קָרֹב
near
‘near’ is one of 4 main senses fuller range ↓
Full lexicon entry — Brown-Driver-Briggs (BDB)
From Brown-Driver-Briggs (BDB)
Where this word appears
See every Absolute-state word in the Hebrew Bible →
Grammar key — what these labels mean
Part of speech
- Adjective
- A word that describes or qualifies a noun.
Stem
- Qal
- The basic, simple active stem — the plain form of the verb (“he wrote”).
Form
- Infinitive Absolute
- An unbound verbal noun, often intensifying or standing in for a finite verb.
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).
Gender
- Masculine
- Grammatically masculine.
- Feminine
- Grammatically feminine.
Number
- Singular
- One.
- Plural
- More than one (in Hebrew, generally three or more).
Grammatical forms
- Adjective, Adjective, Masculine, Singular, Absolute 47 times (60%)
- Adjective, Adjective, Masculine, Plural, Absolute 14 times (18%)
- Adjective, Adjective, Feminine, Singular, Absolute 8 times (10%)
- Adjective, Adjective, Masculine, Singular, Construct 3 times (4%)
- Adjective, Adjective, Masculine, Plural, Construct 3 times (4%)
- Adjective, Adjective, Feminine, Plural, Absolute 2 times (3%)
- Verb, Qal, Infinitive Absolute 1 time (1%)
Parsed forms decoded from the imported morphology (morphhb / Westminster Leningrad Codex — WLC text public domain, morphhb tagging CC BY 4.0), counted across 78 parsed occurrences — not distinct verses.
Every verse where H7138 appears — 76 distinct verses across 24 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 2 verses
- Genesis 19:20 קְרֹבָ֛ה adj Adjective fs See now, this city is near to flee to, and it is a little one. Oh let me escape there (isn't it a little one?), and my soul will live."
- Genesis 45:10 קָרוֹב֙ adj Adjective ms You shall dwell in the land of Goshen, and you will be near to me, you, your children, your children's children, your flocks, your herds, and all that you have.
Exodus 3 verses
- Exodus 12:4 הַ/קָּרֹ֥ב ptcl def.art + Adjective Adjective ms and if the household be too little for a lamb, then he and his neighbor next to his house shall take one according to the number of the souls; according to what everyone can eat you shall make your count for the lamb.
- Exodus 13:17 קָר֖וֹב adj Adjective ms It happened, when Pharaoh had let the people go, that God didn't lead them by the way of the land of the Philistines, although that was near; for God said, "Lest perhaps the people change their minds when they see war, and they return to Egypt;"
- Exodus 32:27 קְרֹבֽ/וֹ adj Adjective ms cs + sfx pers 3ms He said to them, "Thus says Yahweh, the God of Israel, 'Every man put his sword on his thigh, and go back and forth from gate to gate throughout the camp, and every man kill his brother, and every man his companion, and every man his neighbor."
Leviticus 4 verses
- Leviticus 10:3 בִּ/קְרֹבַ֣/י prep + Adjective Adjective mp cs + sfx pers 1cs Then Moses said to Aaron, "This is what Yahweh spoke of, saying, "'I will show myself holy to those who come near me, And before all the people I will be glorified.'" Aaron held his peace.
- Leviticus 21:2 הַ/קָּרֹ֖ב ptcl def.art + Adjective Adjective ms except for his relatives that are near to him: for his mother, for his father, for his son, for his daughter, for his brother,
- Leviticus 21:3 הַ/קְּרוֹבָ֣ה ptcl def.art + Adjective Adjective fs and for his virgin sister who is near to him, who has had no husband; for her he may defile himself.
- Leviticus 25:25 הַ/קָּרֹ֣ב ptcl def.art + Adjective Adjective ms "'If your brother becomes poor, and sells some of his possessions, then his kinsman who is next to him shall come, and redeem that which his brother has sold.
