כָּרַת
to cut
also: cut off, cut down, cut out, eliminate fuller range ↓
Full lexicon entry — Brown-Driver-Briggs (BDB)
From Brown-Driver-Briggs (BDB)
Where this word appears
See every Qal verb in the Hebrew Bible →
Grammar key — what these labels mean
Part of speech
- Verb
- An action or state-of-being word.
- Preposition
- A relational word (e.g. “in,” “to,” “from”) governing a noun.
Stem
- Hiphil
- The causative active stem (“he caused / brought about”). Here: ‘cut off’
- Qal
- The basic, simple active stem — the plain form of the verb (“he wrote”). Here: ‘cut off’
- Niphal
- Usually the simple passive or reflexive of the Qal (“he was written”). Here: ‘be cut off’
- Hophal
- The passive counterpart of the Hiphil (“he was caused to…”).
- Pual
- The passive counterpart of the Piel. Here: ‘be cut off’
Form
- Sequential Perfect
- A perfect with prefixed waw continuing a preceding imperfect or command (waw-consecutive perfect).
- Sequential Imperfect
- An imperfect with prefixed waw — the standard past-narrative form (waw-consecutive imperfect).
- 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”).
- Infinitive Construct
- A bound verbal noun, frequently with prepositions (“to write / in writing”).
- Imperative
- A direct command (“write!”).
- Participle Active
- A verbal adjective expressing ongoing or characteristic action (“writing / one who writes”).
- Cohortative
- A first-person volitional form expressing wish or resolve (“let me / let us write”).
- Jussive
- A third- or second-person volitional form expressing wish or command (“let him write”).
- Infinitive Absolute
- An unbound verbal noun, often intensifying or standing in for a finite verb.
- Participle Passive
- A verbal adjective expressing action received (“written”).
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).
76 distinct verses where H3772 appears in the Hiphil stem, across 23 books. Filtered view — show all forms. 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.
Exodus 1 verse
Leviticus 6 verses
- Leviticus 17:10 וְ/הִכְרַתִּ֥י conj + Hiphil wpf 1cs "'Any man of the house of Israel, or of the strangers who live as foreigners among them, who eats any kind of blood, I will set my face against that soul who eats blood, and will cut him off from among his people.
- Leviticus 20:3 וְ/הִכְרַתִּ֥י conj + Hiphil wpf 1cs I also will set my face against that person, and will cut him off from among his people because he has given of his seed to Molech, to defile my sanctuary, and to profane my holy name.
- Leviticus 20:5 וְ/הִכְרַתִּ֨י conj + Hiphil wpf 1cs then I will set my face against that man, and against his family, and will cut him off, and all who play the prostitute after him, to play the prostitute with Molech, from among their people.
- Leviticus 20:6 וְ/הִכְרַתִּ֥י conj + Hiphil wpf 1cs "'The person that turns to those who are mediums, and to the wizards, to play the prostitute after them, I will even set my face against that person, and will cut him off from among his people.
- Leviticus 26:22 וְ/הִכְרִ֨יתָה֙ conj + Hiphil wpf 3fs I will send the wild animals among you, which will rob you of your children, destroy your cattle, and make you few in number; and your roads will become desolate.
- Leviticus 26:30 וְ/הִכְרַתִּי֙ conj + Hiphil wpf 1cs I will destroy your high places, and cut down your incense altars, and cast your dead bodies upon the bodies of your idols; and my soul will abhor you.
Numbers 1 verse
Deuteronomy 2 verses
- Deuteronomy 12:29 יַכְרִית֩ Hiphil impf 3ms When Yahweh your God shall cut off the nations from before you, where you go in to dispossess them, and you dispossess them, and dwell in their land;
- Deuteronomy 19:1 יַכְרִ֞ית Hiphil impf 3ms When Yahweh your God shall cut off the nations, whose land Yahweh your God gives you, and you succeed them, and dwell in their cities, and in their houses;
Joshua 3 verses
- Joshua 7:9 וְ/הִכְרִ֥יתוּ conj + Hiphil wpf 3cp For the Canaanites and all the inhabitants of the land will hear of it, and will compass us round, and cut off our name from the earth: and what will you do for your great name?
- Joshua 11:21 וַ/יַּכְרֵ֤ת conj + Hiphil wimpf 3ms Joshua came at that time, and cut off the Anakim from the hill-country, from Hebron, from Debir, from Anab, and from all the hill-country of Judah, and from all the hill-country of Israel: Joshua utterly destroyed them with their cities.
- Joshua 23:4 הִכְרַ֔תִּי Hiphil pf 1cs Behold, I have allotted to you these nations that remain, to be an inheritance for your tribes, from the Jordan, with all the nations that I have cut off, even to the great sea toward the going down of the sun.
Judges 1 verse
1 Samuel 4 verses
- 1 Samuel 2:33 אַכְרִ֤ית Hiphil impf 1cs The man of yours, [whom] I shall not cut off from my altar, [shall be] to consume your eyes, and to grieve your heart; and all the increase of your house shall die in the flower of their age.
- 1 Samuel 20:15 תַכְרִ֧ת בְּ/הַכְרִ֤ת Hiphil impf 2ms prep + Hiphil inf.cs but also you shall not cut off your kindness from my house forever; no, not when Yahweh has cut off the enemies of David everyone from the surface of the earth.
