Hebrew word · H1856

דָּקַר

vedakereni

to pierce

To pierce through or run through with a weapon. It is used of a spear or sword thrust that normally kills. The passive participle means 'the pierced', that is, battle casualties or the slain.

Appears 11 times in 10 verses of the Hebrew Old Testament. · Updated October 31, 2026

What it means

1) to pierce, thrust through, pierce through

1a) (Qal) to pierce, run through

1b) (Niphal) to be pierced through

1c) (Pual) pierced, riddled (participle)

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 Zechariah 12:10

Range of meaning: To pierce through or run through with a weapon. It is used of a spear or sword thrust that normally kills. The passive participle means 'the pierced', that is, battle casualties or the slain.
Against the English: 'Pierced' is accurate. Some proposals soften it to 'insulted' or 'wounded in feeling', especially to avoid God being literally pierced. The usage does not support a merely emotional sense. The verb is always physical, though here it may be applied figuratively to God through a representative.
Used elsewhere in the period: Numbers 25:8: Phinehas drives a spear through two people. Judges 9:54 and 1 Samuel 31:4: a request to be run through and killed. Isaiah 13:15. Jeremiah 37:10 and 51:4 ('pierced ones' as the slain). Lamentations 4:9. Zechariah 13:3, three verses later, uses it of parents running through a son who prophesies falsely. Aquila and Theodotion translate it ekkenteō, 'pierce', as John 19:37 does.

From the study of Zechariah 13:3

Range of meaning: To pierce through or run through, nearly always with a sword or spear and nearly always fatally. Examples: Phinehas spearing the couple (Num 25:8); Abimelech and Saul asking to be run through (Judg 9:54; 1 Sam 31:4); those slain in war (Isa 13:15; Jer 37:10; 51:4; Lam 4:9).
Against the English: 'Pierce him through' (BSB, YLT; also ESV, NASB) and 'thrust him through' (KJV) keep the force and the verbal link. 'Stab' (WEB and some modern versions) is accurate about the act but hides the fact that it is the same verb as 'pierced' in 12:10.
Used elsewhere in the period: Zech 12:10: 'they will look on me, the one whom they have pierced (dāqārû)'. John 19:37 and Revelation 1:7 cite that verse. The Vulgate uses configo ('pierce through') in both 12:10 and 13:3. The Septuagint has 'bind hand and foot' here.

From the study of 1 Samuel 31:4

Range of meaning: To pierce, stab or run through, usually with a sword or spear, and usually fatally.
Against the English: 'Thrust me through' (KJV, WEB) and 'run me through' (BSB) both capture it well. 'Pierce' (YLT) is accurate.
Used elsewhere in the period: Phinehas runs through the Israelite man and the Midianite woman (Num 25:8). Abimelech's young man 'ran him through, and he died' (Judg 9:54). In Zechariah 12:10, 'the one whom they pierced,' later quoted in John 19:37.

Where it appears

Numbers · 1

Numbers 25:8 וַיִּדְקֹר֙ and he pierced through

followed the Israelite into the tent, and drove the spear through both of them—through the Israelite and on through the belly of the woman. So the plague against the Israelites was halted,

Judges · 1

Judges 9:54 וַיִּדְקְרֵ֥הוּ and he pierced through him

He quickly called his armor-bearer, saying, “Draw your sword and kill me, lest they say of me, ‘A woman killed him.’” So Abimelech’s armor-bearer ran his sword through him, and he died.

1 Samuel · 2

1 Samuel 31:4 וְדָקְרֵ֣נִי וּדְקָרֻ֙נִי֙ and pierce through me, and they will pierce through me

Then Saul said to his armor-bearer, “Draw your sword and run me through with it, or these uncircumcised men will come and run me through and torture me!” But his armor-bearer was terrified and refused to do it. So Saul took his own sword and fell on it.

Here: A command: run me through. The verb means a thrust that pierces right through the body and kills.

1 Chronicles · 1

1 Chronicles 10:4 וְדָקְרֵ֣נִי and pierce through me

Then Saul said to his armor-bearer, “Draw your sword and run me through with it, or these uncircumcised men will come and torture me!” But his armor-bearer was terrified and refused to do it. So Saul took his own sword and fell on it.

Isaiah · 1

Isaiah 13:15 יִדָּקֵ֑ר he will be pierced through

Whoever is caught will be stabbed, and whoever is captured will die by the sword.

Jeremiah · 2

Jeremiah 37:10 מְדֻקָּרִ֑ים pierced through

Indeed, if you were to strike down the entire army of the Chaldeans that is fighting against you, and only wounded men remained in their tents, they would still get up and burn this city down.”
Jeremiah 51:4 וּמְדֻקָּרִ֖ים and pierced through

And they will fall slain in the land of the Chaldeans, and pierced through in her streets.

Lamentations · 1

Lamentations 4:9 מְדֻקָּרִ֔ים pierced through

Those slain by the sword are better off than those who die of hunger, who waste away, pierced with pain because the fields lack produce.

Zechariah · 2

Zechariah 12:10 דָּקָ֑רוּ they have pierced through

Then I will pour out on the house of David and on the people of Jerusalem a spirit of grace and prayer, and they will look on Me, the One they have pierced. They will mourn for Him as one mourns for an only child, and grieve bitterly for Him as one grieves for a firstborn son.

Here: 'They pierced through.' This means a stabbing thrust, normally a fatal one with a spear or sword. The subject is the same 'they' who look and mourn, so the mourners are the ones who did it.
Zechariah 13:3 וּדְקָרֻ֜הוּ and they will pierce through him

And if anyone still prophesies, his father and mother who bore him will say to him, ‘You shall not remain alive, because you have spoken falsely in the name of the LORD.’ When he prophesies, his father and mother who bore him will pierce him through.

Here: To run through with a sword or spear, a fatal thrust. It is the same verb as 'whom they have pierced' in 12:10, only a few lines earlier.

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