נָכָה
to strike
also: smite, hit, beat, slay fuller range ↓
Full lexicon entry — Brown-Driver-Briggs (BDB)
From Brown-Driver-Briggs (BDB)
Where this word appears
See every Hiphil 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: ‘smite’
- Hophal
- The passive counterpart of the Hiphil (“he was caused to…”). Here: ‘receive a blow Is 1’
- Niphal
- Usually the simple passive or reflexive of the Qal (“he was written”).
- Pual
- The passive counterpart of the Piel.
Form
- Sequential Imperfect
- An imperfect with prefixed waw — the standard past-narrative form (waw-consecutive imperfect).
- 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”).
- Imperfect
- An incomplete, ongoing, or future action (“he will / would write”).
- Participle Active
- A verbal adjective expressing ongoing or characteristic action (“writing / one who writes”).
- Sequential Perfect
- A perfect with prefixed waw continuing a preceding imperfect or command (waw-consecutive perfect).
- Imperative
- A direct command (“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”).
- 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”).
State
- Construct
- A noun bound to a following noun in a possessive / “of” relationship (the construct chain).
- 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.
- Plural
- More than one (in Hebrew, generally three or more).
Every verse where H5221 appears in the Book of Jeremiah — 29 distinct verses. 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.
Jeremiah
- Jeremiah 2:30 הִכֵּ֣יתִי Hiphil pf 1cs In vain have I struck your children; they received no correction: your own sword has devoured your prophets, like a destroying lion.
- Jeremiah 5:3 הִכִּ֤יתָה Hiphil pf 2ms O Yahweh, don't your eyes look on truth? you have stricken them, but they were not grieved; you have consumed them, but they have refused to receive correction: they have made their faces harder than a rock; they have refused to return.
- Jeremiah 5:6 הִכָּ֨/ם Hiphil pf 3ms + sfx pers 3mp Therefore a lion out of the forest shall kill them, a wolf of the evenings shall destroy them, a leopard shall watch against their cities; everyone who goes out there shall be torn in pieces; because their transgressions are many, [and] their backsliding is increased.
- Jeremiah 14:19 הִכִּיתָ֔/נוּ Hiphil pf 2ms + sfx pers 1cp Have you utterly rejected Judah? has your soul loathed Zion? why have you struck us, and there is no healing for us? We looked for peace, but no good came; and for a time of healing, and, behold, dismay!
- Jeremiah 18:18 וְ/נַכֵּ֣/הוּ conj + Hiphil coh 1cp + sfx pers 3ms Then said they, Come, and let us devise devices against Jeremiah; for the law shall not perish from the priest, nor counsel from the wise, nor the word from the prophet. Come, and let us strike him with the tongue, and let us not give heed to any of his words.
- Jeremiah 18:21 מֻכֵּי Hophal ptcp.pass mp cs Therefore deliver up their children to the famine, and give them over to the power of the sword; and let their wives become childless, and widows; and let their men be slain of death, [and] their young men struck of the sword in battle.
- Jeremiah 20:2 וַ/יַּכֶּ֣ה conj + Hiphil wimpf 3ms Then Pashhur struck Jeremiah the prophet, and put him in the stocks that were in the upper gate of Benjamin, which was in the house of Yahweh.
- Jeremiah 20:4 וְ/הִכָּ֥/ם conj + Hiphil wpf 3ms + sfx pers 3mp For thus says Yahweh, Behold, I will make you a terror to yourself, and to all your friends; and they shall fall by the sword of their enemies, and your eyes shall see it; and I will give all Judah into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he shall carry them captive to Babylon, and shall kill them with the sword.
- Jeremiah 21:6 וְ/הִכֵּיתִ֗י conj + Hiphil wpf 1cs I will strike the inhabitants of this city, both man and animal: they shall die of a great pestilence.
- Jeremiah 21:7 וְ/הִכָּ֣/ם conj + Hiphil wpf 3ms + sfx pers 3mp Afterward, says Yahweh, I will deliver Zedekiah king of Judah, and his servants, and the people, even such as are left in this city from the pestilence, from the sword, and from the famine, into the hand of Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon, and into the hand of their enemies, and into the hand of those who seek their life: and he shall strike them with the edge of the sword; he shall not spare them, neither have pity, nor have mercy.