- 1 Samuel 24:21 תַּכְרִ֥ית Hiphil impf 2ms Swear now therefore to me by Yahweh, that you will not cut off my seed after me, and that you will not destroy my name out of my father's house.
- 1 Samuel 28:9 הִכְרִ֛ית Hiphil pf 3ms The woman said to him, Behold, you know what Saul has done, how he has cut off those who have familiar spirits, and the wizards, out of the land: why then lay you a snare for my life, to cause me to die?
2 Samuel 1 verse
1 Kings 7 verses
- 1 Kings 9:7 וְ/הִכְרַתִּ֣י conj + Hiphil wpf 1cs then will I cut off Israel out of the land which I have given them; and this house, which I have made holy for my name, will I cast out of my sight; and Israel shall be a proverb and a byword among all peoples.
- 1 Kings 11:16 הִכְרִ֥ית Hiphil pf 3ms (for Joab and all Israel remained there six months, until he had cut off every male in Edom);
- 1 Kings 14:10 וְ/הִכְרַתִּ֤י conj + Hiphil wpf 1cs therefore, behold, I will bring evil on the house of Jeroboam, and will cut off from Jeroboam every man-child, him who is shut up and him who is left at large in Israel, and will utterly sweep away the house of Jeroboam, as a man sweeps away dung, until it be all gone.
- 1 Kings 14:14 יַכְרִ֛ית Hiphil impf 3ms Moreover Yahweh will raise him up a king over Israel, who shall cut off the house of Jeroboam that day: but what? even now.
- 1 Kings 18:4 בְּ/הַכְרִ֣ית prep + Hiphil inf.cs for it was so, when Jezebel cut off the prophets of Yahweh, that Obadiah took one hundred prophets, and hid them by fifty in a cave, and fed them with bread and water.)
- 1 Kings 18:5 נַכְרִ֖ית Hiphil impf 1cp Ahab said to Obadiah, Go through the land, to all the springs of water, and to all the brooks: peradventure we may find grass and save the horses and mules alive, that we not lose all the animals.
- 1 Kings 21:21 וְ/הִכְרַתִּ֤י conj + Hiphil wpf 1cs Behold, I will bring evil on you, and will utterly sweep you away and will cut off from Ahab every man-child, and him who is shut up and him who is left at large in Israel:
2 Kings 1 verse
1 Chronicles 1 verse
2 Chronicles 1 verse
Psalms 5 verses
- Psalms 12:3 יַכְרֵ֣ת Hiphil juss 3ms May Yahweh cut off all flattering lips, And the tongue that boasts,
- Psalms 34:16 לְ/הַכְרִ֖ית prep + Hiphil inf.cs Yahweh's face is against those who do evil, To cut off the memory of them from the earth.
- Psalms 101:8 לְ/הַכְרִ֥ית prep + Hiphil inf.cs Morning by morning, I will destroy all the wicked of the land; To cut off all the workers of iniquity from Yahweh's city.
- Psalms 109:13 לְ/הַכְרִ֑ית prep + Hiphil inf.cs Let his posterity be cut off. In the generation following let their name be blotted out.
- Psalms 109:15 וְ/יַכְרֵ֖ת conj + Hiphil impf 3ms Let them be before Yahweh continually, That he may cut off the memory of them from the earth;
Isaiah 4 verses
- Isaiah 9:14 וַ/יַּכְרֵ֨ת conj + Hiphil wimpf 3ms Therefore Yahweh will cut off from Israel head and tail, palm-branch and rush, in one day.
- Isaiah 10:7 וּ/לְ/הַכְרִ֥ית conj + prep + Hiphil inf.cs However he doesn't mean so, neither does his heart think so; but it is in his heart to destroy, and to cut off not a few nations.
- Isaiah 14:22 וְ/הִכְרַתִּ֨י conj + Hiphil wpf 1cs I will rise up against them, says Yahweh of Hosts, and cut off from Babylon name and remnant, and son and son's son, says Yahweh.
- Isaiah 48:9 הַכְרִיתֶֽ/ךָ Hiphil inf.cs + sfx pers 2ms For my name's sake will I defer my anger, and for my praise will I refrain for you, that I not cut you off.
Jeremiah 7 verses
- Jeremiah 9:21 לְ/הַכְרִ֤ית prep + Hiphil inf.cs For death is come up into our windows, it is entered into our palaces; to cut off the children from outside, [and] the young men from the streets.
- Jeremiah 44:7 לְ/הַכְרִ֨ית prep + Hiphil inf.cs Therefore now thus says Yahweh, the God of hosts, the God of Israel: Why commit you [this] great evil against your own souls, to cut off from you man and woman, infant and suckling, out of the midst of Judah, to leave you none remaining;
- Jeremiah 44:8 הַכְרִ֣ית Hiphil inf.cs in that you provoke me to anger with the works of your hands, burning incense to other gods in the land of Egypt, where you are gone to sojourn; that you may be cut off, and that you may be a curse and a reproach among all the nations of the earth?
- Jeremiah 44:11 וּ/לְ/הַכְרִ֖ית conj + prep + Hiphil inf.cs Therefore thus says Yahweh of Hosts, the God of Israel: Behold, I will set my face against you for evil, even to cut off all Judah.
- Jeremiah 47:4 לְ/הַכְרִ֤ית prep + Hiphil inf.cs because of the day that comes to destroy all the Philistines, to cut off from Tyre and Sidon every helper who remains: for Yahweh will destroy the Philistines, the remnant of the isle of Caphtor.
