טָבַח
to slaughter
also: slay, butcher, kill ruthlessly 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
- Qal
- The basic, simple active stem — the plain form of the verb (“he wrote”). Here: ‘slaughter’
Form
- Infinitive Construct
- A bound verbal noun, frequently with prepositions (“to write / in writing”).
- Sequential Perfect
- A perfect with prefixed waw continuing a preceding imperfect or command (waw-consecutive perfect).
- Imperative
- A direct command (“write!”).
- Perfect
- A completed action or state — Hebrew marks aspect (completeness) more than strict tense (“he wrote”).
- Participle Passive
- A verbal adjective expressing action received (“written”).
State
- Absolute
- The independent form of a noun, not bound to a following word.
Person
- 3rd Person
- The one spoken about (“he / she / it / they”).
- 2nd Person
- The one addressed (“you”).
- 1st Person
- The speaker (“I / we”).
Gender
- Masculine
- Grammatically masculine.
- Common
- Either gender — not distinguished for this form.
- Feminine
- Grammatically feminine.
Number
- Singular
- One.
Grammatical forms
- Verb, Qal, Infinitive Construct 5 times (45%)
- Verb, Qal, Sequential Perfect, 3rd Person, Masculine, Singular 1 time (9%)
- Verb, Qal, Imperative, 2nd Person, Masculine, Singular 1 time (9%)
- Verb, Qal, Perfect, 1st Person, Common, Singular 1 time (9%)
- Verb, Qal, Perfect, 2nd Person, Masculine, Singular 1 time (9%)
- Verb, Qal, Perfect, 3rd Person, Feminine, Singular 1 time (9%)
- Verb, Qal, Participle Passive, Masculine, Singular, Absolute 1 time (9%)
Parsed forms decoded from the imported morphology (morphhb / Westminster Leningrad Codex — WLC text public domain, morphhb tagging CC BY 4.0), counted across 11 parsed occurrences — not distinct verses.
Every verse where H2873 appears — 11 distinct verses across 9 books. 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.
Genesis 1 verse
Exodus 1 verse
Deuteronomy 1 verse
1 Samuel 1 verse
Psalms 1 verse
Proverbs 1 verse
Jeremiah 3 verses
- Jeremiah 11:19 לִ/טְב֑וֹחַ prep + Qal inf.cs But I was like a gentle lamb that is led to the slaughter; and I didn't know that they had devised devices against me, [saying], Let us destroy the tree with the fruit of it, and let us cut him off from the land of the living, that his name may be no more remembered.
- Jeremiah 25:34 לִ/טְב֑וֹחַ prep + Qal inf.cs Wail, you shepherds, and cry; and wallow [in ashes], you principal of the flock; for the days of your slaughter and of your dispersions are fully come, and you shall fall like a goodly vessel.
- Jeremiah 51:40 לִ/טְב֑וֹחַ prep + Qal inf.cs I will bring them down like lambs to the slaughter, like rams with male goats.
Lamentations 1 verse
Ezekiel 1 verse
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.
At its core, טבח (ṭâbach) means “to slaughter.” It first appears in Genesis 43:16. It turns up in 11 verses across 9 books, an uncommon footprint. The word gravitates to Jeremiah (27%), then Genesis and Exodus. Beyond its headline sense, its full sense range takes in “slay”, “butcher”, and “kill ruthlessly”. 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 H2873 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 →
- 11
- distinct verses
- The word appears in 11 distinct verses.
- 9 / 39
- OT books
- The word appears in 9 of 39 Old Testament books.
- #2,210
- by frequency
- Top 2500 most frequent Hebrew words (rank 2,210 of 8,640 Hebrew words by occurrence).
View all 11 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 11 distinct verses.
- Prophets (Nevi'im) 5 verses · 45%
- Torah (Pentateuch) 3 verses · 27%
- Writings (Ketuvim) 3 verses · 27%
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: Slaughter 4×, Slay 2×
- American Standard Version: Slaughter 4×, Slay 2×
- Berean Standard Bible: Slaughter 4×
- unfoldingWord Literal Text: Slaughter 4×
King James Version Public Domain
Renders H2873 across 11 tagged occurrences — most commonly:
Plus 5 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 H2873 across 11 tagged occurrences — most commonly:
Plus 5 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 H2873 across 10 tagged occurrences — most commonly:
Plus 6 renderings that appear only once — usually multi-word phrases or single function words the recovered tagging swept in, not distinct renderings. Not rendered by a distinct English word in 1 further occurrence.
unfoldingWord Literal Text CC BY-SA 4.0
Renders H2873 across 10 tagged occurrences — most commonly:
Plus 6 renderings that appear only once — usually multi-word phrases or single function words the recovered tagging swept in, not distinct renderings.