- Jeremiah 26:23 וַ/יַּכֵּ֖/הוּ conj + Hiphil wimpf 3ms + sfx pers 3ms and they fetched forth Uriah out of Egypt, and brought him to Jehoiakim the king, who killed him with the sword, and cast his dead body into the graves of the common people.
- Jeremiah 29:21 וְ/הִכָּ֖/ם conj + Hiphil wpf 3ms + sfx pers 3mp Thus says Yahweh of Hosts, the God of Israel, concerning Ahab the son of Kolaiah, and concerning Zedekiah the son of Maaseiah, who prophesy a lie to you in my name: Behold, I will deliver them into the hand of Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon; and he shall kill them before your eyes;
- Jeremiah 30:14 הִכִּיתִי/ךְ֙ Hiphil pf 1cs + sfx pers 2fs All your lovers have forgotten you; they don't seek you: for I have wounded you with the wound of an enemy, with the chastisement of a cruel one, for the greatness of your iniquity, because your sins were increased.
- Jeremiah 33:5 הִכֵּ֥יתִי Hiphil pf 1cs while [men] come to fight with the Chaldeans, and to fill them with the dead bodies of men, whom I have killed in my anger and in my wrath, and for all whose wickedness I have hid my face from this city:
- Jeremiah 37:10 הִכִּיתֶ֞ם Hiphil pf 2mp For though you had struck the whole army of the Chaldeans who fight against you, and there remained but wounded men among them, yes would they rise up every man in his tent, and burn this city with fire.
- Jeremiah 37:15 וְ/הִכּ֣וּ conj + Hiphil pf 3cp The princes were angry with Jeremiah, and struck him, and put him in prison in the house of Jonathan the scribe; for they had made that the prison.
- Jeremiah 40:14 לְ/הַכֹּתְ/ךָ֖ prep + Hiphil inf.cs + sfx pers 2ms and said to him, Do you know that Baalis the king of the children of Ammon has sent Ishmael the son of Nethaniah to take your life? But Gedaliah the son of Ahikam didn't believe them.
- Jeremiah 40:15 וְ/אַכֶּה֙ יַכֶּ֣/כָּה conj + Hiphil coh 1cs Hiphil impf 3ms + sfx pers 2ms Then Johanan the son of Kareah spoke to Gedaliah in Mizpah secretly, saying, Please let me go, and I will kill Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, and no man shall know it: why should he take your life, that all the Jews who are gathered to you should be scattered, and the remnant of Judah perish?
- Jeremiah 41:2 וַ֠/יַּכּוּ conj + Hiphil wimpf 3mp Then arose Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, and the ten men who were with him, and struck Gedaliah the son of Ahikam the son of Shaphan with the sword, and killed him, whom the king of Babylon had made governor over the land.
- Jeremiah 41:3 הִכָּ֖ה Hiphil pf 3ms Ishmael also killed all the Jews who were with him, [to wit], with Gedaliah, at Mizpah, and the Chaldeans who were found there, the men of war.
- Jeremiah 41:9 הִכָּה֙ Hiphil pf 3ms Now the pit in which Ishmael cast all the dead bodies of the men whom he had killed, by the side of Gedaliah (the same was who which Asa the king had made for fear of Baasha king of Israel), Ishmael the son of Nethaniah filled it with those who were killed.
- Jeremiah 41:16 הִכָּ֔ה Hiphil pf 3ms Then took Johanan the son of Kareah, and all the captains of the forces who were with him, all the remnant of the people whom he had recovered from Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, from Mizpah, after that he had killed Gedaliah the son of Ahikam, [to wit], the men of war, and the women, and the children, and the eunuchs, whom he had brought back from Gibeon:
- Jeremiah 41:18 הִכָּ֞ה Hiphil pf 3ms because of the Chaldeans; for they were afraid of them, because Ishmael the son of Nethaniah had killed Gedaliah the son of Ahikam, whom the king of Babylon made governor over the land.