- Jeremiah 48:2 וְ/נַכְרִיתֶ֣/נָּה conj + Hiphil coh 1cp + sfx pers 3fs The praise of Moab is no more; in Heshbon they have devised evil against her: Come, and let us cut her off from being a nation. You also, Madmen, shall be brought to silence: the sword shall pursue you.
- Jeremiah 51:62 לְ/הַכְרִית֔/וֹ prep + Hiphil inf.cs + sfx pers 3ms and say, Yahweh, you have spoken concerning this place, to cut it off, that none shall dwell therein, neither man nor animal, but that it shall be desolate forever.
Ezekiel 14 verses
- Ezekiel 14:8 וְ/הִכְרַתִּ֖י/ו conj + Hiphil wpf 1cs + sfx pers 3ms and I will set my face against that man, and will make him an astonishment, for a sign and a proverb, and I will cut him off from the midst of my people; and you shall know that I am Yahweh.
- Ezekiel 14:13 וְ/הִכְרַתִּ֥י conj + Hiphil wpf 1cs Son of man, when a land sins against me by committing a trespass, and I stretch out my hand on it, and break the staff of the bread of it, and send famine on it, and cut off from it man and animal;
- Ezekiel 14:17 וְ/הִכְרַתִּ֥י conj + Hiphil wpf 1cs Or if I bring a sword on that land, and say, Sword, go through the land; so that I cut off from it man and animal;
- Ezekiel 14:19 לְ/הַכְרִ֥ית prep + Hiphil inf.cs Or if I send a pestilence into that land, and pour out my wrath on it in blood, to cut off from it man and animal;
- Ezekiel 14:21 לְ/הַכְרִ֥ית prep + Hiphil inf.cs For thus says the Lord Yahweh: How much more when I send my four sore judgments on Jerusalem, the sword, and the famine, and the evil animals, and the pestilence, to cut off from it man and animal!
- Ezekiel 17:17 לְ/הַכְרִ֖ית prep + Hiphil inf.cs Neither shall Pharaoh with his mighty army and great company help him in the war, when they cast up mounds and build forts, to cut off many persons.
- Ezekiel 21:3 וְ/הִכְרַתִּ֥י conj + Hiphil wpf 1cs and tell the land of Israel, Thus says Yahweh: Behold, I am against you, and will draw forth my sword out of its sheath, and will cut off from you the righteous and the wicked.
- Ezekiel 21:4 הִכְרַ֥תִּי Hiphil pf 1cs Seeing then that I will cut off from you the righteous and the wicked, therefore shall my sword go forth out of its sheath against all flesh from the south to the north:
- Ezekiel 25:7 וְ/הִכְרַתִּ֨י/ךָ֙ conj + Hiphil wpf 1cs + sfx pers 2ms therefore, behold, I have stretched out my hand on you, and will deliver you for a spoil to the nations; and I will cut you off from the peoples, and I will cause you to perish out of the countries: I will destroy you; and you shall know that I am Yahweh.
- Ezekiel 25:13 וְ/הִכְרַתִּ֥י conj + Hiphil wpf 1cs therefore thus says the Lord Yahweh, I will stretch out my hand on Edom, and will cut off man and animal from it; and I will make it desolate from Teman; even to Dedan shall they fall by the sword.
- Ezekiel 25:16 וְ/הִכְרַתִּ֖י conj + Hiphil wpf 1cs therefore thus says the Lord Yahweh, Behold, I will stretch out my hand on the Philistines, and I will cut off the Cherethites, and destroy the remnant of the sea coast.
- Ezekiel 29:8 וְ/הִכְרַתִּ֥י conj + Hiphil wpf 1cs Therefore thus says the Lord Yahweh: Behold, I will bring a sword on you, and will cut off from you man and animal.
- Ezekiel 30:15 וְ/הִכְרַתִּ֖י conj + Hiphil wpf 1cs I will pour my wrath on Sin, the stronghold of Egypt; and I will cut off the multitude of No.
- Ezekiel 35:7 וְ/הִכְרַתִּ֥י conj + Hiphil wpf 1cs Thus will I make Mount Seir an astonishment and a desolation; and I will cut off from it him who passes through and him who returns.
Amos 3 verses
- Amos 1:5 וְ/הִכְרַתִּ֤י conj + Hiphil wpf 1cs I will break the bar of Damascus, And cut off the inhabitant from the valley of Aven, And him who holds the scepter from the house of Eden; And the people of Syria shall go into captivity to Kir," says Yahweh.
- Amos 1:8 וְ/הִכְרַתִּ֤י conj + Hiphil wpf 1cs I will cut off the inhabitant from Ashdod, And him who holds the scepter from Ashkelon; And I will turn my hand against Ekron; And the remnant of the Philistines will perish," says the Lord Yahweh.
- Amos 2:3 וְ/הִכְרַתִּ֥י conj + Hiphil wpf 1cs And I will cut off the judge from their midst, And will kill all its princes with him," says Yahweh.
Obadiah 1 verse
Micah 3 verses
- Micah 5:10 וְ/הִכְרַתִּ֥י conj + Hiphil wpf 1cs "It will happen in that day," says Yahweh, "That I will cut off your horses out of the midst of you, And will destroy your chariots.
- Micah 5:11 וְ/הִכְרַתִּ֖י conj + Hiphil wpf 1cs I will cut off the cities of your land, And will tear down all your strongholds.
