Hebrew word · H1794
דָּכָה
dikitanu
to crush
To crush, bruise, pulverize. In the passive, 'be crushed, be ground down'. It belongs with the related root daka ('crush'), which gives dakka', 'crushed/contrite' (Isa 57:15; Ps 34:18).
Appears 5 times in 5 verses of the Hebrew Old Testament. ·
What it means
1) to crush, be crushed, be contrite, be broken
1a) (Qal) to be crushed, collapse
1b)(Niphal) to be crushed, be contrite, be broken
1c) (Piel)
1c1) to crush down
1c2) to crush to pieces
Abridged from Brown, Driver and Briggs, A Hebrew and English Lexicon of the Old Testament (1906), via STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0).
In depth
- Range of meaning
To crush, bruise, pulverize. In the passive, 'be crushed, be ground down'. It belongs with the related root daka ('crush'), which gives dakka', 'crushed/contrite' (Isa 57:15; Ps 34:18). It is used of people crushed by enemies or by God (Ps 44:19 'You crushed us in the haunt of jackals'; Ps 38:8 'I am feeble and utterly crushed').
- Against the English
'Contrite' today means 'feeling sorry, remorseful'. The Hebrew describes a state of being crushed. YLT's 'bruised' and the NLT's 'repentant' show the two ends of the range translators choose from.
- How it drifted
English 'contrite' comes, through the Latin Vulgate's cor contritum, from Latin conterere, 'to grind, crush, wear down'. In the medieval church contritio became the technical term for sorrow for sin, part of the sacrament of penance. Over time the English word lost its physical picture and kept only the feeling.
- Used elsewhere in the period
Psalm 51:8 (Heb. v.10) uses the same root: 'let the bones You have crushed (dikkita) rejoice'. The Septuagint here gives tetapeinōmenēn, 'humbled', and the Vulgate humiliatum, both stressing lowliness. Ps 34:18 and Isa 57:15 use the related dakka for the 'crushed' whom God draws near to.
- Range of meaning
Crush, beat down, crumble. Its passive forms mean 'be crushed, contrite'. It is closely related to daka' ('crush, pulverize'), as in Isa 57:15, 'the crushed and lowly of spirit'.
- Against the English
KJV, WEB, ESV and NASB say 'broken', which can suggest a clean fracture. BSB and NIV say 'crushed', which better fits a word for pounding and crumbling. The Septuagint says 'humbled' (tetapeinōmena).
- How it drifted
In English, 'broken bones' first brings to mind a fracture, a single break that is set and heals. The Hebrew picture is of being ground down.
- Used elsewhere in the period
Ps 44:19: 'you have crushed (dikkitanu) us in the place of jackals', again with God as the one who crushes. Ps 51:17 (Heb. 19): 'a broken and crushed (nidkeh) heart, O God, you will not despise'. The Septuagint renders dakah here with tapeinoō, 'humble, bring low'.
- Range of meaning
To crush, beat down, break in pieces. It is closely related to dākāʾ, with the same sense. The passive forms describe someone shattered or contrite.
- Against the English
"Crushed" (BSB, WEB, NASB) is accurate. The KJV's "sore broken" keeps the force well. The ESV's "broken" is a little weaker. The YLT's "smitten" (struck) loses the picture of something being ground down.
- Used elsewhere in the period
Ps 51:19 [Eng 51:17] uses a related form for the "broken and crushed (nidkeh) heart" that God does not despise. Ps 38:9 [Eng 38:8]: "I am feeble and utterly crushed (nidkêtî)". Ps 10:10 uses it of the helpless being crushed by the wicked.
Where it appears
Psalms · 5
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Psalm 10:10 יִדְכֶּ֥ה he is crushed
They are crushed and beaten down; the helpless fall prey to his strength.
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Psalm 38:8 וְנִדְכֵּ֣יתִי and I am crushed
I am numb and badly crushed; I groan in anguish of heart.
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Psalm 44:19 דִ֭כִּיתָנוּ you have crushed us
But You have crushed us in the lair of jackals; You have covered us with deepest darkness.
Here: "You have crushed us". The verb is in its intensive form (Piel) and has God as the subject. The word pictures grinding or smashing to pieces, not a light bruising. The psalmists do not say the enemy did this. They say God did.
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Psalm 51:8 דִּכִּֽיתָ׃ [which] you have crushed
Let me hear joy and gladness; let the bones You have crushed rejoice.
Here: 'You have crushed.' It forms a relative clause without a 'which' word: '[the] bones [that] you crushed'. The psalmist says plainly that God is the one who flattened him. The same root comes back in v.17: 'a broken and crushed heart'.
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Psalm 51:17 וְנִדְכֶּ֑ה and crushed
The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and a contrite heart, O God, You will not despise.
Here: 'Crushed, ground down', a condition of being flattened rather than a feeling of regret. It comes from the same root as verse 8: 'let the bones You have crushed (dikkita) rejoice'. The crushing is something God has done to him.
Word data: STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0), main text only.