Hebrew verb · H3738
כָּרָה
karahkaw-raw'
to dig; to pierce
14 uses in the Hebrew text, one for each word STEP Bible has tagged with this key
Concordance spelling: kârâh
Word page · Part of the concordance, one page for every word of the Hebrew and Greek text. Strong's H3738is this word's number in James Strong's 1890 index of the King James Bible.
- 7 of 39Old Testament books
- 14spellings
- 2meanings
The definition in full
Strong's key (1890) · H3738
properly, to dig; figuratively, to plot; generally, to bore or open
The King James renders it: dig, [idiom] make (a banquet), open.
James Strong, The Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible (1890), public domain. Strong indexed the King James text, and this site quotes his entry as that index.
Summary
karah is rendered "to dig; to pierce". It stands 14 times in the Hebrew text, across seven books.
- Five of the uses stand in Psalms, more than in any other book.
- The lexicon lists two meanings for it, beginning with "to dig".
- Its first use in canonical order opens the ledger below.Genesis 26:25So Isaac built an altar there and called on the name of the LORD, and he pitched his tent there. His servants also dug a well there.
- The Greek text spells it fourteen different ways.
The first use
So Isaac built an altar there and called on the name of the LORD, and he pitched his tent there. His servants also dug a well there.
Genesis 26:25וַיִּכְרוּ־
The first use, in the order of the Old Testament's books.
Where the word stands
What the word means
The word carries two meanings: to dig, and to pierce.
Each meaning, and the words it is translated by
| Meaning | Tagged as | Where |
|---|---|---|
| to digStrong's entry A | Tagged aslisted under the table | WhereGenesis 26:25So Isaac built an altar there and called on the name of the LORD, and he pitched his tent there… |
| to pierceStrong's entry B | Tagged aslisted under the table | Wherein the ledger below |
How the Greek text is glossed, word by word
- they have dug3
- and they dug1
- digging up1
- digs1
- he digs1
- he had dug1
- he will dig1
- I dug1
- it will be dug1
- they dug1
- they dug it1
- you dug1
The words built on the same word-part
Each word below begins with the same letters this one begins with. A shared word-part shows a family. It does not settle what any one of them means, so each word carries its own uses on its own page. Scholars call that shared part the stem.
| Word | Written | Meaning | Uses |
|---|---|---|---|
| כָּרַת | karath | to cut: cut | Uses288 |
| כָּרַע | kara | to bow | Uses36 |
| כָּרָע | kara | leg | Uses9 |
| כָּרָה | karah | to trade | Uses5 |
| כָּרֻתָה | karuthah | beam | Uses3 |
| כָּרִי | kari | Carite | Uses2 |
| כָּרַר | karar | to dance | Uses2 |
| כָּרָא | Kara | be distressed | Uses1 |
| כָּרָה | karah | hollow | Uses1 |
| כָּרוֹז | karoz | proclaimer | Uses1 |
Other numbers on this spelling
Strong gave these words the same spelling and different numbers, so the site counts and defines them apart.
All 14, in canonical order
Every use, in order
Every use, grouped by book, with its verse.
14 spellings and their grammar
STEP Bible tags every word of the Hebrew and Greek text with its spelling and its grammar. Both lists below count the rows printed underneath, written out in English, with the code beside each one as it was tagged.
How it is spelled
- וַיִּכְרוּ־1
- יִכְרֶ֥ה1
- יִכָּרֶ֖ה1
- כָּ֭רָֽה1
- כֹּרֶ֣ה1
- כָּֽרָה־1
- כֹּֽרֶה־1
- כָר֥וּ1
- כָר֤וּ1
- כָּר֣וּ1
- כָּֽרוּ־1
- כָּר֙וּהָ֙1
and 2 more spellings in the ledger below.