- Jeremiah 43:11 וְ/הִכָּ֖ה conj + Hiphil wpf 3ms He shall come, and shall strike the land of Egypt; such as are for death [shall be given] to death, and such as are for captivity to captivity, and such as are for the sword to the sword.
- Jeremiah 46:2 הִכָּ֗ה Hiphil pf 3ms Of Egypt: concerning the army of Pharaoh Necoh king of Egypt, which was by the river Euphrates in Carchemish, which Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon struck in the fourth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah.
- Jeremiah 46:13 לְ/הַכּ֖וֹת prep + Hiphil inf.cs The word that Yahweh spoke to Jeremiah the prophet, how that Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon should come and strike the land of Egypt.
- Jeremiah 47:1 יַכֶּ֥ה Hiphil impf 3ms The word of Yahweh that came to Jeremiah the prophet concerning the Philistines, before that Pharaoh struck Gaza.
- Jeremiah 49:28 הִכָּה֙ Hiphil pf 3ms Of Kedar, and of the kingdoms of Hazor, which Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon struck. Thus says Yahweh: Arise you, go up to Kedar, and destroy the children of the east.
- Jeremiah 52:27 וַ/יַּכֶּ֣ה conj + Hiphil wimpf 3ms The king of Babylon struck them, and put them to death at Riblah in the land of Hamath. So Judah was carried away captive out of his land.
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, נכה (nâkâh) means “to strike.” The King James Version usually renders it “smote,” while modern versions prefer “struck down” (Berean Standard Bible) and “struck” (unfoldingWord Literal Text) — see the renderings breakdown. Spanning 461 verses in 31 books, it ranks among the common words of the Hebrew Bible. Scripture first uses it in Genesis 4:15. The verb spans 4 stems, from Niphal to Pual. Dig into 461-verse concordance and the renderings breakdown below.
Gloss history
Strong's 1890 vs modern scholarship
About this word
Strong's H5221 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 →
- 461
- distinct verses
- The word appears in 461 distinct verses.
- 31 / 39
- OT books
- The word appears in 31 of 39 Old Testament books.
- #100
- by frequency
- Top 100 most frequent Hebrew words (rank 100 of 8,640 Hebrew words by occurrence).
View all 461 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 461 distinct verses.
- Prophets (Nevi'im) 297 verses · 64%
- Torah (Pentateuch) 92 verses · 20%
- Writings (Ketuvim) 72 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: Smote 130×, Slew 41×, Smite 38×
- American Standard Version: Smote 124×, Smite 32×, He smote 25×
- Berean Standard Bible: Struck down 33×, Struck 22×, Strike 18×
- unfoldingWord Literal Text: Struck 68×, He struck 61×, And 50×
King James Version Public Domain
Renders H5221 across 501 tagged occurrences — most commonly:
Plus other, less common renderings. Plus 103 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 H5221 across 498 tagged occurrences — most commonly:
Plus other, less common renderings. Plus 109 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 H5221 across 496 tagged occurrences — most commonly:
Plus other, less common renderings. Plus 166 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 3 further occurrences.
unfoldingWord Literal Text CC BY-SA 4.0
Renders H5221 across 565 tagged occurrences — most commonly:
Plus other, less common renderings. Plus 105 renderings that appear only once — usually multi-word phrases or single function words the recovered tagging swept in, not distinct renderings.
26 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 26 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.