Numbers 2 verses
- Numbers 24:17 קָר֑וֹב adj Adjective ms I see him, but not now; I see him, but not near: There shall come forth a star out of Jacob, A scepter shall rise out of Israel, Shall strike through the corners of Moab, Break down all the sons of tumult.
- Numbers 27:11 הַ/קָּרֹ֥ב ptcl def.art + Adjective Adjective ms If his father have no brothers, then you shall give his inheritance to his kinsman who is next to him of his family, and he shall possess it: and it shall be to the children of Israel a statute [and] ordinance, as Yahweh commanded Moses.
Deuteronomy 8 verses
- Deuteronomy 4:7 קְרֹבִ֣ים adj Adjective mp For what great nation is there, that has a god so near to them, as Yahweh our God is whenever we call on him?
- Deuteronomy 13:7 הַ/קְּרֹבִ֣ים ptcl def.art + Adjective Adjective mp of the gods of the peoples who are round about you, near to you, or far off from you, from the one end of the earth even to the other end of the earth;
- Deuteronomy 21:3 הַ/קְּרֹבָ֖ה ptcl def.art + Adjective Adjective fs and it shall be, that the city which is nearest to the slain man, even the elders of that city shall take a heifer of the herd, which hasn't been worked with, and which has not drawn in the yoke;
- Deuteronomy 21:6 הַ/קְּרֹבִ֖ים ptcl def.art + Adjective Adjective mp All the elders of that city, who are nearest to the slain man, shall wash their hands over the heifer whose neck was broken in the valley;
- Deuteronomy 22:2 קָר֥וֹב adj Adjective ms If your brother isn't near to you, or if you don't know him, then you shall bring it home to your house, and it shall be with you until your brother seek after it, and you shall restore it to him.
- Deuteronomy 30:14 קָר֥וֹב adj Adjective ms But the word is very near to you, in your mouth, and in your heart, that you may do it.
- Deuteronomy 32:17 מִ/קָּרֹ֣ב prep + Adjective Adjective ms They sacrificed to demons, [which were] no God, To gods that they didn't know, To new [gods] that came up of late, Which your fathers didn't dread.
- Deuteronomy 32:35 קָרוֹב֙ adj Adjective ms Vengeance is mine, and recompense, At the time when their foot shall slide: For the day of their calamity is at hand, The things that are to come on them shall make haste.
Joshua 1 verse
Ruth 2 verses
- Ruth 2:20 קָר֥וֹב adj Adjective ms Naomi said to her daughter-in-law, Blessed be he of Yahweh, who has not left off his kindness to the living and to the dead. Naomi said to her, The man is a close relative to us, one of our near kinsmen.
- Ruth 3:12 קָר֥וֹב adj Adjective ms Now it is true that I am a near kinsman; however there is a kinsman nearer than I.
2 Samuel 1 verse
1 Kings 3 verses
- 1 Kings 8:46 קְרוֹבָֽה adj Adjective fs If they sin against you (for there is no man who doesn't sin), and you are angry with them, and deliver them to the enemy, so that they carry them away captive to the land of the enemy, far off or near;
- 1 Kings 8:59 קְרֹבִ֛ים adj Adjective mp Let these my words, with which I have made supplication before Yahweh, be near to Yahweh our God day and night, that he maintain the cause of his servant, and the cause of his people Israel, as every day shall require;
- 1 Kings 21:2 קָרוֹב֙ adj Adjective ms Ahab spoke to Naboth, saying, Give me your vineyard, that I may have it for a garden of herbs, because it is near to my house; and I will give you for it a better vineyard than it: or, if it seem good to you, I will give you the worth of it in money.
