Word

כָּרַע

kâraʻ · H3766 · Hebrew · 36 occurrences

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Meanings

to collapse, to slump down

Process by which humans or animals sink on their knees as a result of being unable to keep standing up

Examples
2 Kings 9:24 Then Jehu drew his bow with his full strength and shot Joram between his arms; and the arrow went through his heart, and he sank in his chariot.
Psalm 20:8 They have bowed down and fallen, But we have risen and stood upright.
to kneel, to crouch, to bend down

Action by which humans or animals bend their knees, in order to lie down, give birth, have sex, or to be killed

Examples
Genesis 49:9 “Judah is a lion’s cub; From the prey, my son, you have gone up. He crouches, he lies down as a lion, And as a lion, who dares to stir him up?
Judges 7:6 Now the number of those who lapped, putting their hand to their mouth, was three hundred men; but all the rest of the people kneeled down to drink water.
to kneel

Literally: to go down on (one's) knees; hence: action by which humans kneel down in order to show respect

Examples
1 Kings 8:54 When Solomon had finished praying this entire prayer and plea to the LORD, he stood up from the altar of the LORD, from kneeling on his knees with his hands spread toward heaven.
Esther 3:2 All the king’s servants who were at the king’s gate bowed down and paid homage to Haman; for so the king had commanded regarding him. But Mordecai neither bowed down nor paid homage.
to strike down

Literally: to cause to go down on (their) knees; hence: causative action by which humans or deities cause their enemies to be struck down in battle, collapse and die

Examples
2 Samuel 22:40 “For You have encircled me with strength for battle; You have forced those who rose up against me to bow down under me.
Psalm 17:13 Arise, LORD, confront him, make him bow down; Save my soul from the wicked with Your sword,
to stumble

Literally: to collapse; hence: process by which humans go through a time in which they are unable to cope with the circumstances they have to deal with

Examples
Job 4:4 “Your words have helped the stumbling to stand, And you have strengthened feeble knees.
to bring low, to cause distress

Literally: to cause to go down on (their) knees; hence: causative action by which humans cause trouble and distress to other humans

Examples
Judges 11:35 So when he saw her, he tore his clothes and said, “Oh, my daughter! You have brought me disaster, and you are among those who trouble me; for I have given my word to the LORD, and I cannot take it back.”

How it’s used In 6 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

34 occurrences in 18 groups

Not stated: he, she or it 11
Not stated: you (one person) 4
Not stated: they 4
Other words · 15 groups that occur once or twice (16) 16

What it acts on, or what is saidObject

5 occurrences in 4 groups

קוּםto arise 2
נִיme 1
וֹhim 1
בָּחוּרyoung man 1

With prepositionsPrepositional phrases

20 occurrences in 14 groups

עַלon, upon, over, against+ בֶּרֶךְknee 5
Other words · 13 groups that occur once or twice (17) 17

With adverbsAdverbs

4 occurrences in 3 groups

לֹאnot 2
יַחַדtogether 1
אַיִןthere is no, not 1

What is done to itIt is the object

2 occurrences in 2 groups

אָמַרto say 1
רָאָהto see 1

After prepositionsPrepositional phrases

2 occurrences in 2 groups

בin/on/with 2
מִןfrom 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.

Near synonyms 5 words

שָׁחַח shâchach · H7817 · to become low, to be in distress: Both words denote physical postures of lowering or bending the body, such as bowing, stooping and crouching, and can both mean to bow down, stoop or bring low; they are different Hebrew roots for closely related bodily postures.
נָפַל nâphal · H5307 · to fall, to sink, to let fall: Both the target term and נָפַל (nâphal, H5307) ('fall') show substantial semantic overlap in the sense of postural lowering, falling, or bowing. These are distinct Hebrew roots that plausibly substitute for one another in contexts of lowering posture or falling down; נָפַל has a broader overall range, but the overlap in the specific sense of bowing or falling is real and specific.
קָרַס qâraç · H7164 · to stoop, to bow down: Both words denote postural actions of lowering the body, such as bowing, stooping, and kneeling; כָּרַע (kâraʻ, H3766) has a broader range (including bringing down, falling, and weakening), while קָרַס (qâraç, H7164) is narrower and means just “stoop.” Both describe voluntary body-lowering postures that could substitute in overlapping contexts.
שָׁחָה shâchâh · H7812 · to tell, to inform, to impart: The target term means to bow down, kneel or sink, and שָׁחָה (shâchâh, H7812) means to bow down, worship or do obeisance; both denote physical acts of bowing or stooping.
סָגַד çâgad · H5456 · to bow down: Both words describe downward postural movements associated with worship or submission: the target term means to bow down, bring down, cast down, couch, fall, kneel, sink or subdue, and סגד (çâgad, H5456) means to fall down. סגד is quite rare.