- Micah 5:13 וְ/הִכְרַתִּ֧י conj + Hiphil wpf 1cs I will cut off your engraved images and your pillars out of your midst; And you shall no more worship the work of your hands.
Nahum 3 verses
- Nahum 1:14 אַכְרִ֨ית Hiphil impf 1cs Yahweh has commanded concerning you: "No more descendants will bear your name. Out of the house of your gods, will I cut off the engraved image and the molten image. I will make your grave, for you are vile."
- Nahum 2:13 וְ/הִכְרַתִּ֤י conj + Hiphil wpf 1cs "Behold, I am against you," says Yahweh of Hosts, "and I will burn her chariots in the smoke, and the sword will devour your young lions; and I will cut off your prey from the earth, and the voice of your messengers will no longer be heard."
- Nahum 3:15 תַּכְרִיתֵ֣/ךְ Hiphil impf 3fs + sfx pers 2fs There the fire will devour you. The sword will cut you off. It will devour you like the grasshopper. Multiply like grasshoppers. Multiply like the locust.
Zephaniah 3 verses
- Zephaniah 1:3 וְ/הִכְרַתִּ֣י conj + Hiphil wpf 1cs I will sweep away man and animal. I will sweep away the birds of the sky, the fish of the sea, and the heaps of rubble with the wicked. I will cut off man from the surface of the earth, says Yahweh.
- Zephaniah 1:4 וְ/הִכְרַתִּ֞י conj + Hiphil wpf 1cs I will stretch out my hand against Judah, and against all the inhabitants of Jerusalem. I will cut off the remnant of Baal from this place: the name of the idolatrous and pagan priests,
- Zephaniah 3:6 הִכְרַ֣תִּי Hiphil pf 1cs I have cut off nations. Their battlements are desolate. I have made their streets waste, so that no one passes by. Their cities are destroyed, so that there is no man, so that there is no inhabitant.
Zechariah 3 verses
- Zechariah 9:6 וְ/הִכְרַתִּ֖י conj + Hiphil pf 1cs Foriegners will dwell in Ashdod, And I will cut off the pride of the Philistines.
- Zechariah 9:10 וְ/הִכְרַתִּי וְ/נִכְרְתָה֙ conj + Hiphil pf 1cs conj + Niphal pf 3fs I will cut off the chariot from Ephraim, And the horse from Jerusalem; And the battle bow will be cut off; And he will speak peace to the nations: And his dominion will be from sea to sea, And from the River to the ends of the earth.
- Zechariah 13:2 אַכְרִ֞ית Hiphil impf 1cs It will come to pass in that day, says Yahweh of Hosts, that I will cut off the names of the idols out of the land, and they will no more be remembered; and also I will cause the prophets and the spirit of impurity to pass out of the land.
Malachi 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.
The Hebrew verb כרת centers on the idea of “to cut.” Its English rendering has broadened — “shall be cut off” classically, “cut” (unfoldingWord Literal Text) in modern versions; see the renderings breakdown. Spanning 280 verses in 33 books, it ranks among the common words of the Hebrew Bible. Its earliest occurrence is Genesis 9:11. Read the stem: it spans 5 stems, including Qal and Niphal. Dig into 280-verse concordance and the renderings breakdown below.
Gloss history
Strong's 1890 vs modern scholarship
About this word
Strong's H3772 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 →
- 280
- distinct verses
- The word appears in 280 distinct verses.
- 33 / 39
- OT books
- The word appears in 33 of 39 Old Testament books.
- #169
- by frequency
- Top 250 most frequent Hebrew words (rank 169 of 8,640 Hebrew words by occurrence).
View all 280 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 280 distinct verses.
- Prophets (Nevi'im) 169 verses · 60%
- Torah (Pentateuch) 67 verses · 24%
- Writings (Ketuvim) 44 verses · 16%
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: Shall be cut off 27×, Cut off 26×, Made 23×
- American Standard Version: Cut off 22×, Shall be cut off 22×, Made 20×
- Berean Standard Bible: Cut off 26×, Made 19×, I will cut off 16×
- unfoldingWord Literal Text: Cut 35×, Cut off 29×, Shall be cut off 21×
King James Version Public Domain
Renders H3772 across 288 tagged occurrences — most commonly:
Plus other, less common renderings. Plus 97 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 H3772 across 288 tagged occurrences — most commonly:
Plus other, less common renderings. Plus 102 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 H3772 across 283 tagged occurrences — most commonly:
Plus other, less common renderings. Plus 80 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 5 further occurrences.
unfoldingWord Literal Text CC BY-SA 4.0
Renders H3772 across 337 tagged occurrences — most commonly:
Plus other, less common renderings. Plus 67 renderings that appear only once — usually multi-word phrases or single function words the recovered tagging swept in, not distinct renderings.
29 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) and Hophal (the passive of Hiphil).
