Hebrew word · H2414
חָטַף
lachatof
to catch
To snatch, seize suddenly, carry off by force. It is very rare in the Hebrew Bible: Judges 21:21 (twice) and here (twice). It is better known in later Hebrew and Aramaic, where it means 'grab, rob, abduct'. The related noun ḥetep means 'robber/prey' (Proverbs 23:28).
Appears 3 times in 2 verses of the Hebrew Old Testament.
What it means
(Qal) to catch, seize
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 snatch, seize suddenly, carry off by force. It is very rare in the Hebrew Bible: Judges 21:21 (twice) and here (twice). It is better known in later Hebrew and Aramaic, where it means 'grab, rob, abduct'. The related noun ḥetep means 'robber/prey' (Proverbs 23:28).
- Against the English
'Catch' (KJV, WEB) is a bit tame, and 'seize' (BSB 'seize the oppressed') is better. The word suggests a violent grab and carrying off, closer to 'snatch' or 'abduct'.
- Used elsewhere in the period
In Judges 21:21 the Benjamites are told to hide in the vineyards (another ambush, wa-ʾărabtem in 21:20) and each 'snatch' a wife from the dancing girls of Shiloh. That gives the same sequence as Psalm 10: ambush, then snatch.
Similar words
Where it appears
Judges · 1
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Judges 21:21 וַחֲטַפְתֶּ֥ם and you will seize
and watch. When you see the daughters of Shiloh come out to perform their dances, each of you is to come out of the vineyards, catch for himself a wife from the daughters of Shiloh, and go to the land of Benjamin.
Psalms · 2
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Psalm 10:9 לַחֲט֣וֹף יַחְטֹ֥ף to seize, he seizes
He lies in wait like a lion in a thicket; he lurks to seize the oppressed; he catches the lowly in his net.
Here: 'In order to snatch': the aim of the waiting. The verb is rare and means a sudden grab or carrying off. Elsewhere it is used only of men seizing young women at Shiloh (Judges 21:21).
Word data: STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0), main text only.