קֶ֫שֶׁת
bow
‘bow’ is one of 5 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
- Noun
- A naming word — a person, place, thing, or idea.
Noun type
- Common
- A common noun — a general class of person, place, or thing (“king,” “city,” “water”), not a specific name.
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
- Feminine
- Grammatically feminine.
Number
- Singular
- One.
- Plural
- More than one (in Hebrew, generally three or more).
41 distinct verses where H7198 appears in the Absolute state, across 16 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.
Genesis 3 verses
- Genesis 9:14 הַ/קֶּ֖שֶׁת ptcl def.art + n c fs It will happen, when I bring a cloud over the earth, that the rainbow will be seen in the cloud,
- Genesis 9:16 הַ/קֶּ֖שֶׁת ptcl def.art + n c fs The rainbow will be in the cloud. I will look at it, that I may remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of all flesh that is on the earth."
- Genesis 21:16 קֶ֔שֶׁת n c fs She went and sat down opposite him, a good way off, about a bow shot away. For she said, "Don't let me see the death of the child." She sat over against him, and lifted up her voice, and wept.
1 Samuel 1 verse
2 Samuel 1 verse
1 Kings 1 verse
2 Kings 3 verses
- 2 Kings 9:24 בַ/קֶּ֗שֶׁת prep det + n c fs Jehu drew his bow with his full strength, and struck Joram between his arms; and the arrow went out at his heart, and he sunk down in his chariot.
- 2 Kings 13:15 קֶ֣שֶׁת קֶ֥שֶׁת n c fs n c fs Elisha said to him, Take bow and arrows; and he took to him bow and arrows.
- 2 Kings 13:16 הַ/קֶּ֔שֶׁת ptcl def.art + n c fs He said to the king of Israel, Put your hand on the bow; and he put his hand [on it]. Elisha laid his hands on the king's hands.
1 Chronicles 4 verses
- 1 Chronicles 5:18 קֶ֔שֶׁת n c fs The sons of Reuben, and the Gadites, and the half-tribe of Manasseh, of valiant men, men able to bear buckler and sword, and to shoot with bow, and skillful in war, were forty-four thousand seven hundred and sixty, that were able to go forth to war.
- 1 Chronicles 8:40 קֶ֗שֶׁת n c fs The sons of Ulam were mighty men of valor, archers, and had many sons, and sons' sons, one hundred fifty. All these were of the sons of Benjamin.
- 1 Chronicles 10:3 בַּ/קָּ֑שֶׁת prep det + n c fs The battle went sore against Saul, and the archers overtook him; and he was distressed by reason of the archers.
- 1 Chronicles 12:2 קֶ֗שֶׁת בַּ/קָּ֑שֶׁת n c fs prep det + n c fs They were armed with bows, and could use both the right hand and the left in slinging stones and in shooting arrows from the bow: they were of Saul's brothers of Benjamin.
2 Chronicles 4 verses
- 2 Chronicles 14:8 קֶ֔שֶׁת n c fs Asa had an army that bore bucklers and spears, out of Judah three hundred thousand; and out of Benjamin, that bore shields and drew bows, two hundred eighty thousand: all these were mighty men of valor.
- 2 Chronicles 17:17 קֶ֥שֶׁת n c fs Of Benjamin: Eliada a mighty man of valor, and with him two hundred thousand armed with bow and shield;
- 2 Chronicles 18:33 בַּ/קֶּ֨שֶׁת֙ prep det + n c fs A certain man drew his bow at a venture, and struck the king of Israel between the joints of the armor. Therefore he said to the driver of the chariot, Turn your hand, and carry me out of the host; for I am sore wounded.
- 2 Chronicles 26:14 וּ/קְשָׁת֑וֹת conj + n c fp Uzziah prepared for them, even for all the host, shields, and spears, and helmets, and coats of mail, and bows, and stones for slinging.
Nehemiah 1 verse
Job 1 verse
Psalms 4 verses
- Psalms 11:2 קֶ֗שֶׁת n c fs For, behold, the wicked bend their bows. They set their arrows on the strings, That they may shoot in darkness at the upright in heart.
