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mannafest.faith

Hebrew noun (masculine) · H3791

כָּתָב

kathabkaw-thawb'

writing

17 uses in the Hebrew text, one for each word STEP Bible has tagged with this key

Concordance spelling: kâthâb

Word page · Part of the concordance, one page for every word of the Hebrew and Greek text. Strong's H3791is this word's number in James Strong's 1890 index of the King James Bible.

  • 7 of 39
    Old Testament books
  • 12
    spellings

The definition in full

Strong's key (1890) · H3791

something written, i.e. a writing, record or book

The King James renders it: register, scripture, writing.

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

kathab is rendered "writing". It stands 17 times in the Hebrew text, across seven books.

  • Nine of the uses stand in Esther, more than in any other book.
  • Its first use in canonical order opens the ledger below.1 Chronicles 28:19“All this,” said David, “all the details of this plan, the LORD has made clear to me in writing by His hand upon me.”
  • The Greek text spells it twelve different ways.

The first use

“All this,” said David, “all the details of this plan, the LORD has made clear to me in writing by His hand upon me.”

1 Chronicles 28:19בִּכְתָ֛ב

The first use, in the order of the Old Testament's books.

Where the word stands

Nine of the word's seventeen uses are in Esther.

The other 32 Old Testament books never use the word.

What the word means

Each meaning, and the words it is translated by

How the Greek text is glossed, word by word

  • according to writing its3
  • according to writing their2
  • document their2
  • the writing2
  • a writing1
  • and in register of1
  • and writing of1
  • by writing of1
  • in a document1
  • in writing1
  • in writing of1
  • writing of1

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.

כָּתַבkathabto writeUses224
כָּתֵףkathephshoulderUses67
כָּתַתkathathto crushUses17
כָּתַרkatharto surroundUses6
כָּתִיתkathithbeatenUses5
כָּתַםkathambe stainedUses1
כָּתַשׁkathashto poundUses1

All 17, in canonical order

Every use, in order

Every use, grouped by book, with its verse.

12 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

  • כִּכְתָבָ֔הּ3
  • הַכְּתָ֗ב2
  • כִּכְתָבָ֖ם2
  • כְתָבָ֛ם2
  • בִּכְתָ֛ב1
  • בִּכְתָ֔ב1
  • בִּכְתָ֗ב1
  • בִּכְתָ֖ב1
  • וּבִכְתָ֤ב1
  • וּכְתָב֙1
  • כְתָ֞ב1
  • כְּתָֽב־1

The grammar of each form

  • preposition + noun · masculine singular · in construct (“…of”) + pronoun suffix · 3rd person feminine singular3HR/Ncmsc/Sp3fs
  • noun · masculine singular · in construct (“…of”) + pronoun suffix · 3rd person masculine plural2HNcmsc/Sp3mp
  • preposition + noun · masculine singular2HR/Ncmsa
  • preposition + noun · masculine singular · in construct (“…of”)2HR/Ncmsc
  • preposition + noun · masculine singular · in construct (“…of”) + pronoun suffix · 3rd person masculine plural2HR/Ncmsc/Sp3mp
  • the definite article (“the”) + noun · masculine singular2HTd/Ncmsa
  • conjunction (“and”) + noun · masculine singular · in construct (“…of”)1HC/Ncmsc
  • conjunction (“and”) + preposition + noun · masculine singular · in construct (“…of”)1HC/R/Ncmsc
  • noun · masculine singular1HNcmsa
  • noun · masculine singular · in construct (“…of”)1HNcmsc

1 Chronicles

one use
  • “All this,” said David, “all the details of this plan, the LORD has made clear to me in writing by His hand upon me.”

    1 Chronicles 28:19

    • בִּכְתָ֛בbikhtavpreposition + noun · masculine singulartagged: in writing

2 Chronicles

two uses
  • Then Hiram king of Tyre wrote a letter in reply to Solomon: “Because the LORD loves His people, He has set you over them as king.”

    2 Chronicles 2:11

    • בִּכְתָ֔בbikhtavpreposition + noun · masculine singulartagged: in a document
  • Prepare yourselves by families in your divisions, according to the instructions written by David king of Israel and Solomon his son.

    2 Chronicles 35:4

    • בִּכְתָ֗בbikhtavpreposition + noun · masculine singular · in construct (“…of”)tagged: by writing of

Ezra

two uses
  • These men searched for their family records, but they could not find them and so were excluded from the priesthood as unclean.

    Ezra 2:62

    • כְתָבָ֛םkhetavamnoun · masculine singular · in construct (“…of”) + pronoun suffix · 3rd person masculine pluraltagged: document their
  • And in the days of Artaxerxes king of Persia, Bishlam, Mithredath, Tabeel, and the rest of his associates wrote a letter to Artaxerxes. It was written in Aramaic and then translated.

