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Abarim Publications' Biblical Dictionary: The Old Testament Hebrew word: דקר

Source: https://www.abarim-publications.com/Dictionary/d/d-q-r.html

דקר

Abarim Publications' online Biblical Hebrew Dictionary

דקר

The verb דקר (daqar) means to pierce or thrust through, always of human beings and usually with the result of death (Judges 9:54, 1 Samuel 31:4, Isaiah 13:15), but sometimes leaving the person alive and badly wounded (Jeremiah 37:10).

The instrument mostly associated to this verb is the sword, but in Numbers 25:8, Phinehas runs Zimri and Cozbi through with a spear. In Lamentations 4:9, Jeremiah observes that it is better to be pierced with a sword than with hunger. Via prophet Zechariah, YHWH famously foretells that the house of David would look mournfully on him who they would have pierced (Zechariah 12:10).

This verb comes with one derivative, namely the feminine noun מדקרה (madqara), meaning a piercing. It occurs only once, in Proverbs 12:18, where thoughtless speech is equated with the piercing of a sword.


Associated Biblical names