- Psalms 46:9 קֶ֣שֶׁת n c fs He makes wars cease to the end of the earth. He breaks the bow, and shatters the spear. He burns the chariots in the fire.
- Psalms 76:3 קָ֑שֶׁת n c fs There he broke the flaming arrows of the bow, The shield, and the sword, and the weapons of war. Selah.
- Psalms 78:9 קָ֑שֶׁת n c fs The children of Ephraim, being armed and carrying bows, Turned back in the day of battle.
Isaiah 6 verses
- Isaiah 7:24 וּ/בַ/קֶּ֖שֶׁת conj + prep det + n c fs People will go there with arrows and with bow, because all the land will be briers and thorns.
- Isaiah 13:18 וּ/קְשָׁת֖וֹת conj + n c fp [Their] bows shall dash the young men in pieces; and they shall have no pity on the fruit of the womb; their eye shall not spare children.
- Isaiah 21:15 קֶ֣שֶׁת n c fs For they fled away from the swords, from the drawn sword, and from the bent bow, and from the heat of battle.
- Isaiah 21:17 קֶ֛שֶׁת n c fs and the residue of the number of the archers, the mighty men of the children of Kedar, shall be few; for Yahweh, the God of Israel, has spoken it.
- Isaiah 22:3 מִ/קֶּ֣שֶׁת prep + n c fs All your rulers fled away together, they were bound by the archers; all who were found of you were bound together; they fled afar off.
- Isaiah 66:19 קֶ֖שֶׁת n c fs I will set a sign among them, and I will send such as escape of them to the nations, to Tarshish, Pul, and Lud, who draw the bow, to Tubal and Javan, to the isles afar off, who have not heard my fame, neither have seen my glory; and they shall declare my glory among the nations.
Jeremiah 6 verses
- Jeremiah 4:29 קֶ֗שֶׁת n c fs Every city flees for the noise of the horsemen and archers; they go into the thickets, and climb up on the rocks: every city is forsaken, and not a man dwells therein.
- Jeremiah 6:23 קֶ֣שֶׁת n c fs They lay hold on bow and spear; they are cruel, and have no mercy; their voice roars like the sea, and they ride on horses, everyone set in array, as a man to the battle, against you, daughter of Zion.
- Jeremiah 46:9 קָֽשֶׁת n c fs Go up, you horses; and rage, you chariots; and let the mighty men go forth: Cush and Put, who handle the shield; and the Ludim, who handle and bend the bow.
- Jeremiah 50:14 קֶ֔שֶׁת n c fs Set yourselves in array against Babylon round about, all you who bend the bow; shoot at her, spare no arrows: for she has sinned against Yahweh.
- Jeremiah 50:29 קֶ֜שֶׁת n c fs Call together the archers against Babylon, all those who bend the bow; encamp against her round about; let none of it escape: recompense her according to her work; according to all that she has done, do to her; for she has been proud against Yahweh, against the Holy One of Israel.
- Jeremiah 50:42 קֶ֣שֶׁת n c fs They lay hold on bow and spear; they are cruel, and have no mercy; their voice roars like the sea; and they ride on horses, everyone set in array, as a man to the battle, against you, daughter of Babylon.
Ezekiel 2 verses
- Ezekiel 1:28 הַ/קֶּ֡שֶׁת ptcl def.art + n c fs As the appearance of the bow that is in the cloud in the day of rain, so was the appearance of the brightness round about. This was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of Yahweh. When I saw it, I fell on my face, and I heard a voice of one that spoke.
- Ezekiel 39:9 בְּ/קֶ֣שֶׁת prep + n c fs Those who dwell in the cities of Israel shall go forth, and shall make fires of the weapons and burn them, both the shields and the bucklers, the bows and the arrows, and the war clubs, and the spears, and they shall make fires of them seven years;
Hosea 2 verses
- Hosea 1:7 בְּ/קֶ֤שֶׁת prep + n c fs But I will have mercy on the house of Judah, and will save them by Yahweh their God, and will not save them by bow, nor by sword, nor by battle, by horses, nor by horsemen."