    Ezra 4:7

    • וּכְתָב֙ukhetavconjunction (“and”) + noun · masculine singular · in construct (“…of”)tagged: and writing of

Nehemiah

one use
  • These men searched for their family records, but they could not find them and so were excluded from the priesthood as unclean.

    Nehemiah 7:64

    • כְתָבָ֛םkhetavamnoun · masculine singular · in construct (“…of”) + pronoun suffix · 3rd person masculine pluraltagged: document their

Esther

nine uses
  • He sent letters to all the provinces of the kingdom, to each province in its own script and to each people in their own language, proclaiming that every man should be master of his own household.

    Esther 1:22

    • כִּכְתָבָ֔הּkikhtavahpreposition + noun · masculine singular · in construct (“…of”) + pronoun suffix · 3rd person feminine singulartagged: according to writing its
  • On the thirteenth day of the first month, the royal scribes were summoned and the order was written exactly as Haman commanded the royal satraps, the governors of each province, and the officials of each people, in the script of each province and the language of every people. It was written in the name of King Xerxes and sealed with the royal signet ring.

    Esther 3:12

    • כִּכְתָבָ֔הּkikhtavahpreposition + noun · masculine singular · in construct (“…of”) + pronoun suffix · 3rd person feminine singulartagged: according to writing its
  • A copy of the text of the edict was to be issued in every province and published to all the people, so that they would be ready on that day.

    Esther 3:14

    • הַכְּתָ֗בhaketavthe definite article (“the”) + noun · masculine singulartagged: the writing
  • Mordecai also gave Hathach a copy of the written decree issued in Susa for the destruction of the Jews, to show and explain to Esther, urging her to approach the king, implore his favor, and plead before him for her people.

    Esther 4:8

    • כְּתָֽב־ketav-noun · masculine singular · in construct (“…of”)tagged: writing of
  • Now you may write in the king’s name as you please regarding the Jews, and seal it with the royal signet ring. For a decree that is written in the name of the king and sealed with the royal signet ring cannot be revoked.”

    Esther 8:8

    • כְתָ֞בkhetavnoun · masculine singulartagged: a writing
  • At once the royal scribes were summoned, and on the twenty-third day of the third month (the month of Sivan), they recorded all of Mordecai’s orders to the Jews and to the satraps, governors, and princes of the 127 provinces from India to Cush—writing to each province in its own script, to every people in their own language, and to the Jews in their own script and language.

    Esther 8:9

    • כִּכְתָבָ֔הּkikhtavahpreposition + noun · masculine singular · in construct (“…of”) + pronoun suffix · 3rd person feminine singulartagged: according to writing its
    • כִּכְתָבָ֖םkikhtavampreposition + noun · masculine singular · in construct (“…of”) + pronoun suffix · 3rd person masculine pluraltagged: according to writing their
  • A copy of the text of the edict was to be issued in every province and published to all the people, so that the Jews would be ready on that day to avenge themselves on their enemies.

    Esther 8:13

    • הַכְּתָ֗בhaketavthe definite article (“the”) + noun · masculine singulartagged: the writing
  • the Jews bound themselves to establish the custom that they and their descendants and all who join them should not fail to celebrate these two days at the appointed time each and every year, according to their regulation.

    Esther 9:27

    • כִּכְתָבָ֖םkikhtavampreposition + noun · masculine singular · in construct (“…of”) + pronoun suffix · 3rd person masculine pluraltagged: according to writing their

Ezekiel

one use
  • My hand will be against the prophets who see false visions and speak lying divinations. They will not belong to the council of My people or be recorded in the register of the house of Israel, nor will they enter the land of Israel. Then you will know that I am the Lord GOD.

    Ezekiel 13:9

    • וּבִכְתָ֤בuvikhtavconjunction (“and”) + preposition + noun · masculine singular · in construct (“…of”)tagged: and in register of

Daniel

one use
  • But first I will tell you what is inscribed in the Book of Truth. Yet no one has the courage to support me against these, except Michael your prince.

    Daniel 10:21

    • בִּכְתָ֖בbikhtavpreposition + noun · masculine singular · in construct (“…of”)tagged: in writing of

The letters

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 words it stands beside are the nouns, verbs and adjectives immediately before or after it, counted in every verse where the word stands. The article, the conjunctions and the prepositions are left out, because they stand beside every word.

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.

Hebrew and Greek text, word tagging and grammar: STEP Bible (www.STEPBible.org), Tyndale House, CC BY 4.0. Their grammar codes are written out in English here and shown as tagged beside each one.

Meaning and senses: STEP Bible TBESH gloss (Tyndale House, CC BY 4.0).

Dictionary key: Strong's Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible (1890, public domain). English verse text: Berean Standard Bible (public domain, 2023).

Revised 2026-09-05. Every cited work, the sources registry →