Hebrew word · H1846

דָּעַךְ

yid'akh

to put out

dāʿakh: go out, be extinguished (a flame); also figuratively, to be wiped out. kāvāh: be quenched, go out; in the active form, to put out. Both are words for a lamp or fire.

Appears 9 times in 9 verses of the Hebrew Old Testament. ·

What it means

1) to go out, be extinguished, dry up

1a) (Qal) to go out, be extinguished

1b) (Niphal) to be made extinct, be dried up

1c) (Pual) to be extinguished, be quenched

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

From the study of Isaiah 43:17

Range of meaning

dāʿakh: go out, be extinguished (a flame); also figuratively, to be wiped out. kāvāh: be quenched, go out; in the active form, to put out. Both are words for a lamp or fire.

Against the English

KJV "they are extinct, they are quenched"; ESV, NIV and BSB "extinguished … snuffed out/quenched." KJV's "extinct" meant "put out (of a flame)" in 1611, not "died out as a species."

How it drifted

In 1611 "extinct" still had its Latin sense, "extinguished." The biological sense ("a species gone extinct") became dominant later, so KJV readers now hear a different picture.

Used elsewhere in the period

Proverbs 13:9; 20:20; 24:20 and Job 18:5–6: the "lamp of the wicked" goes out (dāʿakh). 2 Samuel 21:17: David must not "quench the lamp of Israel" (kāvāh). Isaiah 42:3: "a dimly burning wick he will not quench." Isaiah 1:31: the "strong" become tinder with "none to quench."

From the study of Proverbs 13:9

Range of meaning

To go out, be extinguished (of a flame). By extension, to come to an end or vanish (Job 6:17, of streams drying up). Used in only a handful of places.

Against the English

'Is extinguished' (BSB, YLT), 'shall be put out' (KJV) and 'is snuffed out' (WEB) all fit. The KJV future 'shall' and the others' present both work: the Hebrew imperfect states what is sure to happen.

Used elsewhere in the period

Job 18:5–6; 21:17; Prov 20:20; 24:20, always of the lamp or light of the wicked or the wrongdoer. Isa 43:17: enemies 'extinguished, quenched like a wick'.

From the study of Proverbs 20:20

Range of meaning

To go out, be extinguished (of a lamp or fire); figuratively to come to an end, be cut off. Rare: it occurs only a handful of times (Job 6:17; 18:5–6; 21:17; Prov 13:9; 20:20; 24:20; Isa 43:17).

Against the English

Translations vary between 'be put out' (KJV, WEB, ESV), 'be extinguished' (BSB, YLT) and 'be snuffed out' (NIV, NLT). All are fair. 'Put out' can suggest someone doing the extinguishing, but the Hebrew is simply 'it goes out'.

Used elsewhere in the period

Almost all its uses are wisdom sayings about the fate of the wicked, so the verb is part of a set phrase: 'the lamp of the wicked goes out'.

Where it appears

Job · 4

  1. Job 6:17 נִדְעֲכ֥וּ they are dried up

    but ceasing in the dry season and vanishing from their channels in the heat.

  2. Job 18:5 יִדְעָ֑ךְ it is extinguished

    Indeed, the lamp of the wicked is extinguished; the flame of his fire does not glow.

    Here: An uncommon verb for a flame dying, like a lamp running out of oil or a fire smothered. The verb form presents it as a regular, ongoing fact ("goes out") rather than a single future event. Job had used the same verb in 17:1 ("my days are extinguished"), and Bildad turns Job's own word against him.

  3. Job 18:6 יִדְעָֽךְ׃ it is extinguished

    The light in his tent grows dark, and the lamp beside him goes out.

  4. Job 21:17 יִדְעָ֗ךְ is it extinguished

    How often is the lamp of the wicked put out? Does disaster come upon them? Does God, in His anger, apportion destruction?

Psalms · 1

  1. Psalm 118:12 דֹּ֭עֲכוּ they were extinguished

    They swarmed around me like bees, but they were extinguished like burning thorns; in the name of the LORD I cut them off.

    Here: 'They were snuffed out.' The verb is passive and in completed form. The swarm that seemed overwhelming went out like a lamp or a fire. The verb is used of lamps going out (Prov 13:9; 20:20; Job 18:5–6).

Proverbs · 3

  1. Proverbs 13:9 יִדְעָֽךְ׃ it is extinguished

    The light of the righteous shines brightly, but the lamp of the wicked is extinguished.

    Here: 'Goes out' or 'is snuffed out'. The flame dies because its oil or wick is used up or it is put out. The verb is used of a life or family coming to an end (Job 18:5–6; Prov 20:20; 24:20).

  2. Proverbs 20:20 יִֽדְעַ֥ךְ it will be extinguished

    Whoever curses his father or mother, his lamp will be extinguished in deepest darkness.

    Here: 'It will go out' / 'will be snuffed out'. The verb is used for a flame dying. The form is intransitive (the lamp goes out; no one is named as putting it out), and the future sense states a fixed outcome. Proverbs uses the same verb for 'the lamp of the wicked' (13:9; 24:20).

  3. Proverbs 24:20 יִדְעָֽךְ׃ it will be extinguished

    For the evil man has no future; the lamp of the wicked will be extinguished.

    Here: A rare verb used almost only of a lamp or wick going out. The form describes the lamp itself sputtering out, with no one named as putting it out. Its oil runs dry and it goes dark.

Isaiah · 1

  1. Isaiah 43:17 דָּעֲכ֖וּ they were extinguished

    who brings out the chariots and horses, the armies and warriors together, to lie down, never to rise again; to be extinguished, snuffed out like a wick:

    Here: Used of a flame or lamp going out. In wisdom literature it describes the "lamp of the wicked" going out (Job 18:5–6; Prov 13:9; 24:20), meaning a life and its line coming to an end. The perfect form presents it as already over.

Word data: STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0), main text only.