זָרָה
to scatter
also: fan, cast away, winnow, disperse fuller range ↓
Full lexicon entry — Brown-Driver-Briggs (BDB)
From Brown-Driver-Briggs (BDB)
Where this word appears
Grammar key — what these labels mean
Part of speech
- Verb
- An action or state-of-being word.
Stem
- Piel
- An intensive or resultative active stem. Here: ‘winnow’
- Qal
- The basic, simple active stem — the plain form of the verb (“he wrote”). Here: ‘scatter’
- Niphal
- Usually the simple passive or reflexive of the Qal (“he was written”).
- Pual
- The passive counterpart of the Piel. Here: ‘be scattered’
Form
- Sequential Perfect
- A perfect with prefixed waw continuing a preceding imperfect or command (waw-consecutive perfect).
- Imperfect
- An incomplete, ongoing, or future action (“he will / would write”).
- Perfect
- A completed action or state — Hebrew marks aspect (completeness) more than strict tense (“he wrote”).
- Participle Active
- A verbal adjective expressing ongoing or characteristic action (“writing / one who writes”).
- Infinitive Construct
- A bound verbal noun, frequently with prepositions (“to write / in writing”).
- Sequential Imperfect
- An imperfect with prefixed waw — the standard past-narrative form (waw-consecutive imperfect).
- Participle Passive
- A verbal adjective expressing action received (“written”).
- Imperative
- A direct command (“write!”).
State
- Absolute
- The independent form of a noun, not bound to a following word.
- Construct
- A noun bound to a following noun in a possessive / “of” relationship (the construct chain).
Person
- 1st Person
- The speaker (“I / we”).
- 3rd Person
- The one spoken about (“he / she / it / they”).
- 2nd Person
- The one addressed (“you”).
Gender
- Common
- Either gender — not distinguished for this form.
- Masculine
- Grammatically masculine.
- Feminine
- Grammatically feminine.
Number
- Singular
- One.
- Plural
- More than one (in Hebrew, generally three or more).
Every verse where H2219 appears in the Book of Numbers — 1 distinct verse. Click any verse to open its interlinear word-by-word view. Verse text shown in the World English Bible for context — . Each verse’s Hebrew form is shown with its reference; the English is not keyword-highlighted, since the data carries no word-level English alignment. Use “Compare translations” on any verse to read it across multiple English versions. This concordance covers the Hebrew Bible; Septuagint (Greek Old Testament) occurrences are not indexed here.
Numbers
About this entry
At a glance — auto-summarized from this page’s data, not written by a person. Every figure links to its source below. This summary describes the numbers; it doesn’t interpret them.
זרה — transliterated zârâh — is a Hebrew verb carrying the sense “to scatter.” Where the King James Version says “disperse,” newer translations reach for “scatter” (Berean Standard Bible); the renderings breakdown has the detail. It appears 38 verses across 13 books of the Hebrew Bible, among its moderately common vocabulary. More than a third of its appearances fall in Ezekiel. Different stems carry different senses — BDB groups them under 4 stems, among them Qal and Niphal. Each statement above links to its evidence; the full detail follows below.
Gloss history
Strong's 1890 vs modern scholarship
About this word
Strong's H2219 catalogs a Hebrew word from the Hebrew Old Testament.
These counts are not copied from any lexicon or concordance. They are computed here, from the morphology-tagged Hebrew Old Testament. What Lemma adds →
- 38
- distinct verses
- The word appears in 38 distinct verses.
- 13 / 39
- OT books
- The word appears in 13 of 39 Old Testament books.
- #922
- by frequency
- Top 1000 most frequent Hebrew words (rank 922 of 8,640 Hebrew words by occurrence).
View all 38 occurrences in the concordance →
By section of the Old Testament
By traditional corpus
Conventional, traditional groupings — biblical authorship is debated, so this is a traditional corpus grouping, not an authorship claim. Each share is this word’s portion of its verses in that division of the Hebrew canon. Each figure is a share of the word’s 38 distinct verses.
- Prophets (Nevi'im) 26 verses · 68%
- Writings (Ketuvim) 9 verses · 24%
- Torah (Pentateuch) 3 verses · 8%
How translations render this word
Counts come from each version’s own published word-to-Strong’s tagging or interlinear alignment — an approximate guide to how each version renders this word, not a word-level alignment the data otherwise carries. Because each total is that version’s own tagged count, the per-version totals vary from one another and need not match the appearance or distinct-verse counts above. These counts may also differ from a printed concordance because Lemma counts each distinctly tagged rendering and does not collapse phrase taggings into a single head-word total. This is a fixed set of word-tagged versions (KJV, ASV, BSB, ULT) and does not change with the reading translation you choose elsewhere. Each version’s license is shown beside its name below (and on Sources).