Niphal
- Pf. וְנִכָּה וָמֵת consec. 2 S 11:15 and he shall be smitten [struck by weapon in battle] and die. e.g. 2 Samuel 11:15
Pual
- Pf. 3 fs. נֻכָּ֑תָה Ex 9:31; 3 pl. נֻכּוּ v 32 (J), both be smitten down by the hail. e.g. Exodus 9:31
Hiphil
- Pf. 3 ms. הִכָּה Ex 9:25 +; sf. וְהִכַּ֫נִי consec. Gn 32:12, הִכָּם Je 5:6; 2 ms. הִכִּ֫יתָ Ex 17:5 +; 1 s. הִכֵּיתִי Ju 15:16 +, וְהִכֵּיתִ֫י Ex 3:20 +; 3 pl. הִכּוּ Gn 19:11 +; 2 mpl. הִכִּיתֶם Je 37:10 + 3 times consec.; etc.; Impf. 3 ms. יַכֶּה Ex 21:20 +, יַךְ Ho 6:1 (but read וַיַּךְ We Now GASm); וְיַךְ Ho 14:6 (v. infr.); וַיַּכֶּה Jos 10:40 +, usually וַיַּךְ Ex 2:12 +; sf. 2 ms. יַכֶּ֫כָּה Je 40:15 + 2 times, 3 ms. וַיַּכּוֹ 2 S 14:6 (but read וַיַּךְ 𝔊 𝔖 𝔙 Th We Dr Klo Kit Bu HPS), יַכֶּ֫נּוּ 1 S 17:25 + 2 times; usually וַיַּכֵּ֫הוּ Nu 21:24 +; 3 fs. וַתַּךְ Jon 4:7.8; 2 ms. תַּכֶּה Ex 2:13 +; sf. 3 ms. תַּכֶּ֫נּוּ Pr 23:13, 14; 1 s. אַכֶּה 1 S 18:11 +; וָאַכֶּה Ne 13:25, וָאַךְ Ex 9:15; 3 mpl. יַכּוּ Mi 4:14; usually וַיַּכּוּ Gn 14:5 + (1 S 4:2 read prob. Hoph. q.v.); 1 pl. נַכֶּה־ Nu 22:6; וַנַּךְ Dt 2:33, etc.; Imv. הַכֵּה Ez 6:11; הַךְ Am 9:1 +; mpl. הַכּוּ 2 S 13:28, etc.; Inf. abs. הַכֵּה Dt 3:16 +; הַכּוֹת 2 K 3:24 (Ges§ 75 ff); cstr. הַכּוֹת Gn 4:15 +, etc.; Pt. מַכֶּה Ex 2:11 +; cstr. מַכֵּת Ex 21:12 +; pl. מַכִּים 1 S 4:8 +, etc.;— e.g. Exodus 9:25
- 1.
- a. lit., smite (with a single, non-fatal, blow), strike, sq. acc., ass Nu 22:23, 25, 27 (בְּמַקֵּל), v 28, 32 (all J); man Ex 21:15, 19 (E); cheeks Jb 16:10; man (on) cheek (2 acc.) La 3:30 ψ 3:8; man עַל־לְחִי Mi 4:14 (ב instr.), 1 K 22:24 = 2 Ch 18:23; eye Ex 21:26 (E); שֵׁבֶט מַכֵּךְ Is 14:26; with ב obj. Ex 17:6; with (ב) stone or fist Ex 21:18 (E), cf. (fig.) Is 58:4 (abs.); smite lion or bear 1 S 17:35; strike river (with rod מַטֶּה) 7:17 (c. עַל obj., + ב instr.), v 20 Ex 17:5 (E; ב instr.), also (with mantle) 2 K 2:8, 14(×2), cf. י׳ smiting Euphrates into (ל) seven streams Is 11:15; dust Ex 8:12, 13 (P); rock 17:6 (E), Nu 20:11 (P; ב instr.), ψ 78:20; fig. smite earth בְּשֵׁבֶט פִּיו Is 11:4 (of future Davidic kg.); strike on ground (אַ֫רְצָה; with arrows) 2 K 13:18, also (abs.) v 18, 19; strike weapons out of (מִן) hands, Ez 39:3 (י׳; fig. of making powerless); lintel of door Am 9:1; barley-loaf strikes tent Ju 7:13 (in dream); in fig. of regret, remorse וַיַּךְ לֵב דָּוִד אֹתוֹ 2 S 24:10 and David’s heart smote him, so 1 S 24:6 (+ עַל־אֲשֶׁר because); of goat smiting (butting with horn) the ram, so as to break its horns Dn 8:7 (in vision); smite = hit with missile, sling-stone 1 S 17:49 (c. acc. pers. + אֶל־מִצְחוֹ), cf. 2 K 3:25 (but text perhaps corrupt, v. Benz); arrow, 1 K 22:34 = 2 Ch 18:33 (c. acc. pers. + בֵּין), 2 K 9:24 (c. id.); of piercing, הַכּוֹת בַּחֲנִית בְּדָוִד וּבַקִּיר 1 S 19:10 smite with the dart into D. and into the wall, pin D. to the wall, וַיַּךְ אֶת־הַח׳ בַּקִּיר v 10, cf. 18:11, אַכֶּנּוּ בַחֲנִית וּבָאָרֶץ 26:8. e.g. Numbers 22:23
- b. smite repeatedly, beat, a man Ex 2:11, 13 (E), 5:16 (J), Ne 13:25 (מִן partit.), cf. Dt 25:11; here prob. also 1 K 20:35(×2), 37(×2) (הַכֵּה וּפָצֹעַ beating and bruising him); of Assyrian under fig. of task-master Is 10:24; beat a woman so as to bruise her (פָּצַע) Ct 5:7; beat by authority, scourge Je 20:2; 37:15 Dt 25:2, 3 (c. acc. pers. + acc. cogn. מַכָּה רַבָּה), v 3 cf. בִּן הַכּוֹת v 2 i.e. worthy of scourging, bastinado, (cf. Dr); 2 Ch 25:16; Pr 17:10; 19:25; 23:13, 14 (ב instr.); cf. גֵּוִי נָתַתִּי לְמַכִּים Is 50:6; of hail, beat down herbage etc. Ex 9:25(×2) (cf. Pu.). e.g. Exodus 2:11
- c. וַיַּכּוּ כַף 2 K 11:12 and they clapped hands (in applause); elsewhere only Ezek., in mockery; כַּף אֶל־כַּף Ez 21:19, 22; בְּכַפְּךָ 6:11 (‖ רְקַע בְּרַגְלְךָ); acc. כַּפִּי 22:13. e.g. 2 Kings 11:12
- d. give a thrust (with fork) into (ב) pot 1 S 2:14; strike roots Ho 14:6 (in fig., but וַיֵּלְכוּ We Now). e.g. 1 Samuel 2:14
- e. rarely smite (in battle) so as (merely) to wound 2 K 8:28, so (+ acc. cogn. מַכָּה) v 29; 9:15 = 2 Ch 22:6; fig. of י׳’s wounding Isr. Ho 6:1 (opp. חָבַשׁ, bind up), Je 30:14 (c. acc. cogn.). Cf. smite with (ב) the tongue Je 18:18. e.g. 2 Kings 8:28
- f. smite, of sun, etc., c. acc. pers. Is 49:10 ψ 121:6; c. עַל Jon 4:8. e.g. Isaiah 49:10
- 2. Smite fatally:
- a. (subj. man) smite, c. acc., + word of killing (dying):—obj. lion and bear 1 S 17:35; man Ex 21:12, 20 (E), Jos 10:26 (JE), 11:17 (D), 1 S 17:50; 2 S 1:15; 2:31 (מִן partit. + ב among), 4:7; 14:6; 18:15; 21:17; 1 K 16:10; 2 K 12:22; 15:30; 25:21 = Je 52:27, 2 K 25:25 Je 41:2; Nu 35:16, 17, 18, 21 (P; all c. ב instr.); c. acc. + אֶל־חֹמֶשׁ + ב instr. 2 S 2:23 smote him (fatally) in the belly with (v. HPS), 20:10, cf. 3:27 (+ 2 acc.) 4:6 (but del. 𝔊 Ew Th We Dr Bu HPS); וְהִכָּהוּ נֶפֶשׁ Dt 19:11 and he smite him in his life (mortally), and he die, cf. (without word of dying) v 6 Gn 37:21 (J), Je 40:14, 15 [otherwise Lv 24:17.18 Nu 35:11, 15, 30; Dt 27:25; Jos 20:3, 9]; with prolepsis לְהַכּוֹת חֲלָלִים smite the slain Ju 20:31, 39; + אַ֫רְצָה smite to the ground i.e. kill 2 S 2:22; 18:11. e.g. 1 Samuel 17:35