1 Chronicles 1 verse
2 Chronicles 1 verse
Nehemiah 1 verse
Esther 2 verses
- Esther 1:14 וְ/הַ/קָּרֹ֣ב conj + ptcl def.art + Adjective Adjective ms and the next to him were Carshena, Shethar, Admatha, Tarshish, Meres, Marsena, and Memucan, the seven princes of Persia and Media, who saw the king's face, and sat first in the kingdom),
- Esther 9:20 הַ/קְּרוֹבִ֖ים ptcl def.art + Adjective Adjective mp Mordecai wrote these things, and sent letters to all the Jews who were in all the provinces of the king Ahasuerus, both near and far,
Job 3 verses
- Job 17:12 קָר֥וֹב adj Adjective ms They change the night into day, Saying 'The light is near' in the presence of darkness.
- Job 19:14 קְרוֹבָ֑/י adj Adjective mp cs + sfx pers 1cs My relatives have gone away. My familiar friends have forgotten me.
- Job 20:5 מִ/קָּר֑וֹב prep + Adjective Adjective ms That the triumphing of the wicked is short, The joy of the godless but for a moment?
Psalms 9 verses
- Psalms 15:3 קְרֹֽב/וֹ adj Adjective ms cs + sfx pers 3ms He who doesn't slander with his tongue, Nor does evil to his friend, Nor casts slurs against his fellow man;
- Psalms 22:11 קְרוֹבָ֑ה adj Adjective fs Don't be far from me, for trouble is near. For there is none to help.
- Psalms 34:18 קָר֣וֹב adj Adjective ms Yahweh is near to those who have a broken heart, And saves those who have a crushed spirit.
- Psalms 38:11 וּ֝/קְרוֹבַ֗/י conj + Adjective Adjective mp cs + sfx pers 1cs My lovers and my friends stand aloof from my plague. My kinsmen stand far away.
- Psalms 75:1 וְ/קָר֣וֹב conj + Adjective Adjective ms We give thanks to you, God, We give thanks, for your Name is near. Men tell about your wondrous works.
- Psalms 85:9 קָר֣וֹב adj Adjective ms Surely his salvation is near those who fear him, That glory may dwell in our land.
- Psalms 119:151 קָר֣וֹב adj Adjective ms You are near, Yahweh. All your commandments are truth.
- Psalms 145:18 קָר֣וֹב adj Adjective ms Yahweh is near to all those who call on him, To all who call on him in truth.
- Psalms 148:14 קְרֹב֗/וֹ adj Adjective ms cs + sfx pers 3ms He has lifted up the horn of his people, The praise of all his saints; Even of the children of Israel, a people near to him. Praise Yah!
Proverbs 2 verses
- Proverbs 10:14 קְרֹבָֽה adj Adjective fs Wise men lay up knowledge, But the mouth of the foolish is near ruin.
- Proverbs 27:10 קָ֝ר֗וֹב adj Adjective ms Don't forsake your friend and your father's friend. Don't go to your brother's house in the day of your disaster: Better is a neighbor who is near than a distant brother.
Ecclesiastes 1 verse
Isaiah 8 verses
- Isaiah 13:6 קָר֖וֹב adj Adjective ms Wail; for the day of Yahweh is at hand; as destruction from the Almighty shall it come.
- Isaiah 13:22 וְ/קָר֤וֹב conj + Adjective Adjective ms Wolves shall cry in their castles, and jackals in the pleasant palaces: and her time is near to come, and her days shall not be prolonged.
- Isaiah 33:13 קְרוֹבִ֖ים adj Adjective mp Hear, you who are far off, what I have done; and, you who are near, acknowledge my might.
- Isaiah 50:8 קָרוֹב֙ adj Adjective ms He is near who justifies me; who will bring charges against me? Let us stand up together: who is my adversary? Let him come near to me.
- Isaiah 51:5 קָר֤וֹב adj Adjective ms My righteousness is near, my salvation is gone forth, and my arms shall judge the peoples; the isles shall wait for me, and on my arm shall they trust.
- Isaiah 55:6 קָרֽוֹב adj Adjective ms Seek you Yahweh while he may be found; call you on him while he is near:
- Isaiah 56:1 קְרוֹבָ֤ה adj Adjective fs Thus says Yahweh, Keep you justice, and do righteousness; for my salvation is near to come, and my righteousness to be revealed.