- King James Version: Disperse 5×, I will scatter 4×, Scatter 3×
- American Standard Version: Disperse 4×, I will scatter 3×, Scatter 2×
- Berean Standard Bible: Scatter 5×, I will scatter 4×, Scatter them 3×
- unfoldingWord Literal Text: Scatter 6×, I will scatter 4×, Scattered 3×
King James Version Public Domain
Renders H2219 across 39 tagged occurrences — most commonly:
Plus 23 renderings that appear only once — usually multi-word phrases or single function words the recovered tagging swept in, not distinct renderings.
American Standard Version Public Domain
Renders H2219 across 39 tagged occurrences — most commonly:
Plus 26 renderings that appear only once — usually multi-word phrases or single function words the recovered tagging swept in, not distinct renderings.
Berean Standard Bible Public Domain
Renders H2219 across 39 tagged occurrences — most commonly:
Plus 21 renderings that appear only once — usually multi-word phrases or single function words the recovered tagging swept in, not distinct renderings.
unfoldingWord Literal Text CC BY-SA 4.0
Renders H2219 across 37 tagged occurrences — most commonly:
Plus 22 renderings that appear only once — usually multi-word phrases or single function words the recovered tagging swept in, not distinct renderings.
8 senses and sub-senses in the full BDB
Hebrew verbs can shift meaning by stem (binyan): Qal is the basic action, Niphal is often passive or reflexive, Piel often intensifies or makes it factitive, and Hiphil is typically causative. The senses below are grouped under the stem BDB assigns to each. This entry also uses Pual (the passive of Piel).
What do BDB’s symbols mean?
BDB uses these scholarly abbreviations:
| Symbol | Meaning |
|---|---|
| 𝔊 | the Septuagint (the ancient Greek translation, LXX) |
| 𝔙 | the Vulgate (the Latin translation) |
| 𝔖 | the Syriac version (the Peshitta) |
| 𝔗 | the Targum (the Aramaic translation) |
| ψ | the Psalms |
| √ | root (the underlying root or stem) |
| ‖ | parallel passage (a synonymous or contrasted parallel) |
| † | the dagger: every passage where the word occurs is cited |
The 8 senses and sub-senses the full Brown-Driver-Briggs lexicon distinguishes for this word, in lexicon order (not ranked by frequency), with BDB’s own verbatim wording and sub-sense lettering. Shown in Hebrew script with BDB’s own scholarly abbreviations. The condensed entry is in the Lexicon Entry tab. See also the Forms in the corpus table below.
Qal
- Impf. וַיִּ֫זֶר Ex 32:20; 2 ms. תִּזְרֶה Ez 5:2; sf. תִּזְרֵם Is 30:22; 41:16; וָאֶזְרֵם Je 15:7; Imv. זְרֵה Nu 17:2; Inf. לִזְרוֹת Je 4:11; Pt. זֹרֶה Ru 3:2 Is 30:24;— e.g. Exodus 32:20
- 1. scatter, the powder into which golden calf was ground Ex 32:20 (E, obj. not expr.); c. acc. (strange) fire from censers Nu 17:2 (P); hair (symbol. act) Ez 5:2; Is 30:22. e.g. Exodus 32:20
- 2. fan, winnow, obj. גֹּרֶן הַשְּׂעוֹרִים Ru 3:2 Is 30:24 (where pt. has indef. subj.), 41:16 metaph., obj. mountains and hills, fig. of winnowing; fig. fan, winnow, in purification Je 4:11 (‖ לְהָכַ֑ר); in chastisement Je 15:7 (ז׳ בְּמִזְרֶה). e.g. Ruth 3:2
Niphal
- Impf. וַיִּזָּרוּ Ez 36:19 be scattered, dispersed, of Israel; Inf. בְּהִזָּרוֹתֵיכֶם Ez 6:8 when ye shall be dispersed (on pl. sf. Ew§ 259 b, but Co del. י). e.g. Ezekiel 36:19
Piel
- Pf. sf. וְזֵרָם 1 K 14:15; זֵרִ֑יתָ ψ 139:3, sf. זֵרִיתָ֫נוּ ψ 44:12; וְזֵרִיתִ֫י Ez 5:10 etc.; Inf. זָרוֹת Ez 20:23 etc.;— e.g. 1 Kings 14:15
- 1. (intens. of Qal) scatter, disperse, especially of peoples, c. acc. (Israel and Judah) 1 K 14:15 Lv 26:33 (H), ψ 44:12 Je 31:10 Ez 5:10, 12; 12:14, 15; 20:23; 22:15 cf. Zc 2:2, 4(×2) ψ 106:27; bones of Israel Ez 6:5; people of Hazor Je 49:32; of Elam 49:36; of Babylon 51:2 (זָרִים = strangers?); Egyptians Ez 29:12; 30:26 + 30:23 (del. Co, intern. grounds); in general the wicked Pr 20:26; evil 20:8; pt. מְזָרִים = subst. scatterers, epith. of winds Jb 37:9 (cf. Qor 51:1); וְזֵרִיתִי פֶּרֶשׁ על־פניכם Mal 2:3 scatter dung on your faces (token of shame and curse); fig. disperse knowledge (of lips) Pr 15:7. e.g. 1 Kings 14:15
- 2. winnow, sift (cf. Qal 2) only fig. אָרְחִי וְרִבְעִי זֵרִ֑יתָ ψ 139:3 my path and my couch thou siftest (Che; BaZMG 1887, 607 measurest, determinest, whence זֶרֶת, q.v.) e.g. Psalms 139:3
Pual
- be scattered, Impf. יְזֹרֶה Jb 18:15, subj. גָּפְרִית, sq. עַל; Pt. f. מְזֹרָה (agreeing with רָ֑שֶׁת net) Pr 1:17. e.g. Job 18:15
Senses from the full Brown-Driver-Briggs lexicon (Brown, Driver, Briggs; Oxford 1906 — public domain), digitized via Sefaria, supplemented by the OpenScriptures HebrewLexicon (CC BY 4.0). Full attribution on Sources.