- Hosea 2:18 וְ/קֶ֨שֶׁת conj + n c fs In that day I will make a covenant for them with the animals of the field, And with the birds of the sky, And with the creeping things of the ground. I will break the bow, the sword, and the battle out of the land, And will make them lie down safely.
Amos 1 verse
Zechariah 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.
קשת — transliterated qesheth — is a Hebrew noun carrying the sense “bow.” It is not a single-sense word — see its full sense range. The Hebrew Bible uses it across 74 verses — moderately common. It first appears in Genesis 9:13. Related forms include קשה, מקשה and קשה. See the sense tree, 74-verse concordance, and the renderings breakdown below.
Gloss history
Strong's 1890 vs modern scholarship
About this word
Strong's H7198 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 →
- 74
- distinct verses
- The word appears in 74 distinct verses.
- 19 / 39
- OT books
- The word appears in 19 of 39 Old Testament books.
- #523
- by frequency
- Top 1000 most frequent Hebrew words (rank 523 of 8,640 Hebrew words by occurrence).
View all 74 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 74 distinct verses.
- Prophets (Nevi'im) 42 verses · 57%
- Writings (Ketuvim) 25 verses · 34%
- Torah (Pentateuch) 7 verses · 9%
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: Bow 52×, Bows 11×, Archers 2×
- American Standard Version: Bow 50×, Bows 11×, Archers 2×
- Berean Standard Bible: Bow 43×, Bows 11×, Rainbow 3×
- unfoldingWord Literal Text: Bow 49×, Bows 9×, Bow of 5×
King James Version Public Domain
Renders H7198 across 71 tagged occurrences — most commonly:
Plus 6 renderings that appear only once — usually multi-word phrases or single function words the recovered tagging swept in, not distinct renderings. Not rendered by a distinct English word in 6 further occurrences.
American Standard Version Public Domain
Renders H7198 across 71 tagged occurrences — most commonly:
Plus 8 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 H7198 across 65 tagged occurrences — most commonly:
Plus 4 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 11 further occurrences.
unfoldingWord Literal Text CC BY-SA 4.0
Renders H7198 across 75 tagged occurrences — most commonly:
Plus 6 renderings that appear only once — usually multi-word phrases or single function words the recovered tagging swept in, not distinct renderings.
7 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 7 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. bow:
- a. for hunting Gn 27:3 (J; + תְּלִי). e.g. Genesis 27:3