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 29 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. כ׳ Gn 15:18 + 19 times; 2 ms. כָּרָ֑תָּ Dt 20:20; 1 s. כָּרַתִּי Ex 34:27 + 15 times; + 8 times Pf.; Impf. יִכְרֹת Jb 40:28 + 21 times; 2 ms. תִּכְרָת־ Is 57:8; 1 s. אֶכְרוֹת Is 61:8; 1 S 11:2; אֶכְרְתָה Is 55:3; 3 mpl. יִכְרֹ֑תוּ Ho 12:2 ψ 83:6; 1 pl. נִכְרְתָה Gn 26:28; 31:44; sf. נִכְרְתֶנּוּ Je 11:19; + 31 times Impf.; Imv. כְּרָת־ 1 S 11:1; כָּרְתָה 2 S 3:12; + 4 times Imv.; Inf. abs. כָּרֹת Ho 10:4; כָּרוֹת Ne 9:8; cstr. כְּרֹת Je 34:8 + 2 times; כְּרָת־ Is 44:14 + 2 times; כְּרוֹת 2 Ch 2:7; 29:10; sf. כָּרְתִי 1 S 24:12; Pt. act. כֹּרֵת Ex 34:10 + 3 times; + 3 times Pt. act.; pass. כָּרוּת Lv 22:24; cstr. כְּרוּת Dt 23:2; pl. כְּרֻת[וֹ]ת 1 K 7:12 + 3 times;— e.g. Genesis 15:18
- 1. cut off:
- a. things: c. acc. foreskin Ex 4:25 (J); privy member Lv 22:24 (H) Dt 23:2; cluster of grapes Nu 13:23, 24 (E); bough of tree Ju 9:48, 49; skirt 1 S 24:5, 6, 12; head of man 1 S 17:51; 31:9 2 S 20:22; garments 2 S 10:4 = 1 Ch 19:4; palms of hands 1 S 5:4; sprigs Is 18:5. e.g. Exodus 4:25
- b. persons, c. acc. pers. מִן loc. Je 11:19; 50:16. e.g. Jeremiah 11:19
- 2. cut down, c. acc. trees Dt 19:5; 20:19, 20; 2 K 19:23 = Is 37:24; Is 44:14 Je 6:6; 10:3; 22:7; 46:23 Ez 31:12; asherim Ex 34:13 (J) Ju 6:25, 26, 30; 1 K 15:13 = 2 Ch 15:16; 2 K 18:4; 23:14. e.g. Deuteronomy 19:5
- 3. hew, timber 1 K 5:20(×2) = 2 Ch 2:7, 15, Is 14:8; כֹּרְתֵי הָעֵצִים hewers of timber 2 Ch 2:9; כְּרֻת(וֹ)ת hewn beams 1 K 6:36; 7:2, 12. e.g. 1 Kings 5:20
- 4. כ׳ בְּרִית cut, or make a covenant (because of the cutting up and distribution of the flesh of the victim for eating in the sacrifice of the covenants, see בְּרִית); הָעֵגֶל אֲשֶׁר כ׳ the calf which they cut Je 34:18 (referring to Gn 15:10); עֲלֵי־זֶבַח ψ 50:5; abs. Gn 21:27, 32; 31:44 (E) 1 S 18:3; 1 K 5:26; Ho 10:4; c. אֶת with Gn 15:18; Ex 34:27; Dt 31:16 (J) Dt 5:3 28:69(×2); 29:13 2 S 3:12, 13, 21; 2 K 17:15, 35, 38; Is 28:15; Je 11:10; 31:31, 32, 33; 34:8, 13; Ez 17:13; Zc 11:10 ψ 105:9 = 1 Ch 16:16; c. עִם Gn 26:28 (J) Ex 24:8 (E) Dt 4:23; 5:2; 9:9; 29:11, 24; 1 K 8:21 = 2 Ch 6:11; 2 Ch 23:3 Ne 9:8; Ho 2:20; 12:2; Jb 40:28; בְּ׳ omitted 1 S 20:16; 22:8; 1 K 8:9 = 2 Ch 5:10; c. לְ Ex 23:32; 34:12, 15; Jos 9:6, 7, 11, 15, 16; 24:25 (JE) Dt 7:2; Ju 2:2; 1 S 11:1; 2 S 5:3; 1 K 20:34 2 K 11:4; 1 Ch 11:3; 2 Ch 21:7; 29:10; Ezr 10:3; Is 55:3; 61:8; Je 32:40; 34:18; Ez 34:25; 37:26; Jb 31:1 ψ 89:4; בְּ׳ omitted 1 S 11:2; 2 Ch 7:18; נֶגֶד Ex 34:10 (J); לִפְנֵי 1 S 23:18; 2 K 23:3 = 2 Ch 34:31 Je 34:15; בֵּין וּבֵין 2 K 11:17; 2 Ch 23:16; c. עַל against, ψ 83:6; אֲמָנָה is used for ברית Ne 10:1; and דָּבָר Hg 2:5. e.g. Jeremiah 34:18
- —וַתִּכְרָת־לָךְ מֵהֶם Is 57:8 is usually rendered as RV made for thee a covenant with them, with ellipsis of בּ׳ as above. But מִן is not used in such a construction. The clause is commonly regarded as corrupt by recent critics. Gr emends עִמָּהֶם for מֵהֶם, this is easiest and gives the usual construction; Du, followed by Buhl, reads וַתִּכְרִי after Ho 3:2. e.g. Isaiah 57:8
Niphal
- Pf. 3 ms. נכרת Jo 1:5 + 5 times; נִכְרָ֑ת Jo 1:16 + 2 times; 3 fs. נִכְרְתָה Gn 17:14 + 16 times; נִכְרָ֑תָה ψ 37:38; 2 ms. נִכְרַתָּ Ob 10; + 8 times Pf.; Impf. יִכָּרֵת Gn 9:11 + 21 times; יִכָּֽרֶת־ Ob 9; 3 mpl. יִכָּֽרְתוּ Zc 13:8; יִכָּרֵת֑וּן Jos 3:13 ψ 37:9; + 9 times Impf.; Inf. הִכָּרֵת Nu 15:31 ψ 37:34.— e.g. Joel 1:5
- 1. be cut off:
- a. of things, froward tongue Pr 10:31; burden from a nail Is 22:25; chariots Zc 9:10; dwelling Zp 3:7. e.g. Proverbs 10:31