- b. smite, of worm gnawing or boring so as to kill plant Jon 4:7. e.g. Jonah 4:7
- c. very often = kill, slay, man or beast (c. 150 times): Gn 4:15; 8:21 (exterminate; both J), Ex 2:12; Nu 21:35 (E), Jos 7:5 (מִן partit.), v 5 (JE), Dt 19:6; 21:1; 27:24, 25; Jos 11:10 (ב instr.; all D), Lv 24:17, 18, 21(×2) (H), Nu 35:11, 15, 21, 24, 30; Jos 9:18; 20:3, 9 (all P), Ju 15:16; 1 S 17:9(×2), 36; 2 S 12:9 (ב instr.), 2 K 9:7 (exterminate), etc.; c. ב among 1 S 6:19; 23:5, מִן partit. Ju 14:19; 20:45; c. ב partit. slay at, work slaughter among 2 S 23:10 (ins. also in ‖ 1 Ch 11:13 v Bead loc. Dr 2 S 23:10), but also ב of dir. obj. 1 S 18:7; 21:12 = 29:5; subj. lion 1 K 20:36(×2) cf. Je 5:6 (fig. of judgment); י׳ subj. 1 S 6:19b (ב among, + acc. cogn.; 1 S 6:19a וַיַּךְ crpt. v. 𝔊 Th We Dr Kl Kit Bu HPS); slay firstborn Ex 12:12 (J), v 29 Nu 3:13; 8:17; 33:4 (all P), ψ 78:51; 105:36; 135:8; God slays for (עַל) sin 2 S 6:7 = 1 Ch 13:10 (עַל־אֲשֶׁר); slay לְפִי־חֶרֶב Dt 13:16; 20:13 Jos 11:11, 12, 14 (all D), Ju 18:27; 21:10; 1 S 22:9; 2 K 10:25 Je 21:7 Jb 1:15, 17; kill, slay, c. acc. cogn. (מַכָּה) 1 S 14:14; 1 K 20:21 (ב among), 2 Ch 13:17 (בָּחֶם), 25:13 (מֵהֶם); c. acc. pers. + acc. cogn. Jos 10:20 (JE), Est 9:5, etc.; kill unwittingly, unintentionally הִכָּה בִבְלִי דַ֫עַת Dt 19:4; Jos 20:5 (both D). e.g. Genesis 4:15
- 3. Smite = attack, attack and destroy a company Gn 32:9, 12; 34:30; Jos 8:21 Ju 8:11; 9:43; 2 K 8:21; 2 Ch 21:9; attack and capture a city Ju 1:8 v 12 = Jos 15:16 (JE), Jos 7:3; 10:4 (JE), 1 S 30:1; 1 K 15:20 = 2 Ch 16:4, 2 K 15:16(×2) 1 Ch 20:1; 2 Ch 14:13; Je 47:1; tents 1 Ch 4:41; 2 Ch 14:14; = sack a city לְפִי־חֶרֶב (slaying inhab.), Jos 8:24; 19:47 (both JE), 10:28, 30, 32, 35, 37 cf. v 39 (all D), Ju 1:25; 20:37; 2 S 15:14; especially defeat kg. or army (involving often overthrow, pursuit and slaughter),—c. 95 times,—Gn 14:5, 15, 17; Nu 14:45; 21:24 (JE), Jos 8:12; 10:10 (+ acc. cogn.), v 10 (עַד loc.), 11:8(×2) (all JE), Dt 1:4; 2:33; 3:3; 4:46; 7:2; 29:6; Jos 10:33, 40 (ועד—מִן loc.), 12:1, 6, 12; 13:12 (all D); Ju 1:5, 17; 1 S 11:11 (עד temp.), 2 K 13:17 (עַד־כְּלֵּה), 2 K 3:24a + v 24b (where read וַיָּבֹאוּ בוֹא וְהַכּוֹת and they went on defeating), Is 10:20; Je 37:10, etc.; ins. וַיַּךְ or הִכָּה in 2 S 8:13 Th Ke Kit Bu cf. Dr, after 𝔊; c. ב obj. 1 S 14:31; 23:2(×2) (ה loc.—מִן); + לְפִי חֶרֶב Ju 20:48, etc.; of gods causing defeat 2 Ch 28:23; smite land = conquer, subjugate, sometimes ravage, Gn 14:7; Jos 10:40 (D), 1 S 27:9; Je 43:11; 46:13, cf. Is 14:6 (acc. cogn.); subj. י׳ Nu 32:4 (P); of י׳ smiting sea וְהִכָּה בַיָּם גַּלִּים Zc 10:11 (BevJPh. xviii. 35 (1889), 88 proposes גבלים). e.g. Genesis 32:9
