לָכַד
lâkad · H3920 · Hebrew · 121 occurrences
Meanings
-
to catch, to seize, to capture
Action by which humans or animals take control of (other) humans, animals, towns or land, usually with violence
ExamplesDeuteronomy 2:34 “So we captured all his cities at that time and utterly destroyed the men, women, and children of every city. We left no survivor.
Deuteronomy 2:35 “We took only the animals as our plunder, and the spoils of the cities which we had captured.
Deuteronomy 3:4 “We captured all his cities at that time; there was not a city which we did not take from them: sixty cities, all the region of Argob, the kingdom of Og in Bashan.
-
to clasp each other
Literally: to capture one another; hence: process by which two objects are firmly attached to one another
ExamplesJob 41:17 “They are joined one to another; They clasp each other and cannot be separated.
-
Literally: to capture (a role); hence: action by which humans take on a particular role, which, in some cases, may require a show of force (to take, to assume (a role or position))
Examples1 Samuel 14:47 Now when Saul had taken control of the kingdom over Israel, he fought against all his enemies on every side, against Moab, the sons of Ammon, Edom, the kings of Zobah, and the Philistines; and wherever he turned, he inflicted punishment.
-
Literally: to capture; hence: process by which an individual or group is chosen by lot, which is understood as a direct divine intervention (to select (by lot))
ExamplesJoshua 7:14 ‘So in the morning you shall come forward by your tribes. And it shall be that the tribe which the LORD selects by lot shall come forward by families, and the family which the LORD selects shall come forward by households, and the household which the LORD selects shall come forward man by man.
Joshua 7:15 ‘And it shall be that the one who is selected with the things designated for destruction shall be burned with fire, he and all that belongs to him, because he has violated the covenant of the LORD, and because he has committed a disgraceful thing in Israel.’”
Joshua 7:16 So Joshua got up early in the morning and brought Israel forward by tribes, and the tribe of Judah was selected.
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to be frozen
Literally: to be captured; hence: process by which water turns into ice as a result of low temperatures
ExamplesJob 38:30 “Water becomes hard like stone, And the surface of the deep is imprisoned.
How it’s used In 8 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
119 occurrences in 41 groups
- Not stated: he, she or it 31
- Not stated: they 27
- דָּוִדDavid 4
- יְהוֹשׁוּעַJoshua 4
- יְהֹוָהthe LORD, YHWH 3
- עִירcity, town 3
- Other words · 32 groups that occur once or twice (39) 39
What it acts on, or what is saidObject
76 occurrences in 39 groups
- הָher 26
- עִירcity, town 15
- בַּתdaughter 5
- מֶלֶךְking 5
- וֹhim 5
- גְּבוּלborder, territory 3
- Other words · 32 groups that occur once or twice (36) 36
With prepositionsPrepositional phrases
32 occurrences in 24 groups
- מִןfrom+ וֹhim 3
- בin/on/with+ יוֹםday, time 3
- Other words · 22 groups that occur once or twice (26) 26
With adverbsAdverbs
1 occurrences in 1 groups
- לֹאnot 1
Whose, or of whatGenitive or possessive
1 occurrences in 1 groups
- עִירcity, town 1
What it doesIt is the subject
1 occurrences in 1 groups
- שָׂרַףto burn 1
What is done to itIt is the object
4 occurrences in 3 groups
- רָאָהto see 2
- נָגַדto tell, to inform, to report 1
- שָׁמַעto hear, to listen, to obey 1
After prepositionsPrepositional phrases
4 occurrences in 3 groups
- לto/for 2
- מִןfrom 1
- כlike/as 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
- λαμβάνω lambánō · G2983 · to take hold of, to grasp, to grab
- λαμβάνω primarily denotes taking/receiving in a general sense, whereas לָכַד specifically emphasizes capturing or seizing forcefully (often in military/hunting contexts); the overlap occurs where LXX translators rendered לָכַד's sense of 'taking by force' with λαμβάνω's broader 'take' semantic, particularly in contexts where the violent aspect of capture is contextually understood rather than lexically explicit.
Semantic domains 5 entries
- Control002003002007
- לָכַד's dominant sense is to capture or seize control of a place or people, as in Numbers 21:32's "they captured its villages," placing it among terms of gaining control by force.
- Attach002003001001
- The verb also describes things sticking or clinging together, reflected in its gloss 'stick together,' extending the seizing sense to physical adherence between objects.
- Role002002002008
- The word can describe someone being singled out or designated by lot (e.g. Joshua 7:14-18's process of Achan being 'taken' by lot), tying the capturing sense to the assignment of a specific individual's identified role or guilt.
- Dissociate002003002009
- The verb's use for capturing towns and territory, as in Numbers 32:39's "they went to Gilead and took it," involves severing a place from its former possessors, tying the seizing sense to a change in possession.