Semantic domains 5 entries

Stance002001001061: This word's most frequent sense is a bodily posture of bowing, kneeling, or crouching low, so it belongs among words for bodily stance.
Bow002001001008: The specific act of bowing down, whether in homage or submission, is this word's core sense, so it belongs directly among words for bowing.
Dead002001001018: The word is also used of being struck down or falling in death, as in descriptions of enemies smitten down in battle, so it also belongs among words associated with death.
Weak002001001069: The word describes being brought low, feeble, or without strength, an extension of its physical bowing-down sense into weakness.
Unsafe002003003022: The word is used of being brought down into a position of vulnerability or danger, subdued and no longer secure.

Word family 2 words

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

כָּרַעkâraʻ · H3766כָּרָע kârâʻ · H3767 · leg bones · 9×

Brown-Driver-Briggs Hebrew Lexicon H3766. kara כָּרַע bow down (Late Hebrew id.; Aramaic כְּרַע; Arabic put one's mouth into…

H3766. kara
כָּרַע bow down (Late Hebrew id.; Aramaic כְּרַע; Arabic put one's mouth into water, or water-vessel; i.e. kneel to drink ? denominative from following ? —
Qal Perfect3miles ׳כ Gen 49:6 Gen 49:6t.; 3 masculine plural כָּֽרְעוּ Jdg 7:6 Jdg 7:4t.; Imperfect יִכְרַע Jdg 7:5 Jdg 7:3t.; 1 singular וָאֶכְרְעָה Ezr 9:5; Ezr 9:3masculine plural יִכְרְעוּן Job 31:10; Job 31:2masculine plural תִּכְרָ֑עוּ Isa 65:12; Isa 65:1plural וְנִכְרָ֑עָה Psa 95:6 Psa 95:6t. Imperfect; Infinitive construct כְּרֹעַ 1Ki 8:54; participle כֹּרֵעַ Est 3:5; plural כֹּרְעִים Est 3:2; feminine כֹּרְעוֺת Job 4:4. —
1 bow ברכים על to drink Jdg 7:5-6, in supplication to Elijah 2Ki 1:13; in the worship of God 1Ki 8:34; Ezr 9:5; with ברכים subject and ל of God 1Ki 19:18; Isa 45:23; without ברכים with לִפְנֵי Psa 22:30; Psa 72:9; || השׁתחוה2Ch 7:3; 2Ch 29:29; Psa 95:6, worship of God, but Est 3:2 (twice in verse); Est 3:5 in obeisance to Haman.
2 bow down, of the couching lion Gen 49:9; Num 24:9 (both poetry).
3 pregnant with על, bow down over (in order to lie with) a woman Job 31:10.
4 bow down, of a woman in childbirth 1Sa 4:19, so of animals Job 39:3; idols, removed by enemies Isa 46:1-2, כֹּרְעוֺת בִּרְכַּיִם Job 4:4 tottering (feeble) knees; of enemies in death, נפל[ו]כרע bow and fall down Jdg 5:27 (3 t. in verse); Psa 20:9 pregnant without נפל 2Ki 9:24; Isa 65:12, with תַּחַת Isa 10:4. —
Hiph`il Perfect3masculine singular הִכְרִיעַ Psa 78:31; Psa 78:2feminine singular suffix הִכְרַעְתִּנִי Jdg 11:35; Imperfect2masculine singular תַּכְרִיעַ 2Sa 22:40 = Psa 18:40; Imperative suffix הַכְרִיעֵהוּ Psa 17:13; Infinitive absolute הַכְרֵעַ Jdg 11:35. —
1 cause to bow in grief Jdg 11:35 (twice in verse).
2 cause to bow down in death Psa 17:13; Psa 78:31, with תַּחַת 2Sa 22:40 = Psa 18:40.

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

Topical studies with this word 5 entries

Bow15 occurrences Dead4 occurrences Stance13 occurrences Weak1 occurrence Unsafe1 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