- Isaiah 57:19 וְ/לַ/קָּר֛וֹב conj + prep det + Adjective Adjective ms I create the fruit of the lips: Peace, peace, to him who is far off and to him who is near, says Yahweh; and I will heal him.
Jeremiah 5 verses
- Jeremiah 12:2 קָר֤וֹב adj Adjective ms You have planted them, yes, they have taken root; they grow, yes, they bring forth fruit: you are near in their mouth, and far from their heart.
- Jeremiah 23:23 מִ/קָּרֹ֛ב prep + Adjective Adjective ms Am I a God at hand, says Yahweh, and not a God afar off?
- Jeremiah 25:26 הַ/קְּרֹבִ֤ים ptcl def.art + Adjective Adjective mp and all the kings of the north, far and near, one with another; and all the kingdoms of the world, which are on the surface of the earth: and the king of Sheshach shall drink after them.
- Jeremiah 48:16 קָר֥וֹב adj Adjective ms The calamity of Moab is near to come, and his affliction hurries fast.
- Jeremiah 48:24 וְ/הַ/קְּרֹבֽוֹת conj + ptcl def.art + Adjective Adjective fp and on Kerioth, and on Bozrah, and on all the cities of the land of Moab, far or near.
Ezekiel 10 verses
- Ezekiel 6:12 וְ/הַ/קָּרוֹב֙ conj + ptcl def.art + Adjective Adjective ms He who is far off shall die of the pestilence; and he who is near shall fall by the sword; and he who remains and is besieged shall die by the famine: thus will I accomplish my wrath on them.
- Ezekiel 7:7 קָר֛וֹב adj Adjective ms Your doom is come to you, inhabitant of the land: the time is come, the day is near, [a day of] tumult, and not [of] joyful shouting, on the mountains.
- Ezekiel 7:8 מִ/קָּר֗וֹב prep + Adjective Adjective ms Now will I shortly pour out my wrath on you, and accomplish my anger against you, and will judge you according to your ways; and I will bring on you all your abominations.
- Ezekiel 11:3 בְ/קָר֖וֹב prep + Adjective Adjective ms who say, [The time] is not near to build houses: this [city] is the caldron, and we are the flesh.
- Ezekiel 22:5 הַ/קְּרֹב֛וֹת ptcl def.art + Adjective Adjective fp Those who are near, and those who are far from you, shall mock you, you infamous one [and] full of tumult.
- Ezekiel 23:5 קְרוֹבִֽים adj Adjective mp Oholah played the prostitute when she was mine; and she doted on her lovers, on the Assyrians [her] neighbors,
- Ezekiel 23:12 קְרֹבִים֙ adj Adjective mp She doted on the Assyrians, governors and rulers, [her] neighbors, clothed most gorgeously, horsemen riding on horses, all of them desirable young men.
- Ezekiel 30:3 קָר֣וֹב וְ/קָר֥וֹב adj Adjective ms conj + Adjective Adjective ms For the day is near, even the day of Yahweh is near; it shall be a day of clouds, a time of the nations.
- Ezekiel 42:13 קְרוֹבִ֥ים adj Adjective mp Then said he to me, The north chambers and the south chambers, which are before the separate place, they are the holy chambers, where the priests who are near to Yahweh shall eat the most holy things: there shall they lay the most holy things, and the meal-offering, and the sin-offering, and the trespass-offering; for the place is holy.
- Ezekiel 43:19 הַ/קְּרֹבִ֣ים ptcl def.art + Adjective Adjective mp You shall give to the priests the Levites who are of the seed of Zadok, who are near to me, to minister to me, says the Lord Yahweh, a young bull for a sin-offering.
Daniel 1 verse
Joel 3 verses
- Joel 1:15 קָרוֹב֙ adj Adjective ms Alas for the day! For the day of Yahweh is at hand, And it will come as destruction from the Almighty.