The grammar of each form
- verb · simple (qal), qatal (perfect) · 3rd person common plural4HVqp3cp
- verb · simple (qal), qatal (perfect) · 3rd person masculine singular2HVqp3ms
- verb · simple (qal), participle · masculine singular2HVqrmsa
- Hc/Vqw3mp1Hc/Vqw3mp
- verb · passive or reflexive (niphal), yiqtol (imperfect) · 3rd person masculine singular1HVNi3ms
- verb · simple (qal), yiqtol (imperfect) · 3rd person masculine singular1HVqi3ms
- verb · simple (qal), qatal (perfect) · 1st person common singular1HVqp1cs
- verb · simple (qal), qatal (perfect) · 2nd person masculine singular1HVqp2ms
- verb · simple (qal), qatal (perfect) · 3rd person common plural + pronoun suffix · 3rd person feminine singular1HVqp3cp/Sp3fs
Genesis
two uses
So Isaac built an altar there and called on the name of the LORD, and he pitched his tent there. His servants also dug a well there.
- וַיִּכְרוּ־vaiyikhru-Hc/Vqw3mptagged: and they dug
my father made me swear an oath when he said, ‘I am about to die. You must bury me in the tomb that I dug for myself in the land of Canaan.’ Now let me go and bury my father, and then return.”
- כָּרִ֤יתִיkaritiverb · simple (qal), qatal (perfect) · 1st person common singulartagged: I dug
Exodus
one use
If a man opens or digs a pit and fails to cover it, and an ox or a donkey falls into it,
- יִכְרֶ֥הyikhrehverb · simple (qal), yiqtol (imperfect) · 3rd person masculine singulartagged: he will dig
Numbers
one use
The princes dug the well; the nobles of the people hollowed it out with their scepters and with their staffs.” From the wilderness the Israelites went on to Mattanah,
- כָּר֙וּהָ֙karuhaverb · simple (qal), qatal (perfect) · 3rd person common plural + pronoun suffix · 3rd person feminine singulartagged: they dug it
2 Chronicles
one use
And he was buried in the tomb that he had cut out for himself in the City of David. They laid him on a bier that was full of spices and various blended perfumes; then they made a great fire in his honor.
- כָּֽרָה־karah-verb · simple (qal), qatal (perfect) · 3rd person masculine singulartagged: he had dug
Psalms
five uses
He has dug a hole and hollowed it out; he has fallen into a pit of his own making.
- כָּ֭רָֽהkarahverb · simple (qal), qatal (perfect) · 3rd person masculine singulartagged: he digs
Sacrifice and offering You did not desire, but my ears You have opened. Burnt offerings and sin offerings You did not require.
- כָּרִ֣יתָkaritaverb · simple (qal), qatal (perfect) · 2nd person masculine singulartagged: you dug
They spread a net for my feet; my soul was despondent. They dug a pit before me, but they themselves have fallen into it! Selah
- כָּר֣וּkaruverb · simple (qal), qatal (perfect) · 3rd person common pluraltagged: they dug
to grant him relief from days of trouble, until a pit is dug for the wicked.
- יִכָּרֶ֖הyikarehverb · passive or reflexive (niphal), yiqtol (imperfect) · 3rd person masculine singulartagged: it will be dug
The arrogant have dug pits for me in violation of Your law.
- כָּֽרוּ־karu-verb · simple (qal), qatal (perfect) · 3rd person common pluraltagged: they have dug
Proverbs
two uses
A worthless man digs up evil, and his speech is like a scorching fire.
- כֹּרֶ֣הkorehverb · simple (qal), participle · masculine singulartagged: digging up
He who digs a pit will fall into it, and he who rolls a stone will have it roll back on him.
- כֹּֽרֶה־korehosha-verb · simple (qal), participle · masculine singulartagged: digs
Jeremiah
two uses
Should good be repaid with evil? Yet they have dug a pit for me. Remember how I stood before You to speak good on their behalf, to turn Your wrath from them.
- כָר֥וּkharuverb · simple (qal), qatal (perfect) · 3rd person common pluraltagged: they have dug
Let a cry be heard from their houses when You suddenly bring raiders against them, for they have dug a pit to capture me and have hidden snares for my feet.
- כָר֤וּkharuverb · simple (qal), qatal (perfect) · 3rd person common pluraltagged: they have dug
Where it leads
How the numbers are counted
Every count on this page comes from STEP Bible's tagged Hebrew and Greek text, the same text the ledger prints. A use is counted once each time the tagging marks a word with this key.
Spellings are counted as the Greek text spells them, with the sentence's own punctuation taken off the word first, so a form that ends a clause is not counted as a second spelling.
The family is read from the lexicon by the stem the two words share, with the accents off, and a person or a place named on the stem is left out.