- b. battle: + (or ‖) חֶרֶב, Gn 48:22; Jos 24:12 (both E), Ho 1:7; 2:20 1 S 18:4 (+ חֲגֹרוֹ), 2 S 1:22; 2 K 6:22; Is 41:2 Ne 4:7 (+ רָמְחֵיחֶם), Zc 9:13 (fig. of Judah as י׳’s bow), ψ 37:15 (fig.), 44:7 (+ or ‖ חֶרֶב also infr.); + (or ‖) חִזִּים Is 7:24; 2 K 13:15(×2); Ez 39:3, 9; 1 Ch 12:2a; cf. רִשְׁפֵי ק׳ ψ 76:4 = arrow (+ מָגֵן וְחֶרֶב) so בֶּן ק׳ Jb 41:20 (cf. La 3:13; Jb 5:7); + חֲנִית ψ 46:10, + כִּידוֹן Je 6:23; 50:42; + various weapons Ne 4:10; 2 Ch 26:14; alone Is 13:18 (context corrupt), 22:3; Je 51:56; Hb 3:9 (of י׳ as warrior); ק׳ מִלְחָמָה Zc 9:10; 10:4; in sim. כְּק׳ רְמִיָּה like a bow of deception Ho 7:16 ψ 78:57 (i.e. one that misses its aim; al. slack bow). e.g. Genesis 48:22
- c. ק׳ coll. = bow(-men), archers Is 21:17. e.g. Isaiah 21:17
- d. phrases are: הַמּוֹרִים אֲנָשִׁים בַּקּ׳ 1 S 31:3 archers, bowmen (but dub.; Dr Kit Löhr tr., א׳ הַמּ׳; We Bu del. א׳, as ‖ 1 Ch 10:3; HPS Now del. א׳ בַּקּ׳), הַמּוֹרִים בַּקּ׳ 1 Ch 10:3; מְטַחֲוֵי ק׳ Gn 21:16 (v. [טָחָה]), רמֵה ק׳ Je 4:29, cf. perhaps Gn 21:21 v. קַשַּׁת, ‖ נשְׁקֵי ק׳ (v. II. נָשַׁק) 1 Ch 12:2 b; 2 Ch 17:17, נוֹ׳ רוֹמֵי ק׳ ψ 78:9; תֹּפֵשׂ הַקּ׳ Am 2:15 one grasping the bow, (v. Je 46:9 infr.) v. also מִלֵּא יָדוֹ בַקּ׳ 2 K 9:24, הַרְכֵּב יָֽדְךָ עַל־הַקּ׳ 13:16; דָּרַךְ ק׳ bend (lit. tread) the bow, Is 5:28 (pt. pass), 21:15 (id.; ‖ חֶרֶב), Je 50:14, 29; 51:3; 1 Ch 5:18; 8:40; 2 Ch 14:7; ψ 37:14 (‖ חֶרֶב), in fig. 11:2 (‖ חֵץ), and, of God, La 2:4; 3:12 ψ 7:13 (‖ חֶרֶב); תֹּפְשֵׂי דֹּרְכֵי ק׳ Je 46:9; cf. (fig.) וַיַּדְרְכוּ אֶת־לְשׁוֹנָם קַשְׁתָּם Je 9:2; also וְנִחֲתָה ק׳ נְחוּשָׁה ψ 18:35 = 2 S 22:35 (read וְנִחֲתָה for וְנִחַת); מָשַׁךְ בַּקּ׳ draw the bow 1 K 22:34 = 2 Ch 18:33; Is 66:19. e.g. 1 Samuel 31:3
- e. bow (passing over into) fig. of might, Gn 49:24 (poem), 1 S 2:4; Ho 1:5; Je 49:35; Jb 29:20 (cf. ψ 37:15, b. supr.). f. ק׳ נְחוּשָׁה fig. of divine judgment Jb 20:24 (‖ נֵשֶׁק בַּרְזֶל). e.g. Genesis 49:24
- 2. rainbow: כְּמַרְאֵה הַקּ׳ אֲשֶׁר יִהְיֶה בֶעָנָן בְּיוֹם הַגֶּשֶׁם Ez 1:28; Gn 9:13, 14, 16 (P).—וַיֹּאמֶד לְלַמֵּד בְּנֵי־יְהוּדָה קָ֑שֶׁת 2 S 1:18 is corrupt; 𝔊 al. om.; We Now think misplaced gloss on v 6; v. further HPS. e.g. Ezekiel 1:28
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
n.f. Gn 9:14 (appar. m. 2 S 1:22 but v. AlbrZAW xvi (1896) 91) bow (orig. √ perhaps קושׁ, meaning unknown; NH id.; Assyrian ḳaštu; Ethiopic ቀስት: Arabic قَوْسٌ, pl. قُسِىٌّ, قِسِىٌّ, etc.; 𝔗 קַשְׁתָּא and (ט for ת after ק) קוּשְׁטָא (rare), all bow, קַשָּׁתָא bowman; Syriac ܩܶܫܬܳܐ bow, ܩܰܫܳܬܳܐ bowman; Old Aramaic קשת bow, Mand. כשטא (Frä 206); Palm. קשטא bowman);—abs. ק׳ Ho 1:7 +, קָ֑שֶׁת Je 46:9 +; cstr. קֶ֫שֶׁת Ho 1:5 +; sf. קַשְׁתִּי Gn 48:22 +, etc.; pl. abs. קְשָׁתוֹת 2 Ch 26:14 +; sf. קַשְּׁתֹתָיו (Ges§ 20 h) Is 5:28, קַשְּׁתוֹתָם Je 51:56 ψ 37:15, קַשְּׁתֹתֵיהֶם Ne 4:7 (קַשְׁתֹּתָיו etc., van d. H. [except ψ 37:15]);—
— Brown-Driver-Briggs (Oxford 1906, public domain), digitized via Sefaria, supplemented by the OpenScriptures HebrewLexicon (CC BY 4.0). See Sources.