- b. of persons, the people of the land by a famine (בְּ) Gn 41:36 (E); all flesh by waters of deluge (מִמֵּי) Gn 9:11 (P); the anointed Dn 9:26; enemies Is 11:13; Mi 5:8; the wicked Is 29:20; Ho 8:4; Na 2:1 ψ 37:9, 22, 28, 34, 38; Pr 2:22; others Ob 9, 10 Zp 1:11; Zc 13:8; 14:2. e.g. Genesis 41:36
- c. in the technical phrases of H and P וְנִכְרְתָה הַנֶּפֶשׁ ההיא that person shall be cut off (by death penalty) מֵעַמֶּיהָ Gn 17:14 Lv 7:20, 21, 25, 27; Nu 9:13; Lv 19:8; מִיִּשְׂרָאֵל Ex 12:15; Nu 19:13; מֵעֲדַת יִשְׂרָאֵל Ex 12:19; מִקֶּרֶב עַמֶּיהָ Ex 31:14; Nu 15:30 (עַמָּהּ); מִלְּפָנַי Lv 22:3; מִתּוֹךְ הַקָּהָל Nu 19:20; similarly with variation of subject Ex 30:33, 38; Lv 17:4, 9; 18:29; 20:18; 23:29, and with omission of word with מִן Lv 17:14; 20:17; Nu 15:31(×2). e.g. Genesis 17:14
- 2. be cut down, a tree Jb 14:7. e.g. Job 14:7
- 3. be chewed between the teeth Nu 11:33 (J). e.g. Numbers 11:33
- 4. be cut off, in a more general sense, fail: of waters Jos 3:13, 16 (JE) 4:7(×2) (D); new wine Jo 1:5; meat v 16; hope Pr 23:18; 24:14; a name Is 48:19; 56:5; Ru 4:10; a sign Is 55:13; faithfulness Je 7:28; לֹא יִכָּרֵת לְ׳ אִישׁ there shall not fail thee a man 1 K 2:4; 8:25 = 2 Ch 6:16; 1 K 9:5 = 2 Ch 7:18; Je 33:17; 18; 35:19; לא יכרת מן there shall not fail of Jos 9:23 (J) 2 S 3:29. e.g. Joshua 3:13
Pual
- Pf. כָּרַּת Ez 16:4; 3 fs. כֹּרָ֑תָה Ju 6:28;— e.g. Ezekiel 16:4
- 1. be cut off, navel string Ez 16:4. e.g. Ezekiel 16:4
- 2. be cut down, Asherah Ju 6:28. e.g. Judges 6:28
Hiphil
- Pf. הִכְרִית 1 S 28:9; 1 K 11:16; 3 fs. הִכְרִיתָה Lv 26:22; 1 s. הִכְרַתִּי Jos 23:4 + 32 times; + 4 times Pf.; Impf. יַכְרִית Dt 12:29 + 2 times; juss. יַכְרֵת ψ 12:4 + 4 times; 1 s. וָֽאַכְרִ֫תָה 2 S 7:9; 1 pl. sf. וְנַכְרִיתֶנָּה Je 48:2; + 9 times Impf.; Inf. הַכְרִית Je 44:8 + 15 times; הַכְרִת 1 S 20:15; + sf. 2 times— e.g. 1 Samuel 28:9
- 1. cut off, flattering lips ψ 12:4. e.g. Psalms 12:4
- 2. cut off, destroy the life of:
- a. animals c. acc., cattle Lv 26:22 (H); c. acc. and מִן frogs Ex 8:5 (J); horses Mi 5:9; Zc 9:10. e.g. Leviticus 26:22
- b. of men abs. ψ 109:13, by men, c. acc. enemies Ju 4:24; 1 S 24:22; 1 K 11:16; 14:14; 18:4; 2 Ch 22:7; Is 10:7; Ez 17:17 Ob 14; c. acc. and מִן enemies Jos 11:21; Je 48:2; the wicked ψ 101:8; a clan Nu 4:18 (P); young men by death Je 9:20; people by the sword Na 3:15; necromancers 1 S 28:9; the name Jos 7:9. e.g. Psalms 109:13
- c. of men, by God c. acc. (הַ)גּוֹיִם Dt 19:1; Jos 23:4 (D) Zp 3:6; various persons and things Is 48:9; Je 44:11; 51:62 Ez 25:16; 30:15; Zc 9:6; c. acc. and מִן Ez 25:7 Am 1:5, 8; 2:3; מֵאֶרֶץ Na 2:14 ψ 34:17 = 109:15; מִיִּשְׂרָאֵל Is 9:13; מִיַּד Mi 5:11; מִפָּנֶיךָ Dt 12:29; 2 S 7:9 = 1 Ch 17:8; מֵעַל פְּנֵי הָאֲדָמָה 1 S 20:15; 1 K 9:7; Zp 1:3; מִקֶּרֶב עַמּוֹ Lv 17:10; 20:3, 5, 6 (H); מִתּוֹךְ עַמִּי Ez 14:8; Ez says also הכ׳ מִן … אָדָם וּבְהֵמָה 14:13, 17, 19, 21; 25:13; 29:8; צדיק ורשׁע 21:8, 9; עבר ושׁב 35:7; c. acc. and לְ, cut off, to, or from Is 14:22; Je 44:7, 8; 47:4; כ׳ לְ׳ מַשְׁתִּין בְּקִיר 1 K 14:10; 21:21; 2 K 9:8; כ׳ ל׳ מעם מזבח 1 S 2:33; יַכְרֵת י׳ לָאִישׁ מֵאָֽהֳלֵי יַעֲקֹב Mal 2:12 may Yahweh cut off to the man—from the tents of Jacob. e.g. Deuteronomy 19:1
- 3. cut down, destroy, cities Mi 5:10, sun-pillars Lv 26:30 (H); and other things used in idolatry Na 1:14; Zp 1:4; מן הארץ Zc 13:2; מִקֶּרֶב Mi 5:12. e.g. Micah 5:10
- 4. take away, חֶסֶד מֵעִם kindness from 1 S 20:15. e.g. 1 Samuel 20:15
- 5. permit to perish, מֵהַבְּהֵמָה (some) of the cattle 1 K 18:5. e.g. 1 Kings 18:5
Hophal
- Pf. הָכְרַת מִנְחָה וָנֶסֶךְ מִבֵּית י׳ Jo 1:9. e.g. Joel 1:9
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. cut off, cut down (NH id.; Assyrian karâtu, ii. hew off Dl HWB 357);—