Senses in the full BDB
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 3 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
- Pf. 3 ms. sf. וּטְבָחוֹ consec. Ex 21:37; 3 fs. טָֽבְחָה Pr 9:2; 2 ms. טָבַחְתָּ La 2:21; 1 s. טָבַחְתִּי 1 S 25:11; Imv. וּטְבֹחַ Gn 43:16; Inf. cstr. טְבֹחַ Ez 21:15; לִטְבֿוֹחַ ψ 37:14 + 3 times (so Baer; van d. H לִטֽבּוֹחַ, except לִטְב֑וֹחַ Je 51:40); Pt. pass. טָבוּחַ Dt 28:31;— e.g. Exodus 21:37
- 1. slaughter, butcher animals for food Ex 21:37 (E), Pr 9:2 (fig. of Wisdom’s furnishing her table); so c. acc. cogn. ט׳ טֶבַח Gn 43:16 (J), ט׳ טִבְחָה 1 S 25:11; cf. also Dt 28:31, where punishment lies in fact that the owner does not eat of the slain ox; כְּכֶשֶׂב אַלּוּף יוּבַל לִטְבֿ֑וֹחַ Je 11:19 like a mild lamb that is led to slaughter, sim. of the prophet exposed to his enemies, 51:40 sim. of י׳’s vengeance upon Babylon (v. also טֶבַח, טִבְחָה), 25:34 of kings and rulers, under fig. of shepherds & choice sheep. e.g. Exodus 21:37
- 2. poet. & fig., slay, kill ruthlessly, c. acc. pers. ψ 37:14; abs. La 2:21 (‖ הָרַג; opp. חמל); c. acc. cogn. ט׳ טֶבַח Ez 21:15 of a sword sharpened for the slaughter of Isr. in judgment. e.g. Psalms 37:14
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. slaughter, butcher, slay (NH id. (rare) and deriv.; Ph. טבח pt.; Assyrian ṭabâḫu Asrb.Annals iii. 56; Aramaic ܛܒܰܚ, טְבַח (rare) and deriv.; Arabic طَبَخَ cook meat, also bake bread; Ethiopic ጠብሐ slay)—
— Brown-Driver-Briggs (Oxford 1906, public domain), digitized via Sefaria, supplemented by the OpenScriptures HebrewLexicon (CC BY 4.0). See Sources.
Origin: a primitive root
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.
טָבַח
- , (b. h.) to prepare a feast, esp. to slaughter and dress meat, to cook. Keth. 4ᵃ טִבְחוֹ טָבוּחַ his meat for the feast is ready (for cooking).—Bets. 25ᵃ (expl. בית טביחה) מקום שטוֹבַחַת וכ׳ the place where the animal cooks (digests) its food.
טְבַח
- Ber. 56ᵃ טַבְחַת ולא אכלת thou shalt prepare and not eat. Sabb. 129ᵇ הוה ט׳ להו וכ׳ it (the wind or demon טָבוֹחַ) would have feasted on them (the Israelites), on their flesh and their blood; a. e.—V. מַטְבְּחַיָּיא
- same. Gen. R. s. 57, end טבח טַבְּחוֹן Tabaḥ (Gen. XXII, 24) means, ‘Slaughter them’ v. גַּחֲמוֹן e.g. Genesis 22:24
טֶבַח
- preced. wds.)
- 1. the meat for a feast. Keth. 4ᵃ, v. טָבַח.
- 2. feast, trnsf. onslaught. Gen. R. s. 83 (ref. to Is. XXXIV, 6) אעפ"כ ט׳ גדול וכ׳ nevertheless the main onslaught will be in the land of Edom (Rome); Pesik. R. s. 14, end; s. 15; Yalk. Num. 759. e.g. Isaiah 34:6
טַבָּח
- (preced.) meat-dresser, butcher, cook. Bets. 28ᵃ ט׳ אומן a professional butcher; a. fr.—Pl. טַבָּחִים. Kidd. IV, 14; a. e.
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 9 distinct written forms H2873 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.
| Form | Parsing | Example | Uses |
|---|---|---|---|
| לִ/טְב֑וֹחַ | Verb, Qal, Infinitive Construct | Jeremiah 11:19 | 3 |
| וּ/טְבָח֖/וֹ | Verb, Qal, Sequential Perfect, 3rd Person, Masculine, Singular | Exodus 22:1 | 1 |
| וּ/טְבֹ֤חַ | Verb, Qal, Imperative, 2nd Person, Masculine, Singular | Genesis 43:16 | 1 |
| טְבֹ֤חַ | Verb, Qal, Infinitive Construct | Ezekiel 21:10 | 1 |
| טָב֣וּחַ | Verb, Qal, Participle Passive, Masculine, Singular, Absolute | Deuteronomy 28:31 | 1 |
| טָבְחָ֣ה | Verb, Qal, Perfect, 3rd Person, Feminine, Singular | Proverbs 9:2 | 1 |
| טָבַ֖חְתִּי | Verb, Qal, Perfect, 1st Person, Common, Singular | 1 Samuel 25:11 | 1 |
| טָבַ֖חְתָּ | Verb, Qal, Perfect, 2nd Person, Masculine, Singular | Lamentations 2:21 | 1 |
| לִ֝/טְב֗וֹחַ | Verb, Qal, Infinitive Construct | Psalms 37:14 | 1 |
Same root — word family
Other BDB entries built from the same root as H2873, 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.
Derived from this word
Compare all same-root words → They share a root, not necessarily a meaning.
Septuagint verse parallels
This word appears in 9 verses that also exist in the Greek Old Testament (Septuagint), out of the 11 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
- Genesis 43:16
- Exodus 22:1
- Deuteronomy 28:31
- 1 Samuel 25:11
- Psalms 37:14
- Proverbs 9:2
- Jeremiah 11:19
- Lamentations 2:21
- Ezekiel 21:10
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.