- Solid002001001058
- The word can also describe becoming frozen or congealed, reflected in its gloss 'be frozen,' extending the sense of being caught or held fast to a change in physical state to a solid, fixed condition.
Word family 3 words
Words formed from the same root. They share a form, not always a meaning.
Brown-Driver-Briggs Hebrew Lexicon H3920. lakad לָכַד121 verb capture, seize, take (by lot) (Phoenician לכד take out, choose…
לָכַד121 verb capture, seize, take (by lot) (Phoenician לכד take out, choose (?); לְכַד ᵑ7 as Biblical Hebrew; Arabic is strike, push, with the hand, etc., pestle, compare modern attack WetzstZMG xxii. 1868, 140; stick or cleave to); —
Qal Perfect ׳ל Jos 8:1 +, לָכַדְתִּי 2Sa 12:27 etc.; Imperfect3masculine singular יִלְכּוֺד Amo 3:5; וַיִּלְכֹּד Jdg 8:12 +, etc.; Imperative masculine singular suffix לָכְדָהּ 2Sa 12:28, masculine plural לִכְדוּ; Infinitive absolute לָכוֺד Amo 3:5; construct suffix לְלָכְדֵנִי Jer 18:22, לְלָכְדָהּ Jer 32:24; Participle לֹכֵד Job 5:13; Pro 16:32; —
1 capture, seize (not in P) with accusative, usually a city or town, in war Jdg 1:8, Jdg 1:12; Jos 8:21; Jos 10:1 (JE), Deu 2:35 48t. (but Jdg 1:18 strike out as gloss Bu Kit GFM and others); land Jos 10:42 (D), Dan 11:18; water-courses (fords), Jdg 3:28; Jdg 7:24 (twice in verse); Jdg 12:8; object men (usually princes, kings) in battle Jdg 7:25; Jdg 8:12, Jdg 8:14; Jos 11:12, Jos 11:17 (D), 2Ch 22:9; 2Ch 33:11; captives and spoils 2Sa 8:4 = 1Ch 18:4; of Saul's seizing the kingdom (הַמְּלוּכָה), i.e. acquiring it actually by force of arms 1Sa 14:47; also of Samson's catching the foxes Jdg 15:4; of a lion catching his prey Amo 3:4; of a trap, snare, יִלְכּוֺד לָכוֺד Amo 3:5.
2 figurative of entrapping men Jer 5:26; Psa 35:8, compare Pro 5:22; Job 5:13 and (of a pit) Jer 18:22.
3 of taking by lot Jos 7:14 (3 t. in verse); Jos 7:17 (J E; see Niph`al 3).
Niph`al Perfect נִלְכַּד Lam 4:20; Lam 4:3feminine singular נִלְכְּדָה 1Ki 16:18 +, etc.; Imperfect יִלָּכֵד Isa 24:18; Jer 48:44; כָּהּ יִלָּ֫כֶד Ecc 7:26; וַיִּלָּכֵד Jos 7:16 +, etc.; Participle נִלְכָּד Jos 7:15; —
1 be captured in war, of city 1Ki 16:18; 2Ki 18:10; Jer 38:28 (twice in verse); Jer 48:1, Jer 48:41; Jer 50:2, Jer 50:9, Jer 50:24; Jer 51:31, Jer 51:41; Zec 14:2; of men Jer 51:56; Lam 4:20 (compare Qal 1).
2 of men, be caught, namely, in a snare or trap, only figurative, usually by divine judgment Isa 8:15; Isa 24:18; Isa 28:13; Psa 9:16; Psa 59:13; Pro 6:2; Pro 11:6; Jer 6:11; Jer 8:9; so of Moab Jer 48:7, Jer 48:44; of being ensnared by a woman Ecc 7:26; of being caught by cords of distress, עֹ֑נִי בְּחַבְלֵי, Job 36:8.
3 be taken by lot Jos 7:15-16, Jos 7:17, Jos 7:18 (all J E), 1Sa 10:20-21, (twice in verse); 1Sa 14:41-42, (compare Qal 3).
Hithpa`el Imperfect3masculine plural; יִתְמָּרָ֑דוּ וְלֹא יִתְלַכְּדוּ Job 41:9 they grasp each other, and cannot be separated, of crocodile's scales (|| יְדֻבָּ֑קוּ בְּאָחִיהוּ אִישׁ); יִתְלַכָּ֑דוּ תְהוֺם מְּנֵי Job 38:30 the face of the deep compacts (of freezing; || יִתְחַבָּ֑אוּ מַיִם כָּאֶבֶן; verbs transposed, plausibly, by Me Bi Siegf Bu).
Brown, Driver and Briggs, A Hebrew and English Lexicon of the Old Testament (1906), public domain
Topical studies with this word 5 entries
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
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