Derived from קשה (qâshâh) (H7185) — to be hard.
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.
קְשַׁת
- (v. קְשַׁט) to shoot. Targ. Ez. XXI, 26. Targ. Y. II, Ex. XV, 4; a. e.
- same. Targ. Is. XXXVII, 33 יַקְשִׁית ed. Wil. (ed. Lag. יִקְשַׁת); Targ. II Kings XIX, 32.
- to be shot forth. Targ. Y. II, Ex. XIX, 13 (v. קְשַׁט).
קֶשֶׁת
- c. (b. h.; preced.) bow; rainbow. Erub. 55ᵃ עיר העשויה כק׳ a town built in the shape of a bow; ib. עשויה כמין ק׳. Ber. 59ᵃ הרואה את הק׳ בענן he who sees a rainbow in the clouds. Ḥag. 16ᵃ. Gen. R. s. 35; a. fr.—Pl. קְשָתוֹת. Lam. R. introd. (R. Joḥ. 1) (ref. to Is. XXII, 3) שהיו מתירין גידי קַשְׁתּוֹתָם וכ׳ they loosened the strings of their bows and tied them with them; Yalk. Is. 289. Sifré Deut. 18 עקרבים כק׳ scorpions as large as bows; Yalk. ib. 803; a. e.—Trnsf. membrum virile, potentia virilis. Sot. 36ᵇ; Y. Hor. II, 46ᵈ; a. e. e.g. Isaiah 22:3
קֶשֶׁת ²
- 1. bow; rainbow. Targ. Is. XXI, 15. Targ. Gen. XXI, 16. Ib. IX, 13; a. fr.—Pl. קַשְׁתִּין, קַשְׁתָּן, קַשְׁתָּתָא, קַשְׁוָותָא. Targ. Is. VII, 24. Targ. II Chr. XXVI, 14. Targ. I Sam. II, 4 קַשְׁתַּת constr. (followed by ד־). Targ. Y. Gen. XXI, 20. Targ. Ps. XXXVII, 14, sq.; a. e.
- 2. the curved side of the stomach, opp. to יִתְרָא. Ḥull. 50ᵃ דאק׳ the fat covering the curved &c.
קַשָּׁת
- preced.) archer; esp. ק׳ (מזל) Sagittarius, a sign of the Zodiac. Gen. R. s. 98. Pesik. R. s. 20; Yalk. Ex. 418; a. e.—Pl. קַשָּׁתִים, קַשָּׁתִין. Lam. R. to II, 2, a. e., v. קַשָּׁט.
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 48 distinct written forms H7198 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 H7198, grouped by Strong’s listed origin. These share a root / origin per the lexicon — not necessarily a shared meaning. Each links to that word’s own entry.
Derives from
Shares the same root
Derived from this word
Compare all same-root words → Showing 4 of 6 — not the complete family. They share a root, not necessarily a meaning.
Septuagint verse parallels
This word appears in 63 verses that also exist in the Greek Old Testament (Septuagint), out of the 74 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 9:13
- Joshua 24:12
- 1 Samuel 2:4
- 2 Samuel 1:18
- 1 Kings 22:34
- 2 Kings 6:22
- 1 Chronicles 5:18
- 2 Chronicles 14:8
- Job 20:24
- Psalms 7:12
- Isaiah 5:28
- Jeremiah 4:29
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.