— 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.
כְּרֵת
- , v. כְּרֵית
כָּרַת
- 1. to cut. Num. R. s. 16 ונקרא אשכול … לִכְרוֹת וכ׳ and he (Abraham’s ally) was named Eshkol (Cluster), on account of the cluster of grapes which the Israelites were destined to cut in his home.—Esp. to cut genitals, mutilate. Bekh. 33ᵇ נותק אחר כּוֹרֵת, v. נָתַק.—Part. pass. כָּרוּת. Ib.; a. fr.—כְּ׳ שפכה one that is mutilated at his membrum, v. שָׁפַךְ. Tosef. Yeb. XI, 2. Yeb. VIII, 2; a. fr.
- 2. [to draw a circle, place outside, cmp. meanings of חרם, ברי,] to cut off, excommunicate, v. כָּרֵת. Y. Bicc. II, beg. 64ᶜ; Y. Snh. XI, 30ᵇ צא … עונשין וכוֹרְתִים deduct twenty years up to which age the divine court neither punishes nor decrees excision.
- 3. to separate, divorce; to make final. Gitt. 21ᵇ; Succ. 24ᵇ (ref. to Deut. XXIV, 3) ספר כּוֹרְתָהּ וכ׳ the delivery of the deed divorces her and nothing else does. Ib. דבר הכּוֹרֵת בינו לבינה something (a condition) which (if fulfilled) severs definitely the connection between him and her (e.g. a condition that she will drink no wine for the next thirty days, after the lapse of which time the letter of divorce takes its effect retroactively, opp. to a condition that she will abstain from wine all the rest of her life in which case the letter of divorce cannot take effect).—Part. pass. כָּרוּת definite. Y. Gitt. VII, 48ᵈ כגט כ׳ הוא it is like a final divorce (taking effect immediately); Y. B. Bath. VIII, 16ᶜ top כ׳ הוא. Y. Gitt. III, 44ᵈ top; IX, 50ᵇ bot. זה כ׳ לשמה ווה כ׳ לשמה (not זו) this letter was definitely made out for this woman, and so was the other for the other woman. Ib. III, beg. 44ᶜ אלא שלא הי׳ לה כ׳ … ראשונה (strike out לה); a. fr.—3) to decide, make final. Ber. 4ᵃ; Snh. 16ᵇ (ref. to כְּרֵתִי as a symbolical name for the Urim and Tummim, or for the Sanhedrin) שכּוֹרְתִים את דבריהם they give definite and precise decisions; Midr. Till. to Ps. III כּוֹרְתֵי כריתות, v. כְּרִיתָה; a. e.—כ׳ בְּרִית (v. בְּרִית) to covenant, make a firm promise. Gen. R. s. 44 כָּרַתָּ ב׳ עם וכ׳ thou hast promised to Noah that thou wilt not destroy his descendants; Yalk. Gen. 76 כָּרַתָּה.—Part. pass. כָּרוּת, f. כְּרוּתָה. M. Kat. 18ᵃ, a. fr. ברית כ׳ לשפתים, v. בְּרִית. R. Hash. 17ᵇ ב׳ כ׳ לי"ג מדזת וכ׳ there is a solemn insurance given that the invocation of the thirteen divine attributes (Ex. XXXIV, 6, sq.) will never be without effect (ref. to Ex. XXXIV, 10).—Trnsf. ב׳ כ׳ it is a necessity, unavoidable. Nidd. 58ᵇ ב׳ כ׳ לו שכל וכ׳ whoever crushes it cannot help smelling it. e.g. Deuteronomy 24:3
- 1. to be cut, mutilated. Yeb. VIII, 2 (expl. כרות שפכה, Deut. XXIII, 2) כל שנ׳ הגיד when the membrum is mutilated. Ib. 75ᵇ נִכְרְתוּ ביצים when the testicles are cut out; a. fr.—2) to be covenanted. Sot. 37ᵇ שלא נִכְרְתוּ עליה וכ׳ upon which were not closed forty eight covenants; Tosef. ib. VIII, 11; a. fr. e.g. Deuteronomy 23:2
- 3. to be cut off, destroyed. Y. Peah I, 15ᵈ bot. (ref. to Num. XV, 31) מלמד שהנפש נִכְרָתָה ועונה בה which intimates that (the idolater’s) soul is cut off (through premature death, כָּרֵת), while her guilt remains with her (unexpiated by death); Snh. 64ᵇ (ref. to the emphasized expression הכרת תכ׳, Num. l. c.) הִכָּרֵת בעו"הז וכ׳ hiccareth refers to this world &c.; a. fr.—Verbal noun הִיכָּרֵת, v. כָּרֵת. e.g. Numbers 15:31
- to destroy, exterminate. Tanḥ. R’eh 7 והַכְרִיתֵם and exterminate them. Ib. כשיַכְרִית וכ׳ when the Lord … shall have destroyed …, you will enter. Tosef. Snh. IV, 5 להַכְרִית זרעו וכ׳ to exterminate the seed of Amalek; a. fr.
