קָטַל
qâṭal · H6991 · Hebrew · 3 occurrences
Meanings
-
to kill
Causative action by which humans or deities cause people or animals to die
ExamplesJob 13:15 “Though He slay me, I will hope in Him. Nevertheless I will argue my ways before Him.
Job 24:14 “The murderer arises at dawn; He kills the poor and the needy, And at night he is like a thief.
Psalm 139:19 If only You would put the wicked to death, God; Leave me, you men of bloodshed.
How it’s used In 2 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
3 occurrences in 2 groups
- Not stated: he, she or it 2
- Not stated: you (one person) 1
What it acts on, or what is saidObject
3 occurrences in 4 groups
- אֶבְיוֹןpoor 1
- עָנִיpoor, afflicted 1
- רָשָׁעwicked 1
- נִיme 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 3 words
- הָרַג hârag · H2026 · to slaughter, to kill, to murder
- The most common Hebrew verb for killing/slaying, used over 160 times; semantically overlaps entirely with קטל but is far more frequent. Both denote the act of taking life, whether in battle, execution, or murder.
- מוּת mûwth · H4191 · to die, to pass away, to cause to die
- In its causative stems (Hiphil, Polel), מות means 'to kill, put to death' and serves as a functional synonym for קטל, though מות in Qal means 'to die' and thus has broader semantic range.
- רָצַח râtsach · H7523 · to commit murder, to murder, to kill
- Hebrew verb specifically denoting murder or unlawful killing; more restricted than קטל in that it carries moral/legal connotations of illegitimate killing, whereas קטל is more neutral.
Contrasting words 1 word
- חָיָה châyâh · H2421 · to be alive, to become alive, to live
- In its causative stem (Piel/Hiphil), חיה means 'to preserve alive, give life, revive' — the lexical opposite of killing. The contrast between killing and preserving/giving life is a standard lexical antonym pair in Hebrew.
In the other Testament 2 words
- ἀποκτείνω apokteínō · G615 · to kill, to do away with, to eliminate
- Standard Greek translation equivalent for Hebrew terms of killing/slaying; used extensively in LXX to render various Hebrew kill-verbs including קטל and its more common synonym הרג.
- φονεύω phoneúō · G5407 · to murder, to commit murder
- Greek verb for killing/murdering, particularly unlawful killing; used in LXX as a translation equivalent for Hebrew kill-verbs, though more specific to murder than general slaying.
Semantic domains 1 entry
- Dead002001001018
- The word means to kill or slay, illustrated by Job's willingness to be slain (Job 13:15), the murderer who kills the poor and needy (Job 24:14), and the psalmist's plea that God would put the wicked to death (Psalm 139:19).
Word family 3 words
Words formed from the same root. They share a form, not always a meaning.
Brown-Driver-Briggs Hebrew Lexicon H6991. qatal [קָטַל] verb slay (in poetry and late) (Arabic Ethiopic Sabean קתל…
[קָטַל] verb slay (in poetry and late) (Arabic Ethiopic Sabean קתל HomChrest.126, all slay (original form with ת; changed later, after ק); Aramaic קְטַל, ; Old Aramaic קתל כטל, קטל,); —
Qal Imperfect with accusative of person, 3 masculine singular יִקְטָלֿ Job 24:14; suffix, subject God, יִקְטְלֵנִי Job 13:15; of God also 2masculine singular תִּקְטֹל Psa 139:19.
[קְטַל] verb slay (ᵑ7 Syriac (often); see Biblical Hebrew (late, rare)); —
Pe`al Participle active קָטֵל Dan 5:19, accusative of person
Pe`îl be slain: Perfect3masculine singular קְטִיל Dan 5:30, Dan 5:3feminine singular קְטִילַת Dan 7:11.
Pa`el slay: Perfect3masculine singular קַטִּל Dan 3:22 (accusative of person); Infinitive לְקַטָּלָה Dan 2:14 (ל accusative of person).
Hithpe`el be slain: Infinitive לְהִתְקְטָלָה Dan 2:13; Participle (= gerundive, K§ 76, 3) plural מִתְקַטְלִין Dan 2:13 were to be slain.
Brown, Driver and Briggs, A Hebrew and English Lexicon of the Old Testament (1906), public domain
Topical studies with this word 1 entry
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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