קְלָלָה
qᵉlâlâh · H7045 · Hebrew · 33 occurrences
Meanings
-
curse
Actions by which humans or deities consign others or inanimate objects to death, damage, or destruction, usually by invoking the name of a deity if the agent is human, done as punishment, out of contempt, fear, anger, or hostility, or for pay, its effectiveness partly depending on the authority of the one pronouncing it
ExamplesGenesis 27:12 “Perhaps my father will touch me, then I will be like a deceiver in his sight, and I will bring upon myself a curse and not a blessing.”
Genesis 27:13 But his mother said to him, “Your curse be on me, my son; only obey my voice, and go, get the goats for me.”
Deuteronomy 11:26 “See, I am placing before you today a blessing and a curse:
-
object of cursing
An action by which humans and deities express their contempt towards someone else, with the intention of provoking public shame in that person
Examples2 Kings 22:19 since your heart was tender and you humbled yourself before the LORD when you heard what I spoke against this place and against its inhabitants, that they would become an object of horror and a curse, and you have torn your clothes and wept before Me, I have indeed heard you,’ declares the LORD.”
Zechariah 8:13 ‘And it will come about that just as you were a curse among the nations, house of Judah and house of Israel, so I will save you that you may become a blessing. Do not fear; let your hands be strong.’
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
Whose, or of whatGenitive or possessive
5 occurrences in 5 groups
- חִנָּםwithout cause, for nothing 1
- יוֹתָםJotham 1
- אֱלֹהִיםGod, gods 1
- ךָyour 1
- הוּhis 1
Words describing itAdjectives, demonstratives, participles
5 occurrences in 4 groups
- אֵלֶּהthese 2
- כָּתַבto write down, to write, to inscribe 1
- מָרַץto be painful 1
- נָתַןto give, to put, to set 1
Named alongside itApposition
2 occurrences in 1 groups
- דָּבָרword, thing, matter 2
What it doesIt is the subject
6 occurrences in 3 groups
- בּוֹאto come, to go in, to bring 4
- חָשַׁבto think about 1
- לָקַחto take, to receive 1
What is done to itIt is the object
8 occurrences in 6 groups
- הָפַךְto turn, to change, to overturn 2
- בּוֹאto come, to go in, to bring 2
- אָהַבto love 1
- הָיָהto be, to become 1
- לָבַשׁto put on, to clothe, to wear 1
- נָתַןto give, to put, to set 1
What it is said to bePredicate
1 occurrences in 1 groups
- נִיme 1
What is said to be itIt is the predicate
1 occurrences in 1 groups
- תָּלָהto hang 1
After prepositionsPrepositional phrases
11 occurrences in 3 groups
- לto/for 10
- עַלon, upon, over, against 2
- תַּחַתunder, below, instead of 2
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
- מְאֵרָה mᵉʼêrâh · H3994 · curse
- The target lexeme and מְאֵרָה both denote ‘a curse’ as a noun — the affliction or the utterance itself — making them near-synonyms in the same language.
- נְאָצָה nᵉʼâtsâh · H5007 · contempt, disgrace
- Blasphemy (reviling speech against God, נֶאָצָה) and the target lexeme’s sense of cursing (pronouncing evil or harm) overlap semantically, as both involve negative, hostile speech acts, functioning as near-synonyms in the semantic space of hostile speech.
- תַּאֲלָה taʼălâh · H8381 · curse
- Both words denote curse or cursing, overlapping directly in sense.
In the other Testament 2 words
- κατάρα katára · G2671 · to curse, curse
- Greek κατάρα (katara) is the standard LXX rendering of Hebrew קְלָלָה (qelalah), both denoting a pronounced curse or imprecation; the terms function as direct translation equivalents across the covenant curse contexts of Deuteronomy 27-28 and their NT citations.
- ἀρά ará · G685 · curse
- Greek ἀρά renders Hebrew קְלָלָה as the direct cross-linguistic equivalent for 'curse' — both denote an invoked imprecation or pronouncement of harm, with ἀρά carrying the etymological sense of 'prayer' (lifted words) specialized to the negative (curse) register in LXX translation practice.
Semantic domains 3 entries
- Curse002003002008
- The word means a curse, directly illustrated by Jacob's fear of bringing a curse on himself (Genesis 27:12-13) and the blessing and curse set before Israel at Gerizim and Ebal (Deuteronomy 11:26, 28-29).
- Despise002001002005
- This domain is not independently illustrated by the sampled citations, which all concern the formal covenant curse rather than an act of contempt.
- Shame002001002025
- This domain is not independently illustrated by the sampled citations.
Word family 5 words
Words formed from the same root. They share a form, not always a meaning.
Brown-Driver-Briggs Hebrew Lexicon H7045. qelalah קְלָלָה33 noun feminine curse; — absolute׳ק Gen 27:12 +; construct קִלְלַת…
קְלָלָה33 noun feminine curse; — absolute׳ק Gen 27:12 +; construct קִלְלַת Jdg 9:57 +; suffix קִלְלָֽתְךָ Gen 27:13, קִלְלָתוֺ 2Sa 16:22 (van d. H. Kt קללתי, so We Dr Löhr); plural קְלָלוֺת Deu 28:15, Deu 28:45; — curse, Gen 27:12-13,(J); often opposed to בְּרָכָה, Deu 11:26, Deu 11:28; Deu 23:6 = Neh 13:2, + 8 t. Deuteronomy; Jos 8:34 (D), Jdg 9:57; Psa 109:17; Psa 109:18; Pro 27:14; חִנָּם קִלְלַת Pro 26:2 a groundless curse, compare 2Sa 16:12; נִמְרֶצֶת קְלָלָה1Ki 2:8 a grievous curse; = a formula of cursing Jer 29:22; = object of curse, תָּלוּי אֱלֹהִים קִלְלַת Deu 21:23, וּקְלָלָה שַׁמָּה 2Ki 22:19, compare Jer 24:9; Jer 25:18 Jer 25:6t. Jeremiah; Zec 8:13.
Brown, Driver and Briggs, A Hebrew and English Lexicon of the Old Testament (1906), public domain
Topical studies with this word 2 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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