- to doom to destruction. Arakh. 15ᵇ שכבר כֵּרְתוֹ וכ׳ for David has doomed him &c. (ref. to Ps. XII, 4); Yalk. Lev. 559. e.g. Psalms 12:4
כְּרַת
- , esp. to separate, divorce. Gitt. 21ᵇ, a. fr. עידי מסירה כַּרְתֵי it is the witnesses of delivery (in whose presence the deed of divorce is handed to the wife) that effect the divorce (and the signature of the witnesses is unessential); opp. to עידי חתימה כרתי it is the signing witnesses &c.—Imper. כְּרוֹת (only in) כ׳ גיטא make the divorce final, definite (v. preced.). Ib. 9ᵃ היינו טעמא משום דלאו כ׳ ג׳ היא the reason (that the manumission of the slave is not lawful) is because the form was not in compliance with the rule, ‘make the divorce definite’; B. Bath. 150ᵇ
כָּרֵת
- (= הִכָּרֵת, v. כָּרַתNif.) excommunication, extermination; (in Talm. law) divine punishment through premature or sudden death, opp. to מיתה בידי אדם capital punishment. Snh. 60ᵇ זובח … כ׳ הוא is not slaughtering consecrated animals outside of the Temple punishable with extinction?, opp. קטלא death by execution. M. Kat. 28ᵃ מת בחמשים שנה זו היא מיתת כ׳ if one dies at the age of fifty, that is death of divine visitation; Y. Bicc. II, beg. 64ᶜ בהִיכָּרֵת; Treat. S’maḥ. III, 8 בהִכָּרֵת. Ib. 10 וכי מה מודיענו שמיתתם בהכרת what is there to indicate that they died by divine visitation?; Y. l. c. 64ᵈ top שהוא בהיכרת.—M. Kat. l. c. נפקי לי מכ׳ I have escaped the punishment of kareth (being sixty years old). Ib. כ׳ דשני the kareth of years, premature death; כ׳ דיומי the k. of days, sudden death. Ḥull. 31ᵃ עון כ׳ a transgression punishable with k., opp. איסור מיתה. Macc. III, 15 (23ᵃ) נפטרו מידי כְּרֵיתָן Ms. M. (ed. ידי כְּרִיתָתָם) are released from k. (which would otherwise await them). Ib. 13ᵇ ולמה יצאת כ׳ באחותו why is the punishment of k. specifically mentioned with reference to incest with a sister (Lev. XX, 17, being included in Lev. XVIII, 29)?—Gen. R. s. 28 (ref. to כְּרֵתִים, Zeph. II, 5, v. Targ. a. l.) גוי שהוא ראוי כ׳ a nation deserving extermination; (Yalk. Zeph. 567 ראוי לִיכָּרֵת); a. v. fr.—Pl. כְּרִיתוֹת (fr. כְּרִיתָה). Ker. I, 1 שלשים ושש כ׳ בתורה there are thirty six transgressions mentioned in the Torah as (eventually) punishable with kareth. Macc. III, 15, a. fr. חייבי כ׳ those on whose transgressions the penalty of k. is pronounced; a. fr.—K’rithoth, a treatise of the Mishnah, Tosefta, and Talmud Babli, of the Order of Kodashim. e.g. Leviticus 20:17
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 195 distinct written forms H3772 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.
The 60 most common forms are shown; 135 rarer forms follow in the full concordance.
Same root — word family
Other BDB entries built from the same root as H3772, 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
Proper names from this root
People and places named from this root — a name, not an additional meaning of the word.
Compare all same-root words → Showing 4 of 5 — not the complete family. 2 of the same-root words are proper names (people or places). They share a root, not necessarily a meaning.
Septuagint verse parallels
This word appears in 262 verses that also exist in the Greek Old Testament (Septuagint), out of the 280 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 9:11
- Exodus 4:25
- Leviticus 7:20
- Numbers 4:18
- Deuteronomy 4:23
- Joshua 3:13
- Judges 2:2
- Ruth 4:10
- 1 Samuel 2:33
- 2 Samuel 3:12
- 1 Kings 2:4
- 2 Kings 9:8
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.