- Joel 2:1 קָרֽוֹב adj Adjective ms Blow you the trumpet in Zion, And sound an alarm in my holy mountain! Let all the inhabitants of the land tremble, For the day of Yahweh comes, For it is close at hand:
- Joel 3:14 קָרוֹב֙ adj Adjective ms Multitudes, multitudes in the valley of decision! For the day of Yahweh is near, in the valley of decision.
Obadiah 1 verse
Zephaniah 2 verses
- Zephaniah 1:7 קָרוֹב֙ adj Adjective ms Be silent at the presence of the Lord Yahweh, for the day of Yahweh is at hand. For Yahweh has prepared a sacrifice. He has consecrated his guests.
- Zephaniah 1:14 קָר֤וֹב קָר֖וֹב adj Adjective ms adj Adjective ms The great day of Yahweh is near. It is near, and hurries greatly, the voice of the day of Yahweh. The mighty man cries there bitterly.
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 adjective קרוב centers on the idea of “near.” Its meaning spans more than one sense — see its full sense range. Spanning 76 verses in 24 books, it ranks among the moderately common words of the Hebrew Bible. Its earliest occurrence is Genesis 19:20. Related forms include קרב, קרב and קרב. For the data behind this summary, explore the sense tree and the renderings breakdown below.
Gloss history
Strong's 1890 vs modern scholarship
About this word
Strong's H7138 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 →
- 76
- distinct verses
- The word appears in 76 distinct verses.
- 24 / 39
- OT books
- The word appears in 24 of 39 Old Testament books.
- #514
- by frequency
- Top 1000 most frequent Hebrew words (rank 514 of 8,640 Hebrew words by occurrence).
View all 76 occurrences in the concordance →
Most concentrated in
- Ezekiel 10 verses 13%
- Psalms 9 verses 12%
- Deuteronomy 8 verses 11%
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 76 distinct verses.
- Prophets (Nevi'im) 34 verses · 45%
- Writings (Ketuvim) 23 verses · 30%
- Torah (Pentateuch) 19 verses · 25%
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: Is near 19×, Is at hand 4×, Is nigh 4×
- American Standard Version: Is near 17×, Are near 4×, Is at hand 4×
- Berean Standard Bible: Is near 15×, Near 13×, Nearest 4×
- unfoldingWord Literal Text: Is near 24×, Near 19×, Nearest 4×
King James Version Public Domain
Renders H7138 across 78 tagged occurrences — most commonly:
Plus other, less common renderings. Plus 29 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 H7138 across 79 tagged occurrences — most commonly:
Plus 43 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 H7138 across 74 tagged occurrences — most commonly:
Plus 27 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 H7138 across 81 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.
10 senses and sub-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 10 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.