Word origin
vb. scatter, fan, winnow (Arabic ذَرَا cause to fly, scatter (of wind), winnow; Aramaic דְּרָא, ܕܪܳܐ; Ethiopic ዘረወ: )—
— Brown-Driver-Briggs (Oxford 1906, public domain), digitized via Sefaria, supplemented by the OpenScriptures HebrewLexicon (CC BY 4.0). See Sources.
Derived from זור (zûwr) (H2114) — to be strange.
Jastrow Dictionary
A second Hebrew/Aramaic lexicon for comparison, covering Aramaic and post-biblical (Talmudic, Targumic, Midrashic) usage that the biblical-Hebrew BDB does not. Matched by lemma rather than by Strong’s number, so a lemma may carry more than one Jastrow headword (shown separately below), and the entries cover usage well beyond the Bible.
זָרָה
- , fem. of זָר q. v.
זָרָה I, II
- , v. זרי I, II.
זרי
- (b. h.) to scatter, to winnow. Sabb. VII, 2 הזוֹרֶה he who winnows (on the Sabbath).—Ib. 73ᵇ היינו זורה וכ׳ is not winnowing the same process as sifting &c.?—Ab. Zar. III, 3 שוחק וזורה לרוח he must grind it and cast it to the wind; a. fr.—Euphem. to emit semen. Gen. R. s. 85, v. דּוּשׁ.
- same, also to sift, select. Pesik. R. s. 10 שיחקו וזי׳ וכ׳ he ground and scattered it &c.—Nidd. 31ᵃ; Yoma 47ᵃ (ref. to ותזרני II Sam. XXII, 40, a. ותאזרני Ps. XVIII, 40) זֵירִיתָנִי וזרזתני thou didst sift me (select the best semen for embryonic formation, cmp. זָרַד) and make me healthy. e.g. 2 Samuel 22:40
זרי ³
- (sec. r. of זוּר) to deviate, to do wrong. Midr. Till. to Ps. LVIII, 4 (ref. to זֹרוּ ib.) מרחם זְרִיתֶם while in the womb you were wrong-doers; Yalk. Ps. 776. Midr. Till. to Ps. XC, 5, v. זוּר I.
A Dictionary of the Targumim, the Talmud Babli and Yerushalmi, and the Midrashic Literature (Marcus Jastrow; London, Luzac, 1903) — Public Domain. Digitized via Sefaria. Digitized via Sefaria. Full attribution on Sources.
Forms in the corpus
The 35 distinct written forms H2219 takes in the Hebrew Bible, most frequent first — each parse links to that stem’s occurrences in the concordance. Hebrew forms include their vowel points and cantillation, so a single lemma takes many written forms.
Same root — word family
Other BDB entries built from the same root as H2219, grouped by Strong’s listed origin. These share a root / origin per the lexicon — not necessarily a shared meaning. Each links to that word’s own entry.
Derives from
Shares the same root
Derived from this word
Compare all same-root words → Showing 4 of 8 — not the complete family. They share a root, not necessarily a meaning.
Septuagint verse parallels
This word appears in 31 verses that also exist in the Greek Old Testament (Septuagint), out of the 38 Hebrew verses it occurs in. You can read those verses in Greek by switching the Old Testament edition to the Septuagint.
Read these verses in the Septuagint
- Exodus 32:20
- Leviticus 26:33
- Ruth 3:2
- Job 18:15
- Psalms 44:11
- Proverbs 1:17
- Isaiah 30:22
- Jeremiah 4:11
- Ezekiel 5:2
- Malachi 2:3
This is a verse-level parallel only — the same verses exist in both the Hebrew and Greek Old Testaments. No word-level Hebrew↔Greek correspondence is claimed: the data carries no such alignment, so no Greek word is shown as this Hebrew word’s translation. Coverage is not total — the Septuagint omits the deuterocanon and renumbers the Psalms, so some Hebrew verses have no direct Greek parallel.