- 4. Of God,
- a. smite with (ב) a plague, disease, etc.:—blindness Gn 19:11 (J), 2 K 6:18(×2) cf. Zc 12:4(×2) (symbol.); of Egyptian plagues Ex 3:20; 9:15 (both J), 1 S 4:8, without ב Ex 7:25 (J), 12:13 (P), ψ 136:10 (acc. + בִּבְכוֹרֵיהֶם); other plagues Nu 14:12 (JE), Dt 28:22, 27, 28, 35; 1 S 5:6; 2 S 24:17; Jb 2:7; Am 4:9; Hg 2:17; Mal 3:24; 1 S 5:6, 9; 2 K 19:35 = Is 37:36 (+ ב in); Nu 11:33 (JE; בָּעָם + acc. cogn.); smite vines with (ב) blight ψ 105:33. e.g. Genesis 19:11
- b. smite = chastise, or send judgment upon, usually c. acc., 1 K 14:15; 1 Ch 21:7; Is 5:25; 9:12; 27:7 (הַכְּמַכַּת מַכֵּהוּ הִכָּהוּ), 30:31 (ב instr.) 57:17; 60:10 (opp. רִחַם) Je 2:30; 5:3; 14:9; Ez 32:15 (𝔊 Co זֵרָה scatter); c. עַל punish for, (sin) Lv 26:24 (H). e.g. 1 Kings 14:15
- c. of God’s destroying palaces Am 3:15; 6:11 (2 acc.), cf. Zc 9:4. e.g. Amos 3:15
Hophal
- Pf. הֻכָּה Ho 9:16; Nu 25:14. הוּכָּה ψ 102:5; וְהֻכָּת consec. Ex 22:1; 3 fs. הֻכְּתָה Ez 33:21; 40:1; 1 s. הֻכֵּ֫יתִי Zc 13:6; 3 pl. הֻכּוּ 1 S 5:12; Impf. 3 mpl. וַיּכֻּוּ Ex 5:14; 2 mpl. תֻּכּוּ Is 1:5; Pt. מֻכֶּה Nu 25:14, cstr. מֻכֵּה Is 53:4; f. מֻכָּה Nu 25:15, 18; pl. מֻפִּים Ex 5:16, cstr. מֻכֵּי־ Je 18:21;—be smitten: e.g. Hosea 9:16
- 1. = receive a blow Is 1:5 (Judah under fig. of man). e.g. Isaiah 1:5
- 2. be wounded Zc 13:6. e.g. Zechariah 13:6
- 3. be beaten Ex 5:14, 16 (J). e.g. Exodus 5:14
- 4. be (fatally) smitten + vb. of dying Ex 22:1 (E); be killed, slain Nu 25:14(×2), 15, 18 (c. עַל, for), מֻכֵּי־חֶרֶב Je 18:21 (‖ הֲרֻגֵי מָ֑וֶת); so also (abs.) prob. 1 S 4:2 (read וַיֻּכּוּ 𝔊 𝔖 𝔙 Th Dr Klo Kit, for MT וַיַּכּוּ). e.g. Exodus 22:1
- 5. be attacked and captured, of city Ez 33:21; 40:1. e.g. Ezekiel 33:21
- 6. be smitten with disease (by God) 1 S 5:12; abs., of י׳’s servant Is 53:4. e.g. 1 Samuel 5:12
- 7. be blighted, of plant (in fig.) Ho 9:16 (Ephr.), ψ 102:5 (heart, כָּעֵשֶׂב; both + יָבַשׁ). e.g. Hosea 9:16
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. smite (not in Qal) (NH Hiph. id.; Pf. 3 pl. הכו SI 4, Inf. להך[ת] ib. 2; Syriac ܢܟܳܐ, laesit, nocuit, repugnavit; Aph. laesit, vulneravit; Ethiopic ነከየ laesit, nocuit; cf. Arabic نَكَى be defeated, نِكَايَةٌ the inflicting of injury on an enemy Lane3038);—
— 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.