- 1. of city Gn 19:20 (+ לָנוּם שָׁ֫מָּה), Je 48:24, הַקּ׳ Dt 21:3 the nearest (+ אֶל), cf. (of elders) v 6; of land 1 K 8:46 = 2 Ch 6:36; road Ex 13:17; = contiguous, כֶּרֶם 1 K 21:2 (+ אֵצֶל בֵּיתִי). e.g. Genesis 19:20
- 2. of pers.:
- a. + אֶל pers. Gn 45:10; Dt 13:8; 22:2 Jos 9:16; 1 Ch 12:41 (van d. H. v 40); הַקּ׳ אֶל Ex 12:4 the nearest to; c. sf. קְרֹבוֹ Ex 32:27, i.e. his neighbour. e.g. Genesis 45:10
- b. abs. (opp. or + רחוק, often = near and far, i.e. all without distinction), Ez 6:12; Is 57:19; Pr 27:10; pl. Is 33:13; Je 25:26; Dn 9:7; Est 9:20; Ez 22:5; ק׳ of distress, personif., 22:12.—Ez 23:5, 12 Co Berthol read קְרוּאִים famous; Toy רַבִּים (cf. Je 39:13); Hpt in Toy Krae conj. קְרוֹדִים (Assyrian ḳurâdu, warrior). e.g. Ezekiel 6:12
- c. of near relationship, + אֶל pers. 2 S 19:43; Lv 21:2, 3; 25:25 (all H), Nu 27:11 (P); ל pers. Ne 13:4; Ru 2:20; + מִן comp. 3:12; of intimacy, קְרֹבוֹ ψ 15:3 (‖ רֵעֵהוּ), קְרוֹבַי Jb 19:14 (‖ מְיֻדָּעַי), ψ 38:12 (‖ אֹהֲבַי וְרֵעַי); near, in office, Est 1:14. e.g. 2 Samuel 19:43
- d. near to י׳, עַם קְרֹבוֹ ψ 148:14 (Rie Bae קְרֹבָו the people of those near him). e.g. Psalms 148:14
- e. near to י׳ in ceremon. function, c. אֶל Ez 43:19, c. ל 42:13, sf. Lv 10:3. e.g. Ezekiel 43:19
- f. of God (י׳), + אֶל pers. Dt 4:7; 30:14; ל pers. ψ 34:19; 145:18; abs. Je 12:2; Is 50:3; 55:6 ψ 119:151; אֱלֹהֵי מִקָּרֹב Je 23:23 a God from near by (opp. א׳ מֵרָחוֹק); ק׳ of צֶדֶק י׳ Is 51:5, יֶשַׁע י׳ ψ 85:10 (+ ל pers.);—ק׳ שִׁמְךָ ψ 75:2, read קֹרְאֵי בְּשׁ׳ Dy Che Gr Dr, cf. Bae 𝔊 𝔖 Du. e.g. Deuteronomy 4:7
- g. of word, + אֶל pers. Dt 30:14; prayer, + אֶל־י׳ 1 K 8:59. e.g. Deuteronomy 30:14
- 3. of time: ק׳ יוֹם אֵידָם Dt 32:35; especially of יוֹם י׳ Zp 1:7, 14(×2); Ez 30:3 (perhaps del. as 𝔊 Co Krae), v 3 Is 13:6; Ob 15; Jo 1:15; 2:1; 4:14, cf. Ez 7:7; + inf. ק׳ אֵיד־מוֹאָב לָבוֹא Je 48:16, cf. Is 13:22; 56:1; מְחִתָּה ק׳ Pr 10:14 imminent ruin; מִקָּרוֹב Dt 32:17 recently, so Ez 11:3 𝔊 𝔙 Co Siegf Berthol (for MT †בְּקָרוֹב); Ez 7:8 soon; Jb 20:5 of the briefest.—אוֹר ק׳ מִפְּנֵי חֹשֶׁךְ Jb 17:12 is dub.; Thes (my) light is near to (prope abest a, as Arabic قَرِبَ مِن, but not proven in Heb.) darkness; Di light (they say) is near (breaking away) from darkness, will soon leave it behind; Bu אוֹר קְרוֹבָם פֶּן־יֶחְשַׁךְ the light of their intimate friend shall not (?) grow dark. e.g. Deuteronomy 32:35
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
adj. near;—abs. קָרֹב Ex 12:4 +; -וֹב 2 S 19:43 +; pl. קְרֹבִים 1 K 8:59, קְרוֹבִים Is 33:13 +; fpl. קְרֹבוֹת Ez 22:5, etc.;—near (often opp. רָחוֹק):
— Brown-Driver-Briggs (Oxford 1906, public domain), digitized via Sefaria, supplemented by the OpenScriptures HebrewLexicon (CC BY 4.0). See Sources.
Derived from קרב (qârab) (H7126) — to approach.
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.
