Hebrew verb · H6895
קָבַב
qababkaw-bab'
to curse
14 uses in the Hebrew text, one for each word STEP Bible has tagged with this key
Concordance spelling: qâbab
Word page · Part of the concordance, one page for every word of the Hebrew and Greek text. Strong's H6895is this word's number in James Strong's 1890 index of the King James Bible.
- 3 of 39Old Testament books
- 11spellings
The definition in full
Strong's key (1890) · H6895
to scoop out, i.e. (figuratively) to malign or execrate (i.e. stab with words)
The King James renders it: [idiom] at all, curse.
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
qabab is rendered "to curse". It stands 14 times in the Hebrew text, across three books.
- Ten of the uses stand in Numbers, more than in any other book.
- Its first use in canonical order opens the ledger below.Numbers 22:11‘Behold, a people has come out of Egypt, and they cover the face of the land. Now come and put a curse on them for me. Perhaps I may be able to fight against them and drive them away.’”
- The Greek text spells it eleven different ways.
The first use
‘Behold, a people has come out of Egypt, and they cover the face of the land. Now come and put a curse on them for me. Perhaps I may be able to fight against them and drive them away.’”
Numbers 22:11קָֽבָה־
The first use, in the order of the Old Testament's books.
Where the word stands
What the word means
Each meaning, and the words it is translated by
How the Greek text is glossed, word by word
- curse2
- to curse2
- and curse it1
- and I cursed1
- and you will curse it1
- at all curse1
- he has cursed him1
- let them curse it1
- they curse him1
- they will curse him1
- will I curse1
- you will curse it1
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.
All 14, in canonical order
Every use, in order
Every use, grouped by book, with its verse.
11 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
- יִקְּבֻ֥הוּ2
- לָקֹ֤ב2
- קָֽבָה־2
- אֶקֹּ֔ב1
- וָאֶקּ֖וֹב1
- וְקָבְנוֹ־1
- וְקַבֹּ֥תוֹ1
- יִקְּבֻ֣הוּ1
- קֹ֖ב1
- קַבֹּ֖ה1
- תִקֳּבֶ֑נּוּ1
The grammar of each form
- verb · simple (qal), yiqtol (imperfect) · 3rd person masculine plural + pronoun suffix · 3rd person masculine singular3HVqi3mp/Sp3ms
- preposition + verb · simple (qal), infinitive (“to…”)2HR/Vqcc
- verb · simple (qal), command · 2nd person masculine singular + paragogic he2HVqv2ms/Sh
- Hc/Vqq2ms/Sp3ms1Hc/Vqq2ms/Sp3ms
- conjunction (“and”) + verb · simple (qal), command · 2nd person masculine singular + pronoun suffix · 3rd person masculine singular1HC/Vqv2ms/Sp3ms
- Hc/Vqw1cs1Hc/Vqw1cs
- verb · simple (qal), infinitive (“to…”)1HVqcc
- verb · simple (qal), yiqtol (imperfect) · 1st person common singular1HVqi1cs
- verb · simple (qal), yiqtol (imperfect) · 2nd person masculine singular + pronoun suffix · 3rd person masculine singular1HVqi2ms/Sp3ms
- verb · simple (qal), qatal (perfect) · 3rd person masculine singular + pronoun suffix · 3rd person masculine singular1HVqp3ms/Sp3ms
Numbers
ten uses
‘Behold, a people has come out of Egypt, and they cover the face of the land. Now come and put a curse on them for me. Perhaps I may be able to fight against them and drive them away.’”
- קָֽבָה־kavah-verb · simple (qal), command · 2nd person masculine singular + paragogic hetagged: curse
for I will honor you richly and do whatever you say. So please come and put a curse on this people for me!’”
- קָֽבָה־kavah-verb · simple (qal), command · 2nd person masculine singular + paragogic hetagged: curse
How can I curse what God has not cursed? How can I denounce what the LORD has not denounced?
- אֶקֹּ֔בʾekoverb · simple (qal), yiqtol (imperfect) · 1st person common singulartagged: will I curse
- קַבֹּ֖הkabohverb · simple (qal), qatal (perfect) · 3rd person masculine singular + pronoun suffix · 3rd person masculine singulartagged: he has cursed him
Then Balak said to Balaam, “What have you done to me? I brought you here to curse my enemies, and behold, you have only blessed them!”
- לָקֹ֤בlakopreposition + verb · simple (qal), infinitive (“to…”)tagged: to curse
Then Balak said to him, “Please come with me to another place where you can see them. You will only see the outskirts of their camp—not all of them. And from there, curse them for me.”
- וְקָבְנוֹ־vekavenov-conjunction (“and”) + verb · simple (qal), command · 2nd person masculine singular + pronoun suffix · 3rd person masculine singulartagged: and curse it
Now Balak said to Balaam, “Then neither curse them at all nor bless them at all!”
- קֹ֖בkoverb · simple (qal), infinitive (“to…”)tagged: at all curse
- תִקֳּבֶ֑נּוּtikovenuverb · simple (qal), yiqtol (imperfect) · 2nd person masculine singular + pronoun suffix · 3rd person masculine singulartagged: you will curse it
“Please come,” said Balak, “I will take you to another place. Perhaps it will please God that you curse them for me from there.”
- וְקַבֹּ֥תוֹvekabotovHc/Vqq2ms/Sp3mstagged: and you will curse it
Then Balak’s anger burned against Balaam, and he struck his hands together and said to Balaam, “I summoned you to curse my enemies, but behold, you have persisted in blessing them these three times.
- לָקֹ֤בlakopreposition + verb · simple (qal), infinitive (“to…”)tagged: to curse
Job
two uses
May it be cursed by those who curse the day—those prepared to rouse Leviathan.
- יִקְּבֻ֥הוּyikevuhuverb · simple (qal), yiqtol (imperfect) · 3rd person masculine plural + pronoun suffix · 3rd person masculine singulartagged: let them curse it
I have seen a fool taking root, but suddenly his house was cursed.
- וָאֶקּ֖וֹבvaekovHc/Vqw1cstagged: and I cursed
Proverbs
two uses
The people will curse the hoarder of grain, but blessing will crown the one who sells it.
- יִקְּבֻ֣הוּyikevuhuverb · simple (qal), yiqtol (imperfect) · 3rd person masculine plural + pronoun suffix · 3rd person masculine singulartagged: they curse him
Whoever tells the guilty, “You are innocent”—peoples will curse him, and nations will denounce him;
- יִקְּבֻ֥הוּyikevuhuverb · simple (qal), yiqtol (imperfect) · 3rd person masculine plural + pronoun suffix · 3rd person masculine singulartagged: they will curse him
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.