נָכָה
- , v. נכי
נֵכֶה
- crippled, נְכֵה רגלים paralyzed, lame. Yalk. Deut. 933. משל לנ׳ ר׳ וכ׳ like a lame person that disturbed the peace of &c., opp. שָׁלֵם.—Pl. נֵכִים. Pesik. R. s. 13, v. צָלַע.
נְכֹה
- (b. h.) pr. n. m. Pharaoh Necho (II), King of Egypt. Sot. 9ᵃ; a. e.
נכי
- (b. h.) to be lessened.—[Lev. R. s. 33 אלא נכה, some ed., v. אָנָךְ.]
- to deduct. Ḥull. X, 3 ואינו מְנַכֶּה לו וכ׳ and the seller is not bound to allow him a reduction for the priest’s share. B. Bath. VII, 2, sq. יְנַכֶּה he must make an allowance for what there is less than specified in the contract. Num. R. s. 20 (ref. to נכה, ib. XXII, 6) כמי שמְנַכֶּה אחד מכ"ד לסאה as one (purchasing grain) is prepared for a deficiency of one twenty-fourth for each S’ah (allowance for chaff, v. טִינֹּופֶת); Tanḥ. Balak 4 (not למאה); ed. Bub. 6; a. fr.—[Cant. R. to III, 4 שנכה מסנחריב some ed., read שנָכַת, v. נְכִיתָה.]
- 1. to injure, knock, strike. B. Kam. VIII, 1 הִכָּהוּ חייב וכ׳ if he hit him (created a sore), he must pay for curing him. Ib. 3 המַכֶּה את וכ׳ if a person strikes his father &c. Snh. IX, 2 נתכוין להַכֹּותוֹ וכ׳ if he intended to hit him on his loins. Y. Peah I, 16ᵃ bot. (ref. to Ps. CXX, 3, sq.) כל כלי זיין מַכִּין וכ׳ all weapons strike in their place, but this (calumny) strikes at a distance; a. v. fr.—Part. pass. מוּכֶּה; f. מוּכָּה; pl. מוּכִּים, מוּכִּין; מוּכֹּות. Keth. VII, 10, a. fr. מוּכֵּה שהין afflicted with leprosy. Ib. I, 3, a. fr. מוּכַּת עץ one who lost her hymen through an accidentallesion. Par. VIII, 9; Mikv. I, 8, v. מַיִם. e.g. Psalms 120:3
- 2. (trnsf.) to strike, produce sound, play. Yoma I, 7 מַכִּין לפניו באצבע וכ׳ snap their middle-fingers. Arakh. II, 3, v. חָלִיל; a. fr.
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 289 distinct written forms H5221 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; 229 rarer forms follow in the full concordance.
Same root — word family
Other BDB entries built from the same root as H5221, 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 431 verses that also exist in the Greek Old Testament (Septuagint), out of the 461 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 4:15
- Exodus 2:11
- Leviticus 24:17
- Numbers 3:13
- Deuteronomy 1:4
- Joshua 7:3
- Judges 1:4
- 1 Samuel 2:14
- 2 Samuel 1:1
- 1 Kings 11:15
- 2 Kings 2:8
- 1 Chronicles 4:41
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.