קֵרוּב
- , v. קֵירוּב
קָרוֹב I
- near; related, relative. Y. Ber. IX, 13ᵃ top (ref. to Deut. IV, 7) ק׳ בכל מיני קריבות (God is) near in every way of nearness (at all times, in all places, in sympathy &c.). Snh. 9ᵃ נמצא … ק׳ וכ׳ if it appears that one of the witnesses is a near relative (of the defendant) or disqualified. Ib.ᵇ אדם ק׳ אצל עצמו ואין וכ׳ every man is considered a relation to himself, and none can incriminate himself. Ib. 10ᵃ אדם ק׳ … ואינו ק׳ אצל ממונו a man cannot testify against himself, but he is not a relative to (disqualified to testify against) his property. Ib. III, 4 היה ק׳ ונתרחק if a person was a relation (by marriage, so as to be disqualified), and became a stranger again. B. Mets. 39ᵃ שבוי … מורידין ק׳ וכ׳ if a person has been carried off captive, they (the court) appoint a relative to manage his estate. Ib. ק׳ מחמת ק׳ an indirect relative (e.g. one’s step-brother’s step-brother); a. v. fr.—Pl. קְרוֹבִים, קְרוֹבִין. Gitt. 14ᵇ ק׳ למלכות connected with royalty, influential. Snh. III, 4 ואלו הן הק׳ the following are considered relatives (disqualified to act as judges or witnesses); a. fr.—Sabb. 152ᵃ ק׳ נעשו רחוקים near objects have become distant (my senses are dull from old age).—[Tanḥ. B’shall. 18 ועברה קרובים; Y. Taan. II, 66ᵃ top שהגיע לקרובין, v. קָרוּכִין.]—Fem. קְרוֹבָה. Y. Ber. l. c. ע"ז נראית ק׳ ואינה וכ׳ the idol is apparently near, but in fact distant. Esth. R. to III, 1 Haman reflected in his heart אם אסתר … קְרוֹבָתִי if Esther is a Jewess, she is my relative. Meg. 14ᵇ חולדה קְרוֹבַת וכ׳ Huldah was a relative of Jeremiah’s; a. fr.—Pl. קְרוֹבוֹת. Gen. R. s. 18 נשא … מקְרוֹבוֹתָיו וכ׳ if a man marries one of his relatives, of him it is said ‘bone of my bones’ (Gen. II, 23). Lev. R. s. 18 רחוקות נעשו ק׳ ק׳ וכ׳ distant objects have become near (things that I could discern at a distance must be brought near me), near objects have become distant, v. supra; a. fr. e.g. Deuteronomy 4:7
קָרוֹב II
- (קְרֵב Pa. 3) leader in prayer, hymnologist, reader. Lev. R. s. 30 קרוב ופייטן Ar. (ed., a. Pesik. Ul’ḳaḥ. p. 179ᵃ פייטן ודרשן) hymnologist and poet; Cant. R. to III, 6 קָרֵיבוֹי ופייטויי. Y. Ber. I, 3ᶜ bot. [read:] ר׳ … הוה סמיך לק׳ וכ׳ R. Z. (in his prayer of the section Modim) kept pace with the reader in order to bow simultaneously with him at the beginning and at the end. Lev. R. s. 19; Cant. R. to V, 11 ר׳ אלכסנדרי ק׳ R. A. the hymnologist.—[In liturgy קרובות (not קרובץ): the poetical insertions, on special occasions, in the Prayer of Benedictions.]
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 50 distinct written forms H7138 takes in the Hebrew Bible, most frequent first — each parse links to that state’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 H7138, 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
- קרב qᵉrêb H7127 to approach
- קרב qᵉrâb H7128 battle
- קרב qereb H7130 midst
- קרב qârêb H7131 near
- קרבה qᵉrâbâh H7132 approach
- קרבן qorbân H7133 offering
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 69 verses that also exist in the Greek Old Testament (Septuagint), out of the 76 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 19:20
- Exodus 12:4
- Leviticus 10:3
- Numbers 24:17
- Deuteronomy 4:7
- Joshua 9:16
- Ruth 2:20
- 2 Samuel 19:42
- 1 Kings 8:46
- 1 Chronicles 12:40
- 2 Chronicles 6:36
- Esther 1:14
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.
