16; so followed by שׁוּחָה Jer 18:20, Jer 18:22, followed by שִׁיחָה Jer 57:7; Jer 119:85; followed by שַׁחַת Pro 26:27; hence רָעָה כֹּרֶה Pro 16:27 one digging a calamity; כ ׳אָזְנַיִם לִי Psa 40:7 ears hast thou dug (with allusion to the cavity of the ear) for me, thou hast given me the means of hearing and obeying thy will. — On Psa 22:17 verse. II.כּוּר.
Niph`al Imperfect3masculine singular שַׁהַּת יִכָּרֶה עַד Psa 94:13 until the pit be digged for the wicked, figurative of judgment.

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

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