Hebrew word · H2846

חָתָה

choteh

to snatch up

To snatch up or take hold of, used especially for scooping or raking up live coals. It occurs only four times. The related noun machtah is the firepan or censer that carried coals at the altar.

Appears 4 times in 4 verses of the Hebrew Old Testament. ·

What it means

(Qal) to take hold of, seize, take away, pile up, snatch up (coals)

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 Proverbs 6:27

Range of meaning

To snatch up or take hold of, used especially for scooping or raking up live coals. It occurs only four times. Isaiah 30:14 speaks of a broken jar with no piece large enough 'to scoop fire from the hearth.' Proverbs 25:22 says 'you will heap (literally rake up) burning coals on his head.' Psalm 52:5 (52:7 in Hebrew) says God will 'snatch you up' and tear you from your tent. The related noun machtah is the firepan or censer that carried coals at the altar.

Against the English

KJV and NASB have 'take,' which is accurate but flat. NIV and WEB have 'scoop,' which keeps the picture of handling coals. BSB has 'embrace,' which brings out the sexual meaning of the image but loses the coal-scooping verb.

Used elsewhere in the period

Its other biblical uses (Isaiah 30:14; Proverbs 25:22) and the noun machtah ('firepan,' Exodus 27:3; Leviticus 10:1; 16:12) tie the word to moving live coals from one place to another (BDB, HALOT s.v. חתה).

From the study of Psalm 52:5

Range of meaning

To snatch up, take hold of and carry off. Almost every other occurrence involves fire: taking fire into one's lap (Prov 6:27), heaping coals on someone's head (Prov 25:22), scooping fire from a hearth with a shard (Isa 30:14). Lexicons (BDB, HALOT) define it with reference to fire or coals.

Against the English

'Take thee away' (KJV/WEB) and 'snatch' (BSB, ESV, NASB) give the action but not the hearth association, which English cannot easily carry.

Used elsewhere in the period

Probably related to maḥtâ, the fire-pan or censer of the tabernacle (Exod 27:3; Lev 10:1), used to carry coals.

From the study of Proverbs 25:22

Range of meaning

To snatch up or take up, used especially of fire and coals. Isaiah 30:14 speaks of a broken jar with no shard left 'to take fire from the hearth'. Proverbs 6:27 asks 'Can a man scoop fire into his lap and not be burned?' Psalm 52:5 (Heb 52:7) says 'God will snatch you up' from your tent. The related noun maḥtâ is the fire-pan or censer used to carry live coals in the sanctuary (Lev 10:1; 16:12).

Against the English

Almost every English version says 'heap'. YLT's 'putting' is closer. The Hebrew picture is taking up live coals, as with a fire-pan, and placing them on the head. It is not piling up an ever-growing mound.

How it drifted

'Heap' comes from the Septuagint's sōreúseis ('you will heap up'). Paul quotes that Greek in Romans 12:20, and the KJV tradition then fixed it in English.

Used elsewhere in the period

Four occurrences in the Hebrew Bible (Prov 6:27; 25:22; Isa 30:14; Ps 52:7), all about grabbing or taking up fire or seizing someone. The fire-pan noun from the same root is frequent in the tabernacle texts.

Where it appears

Psalms · 1

  1. Psalm 52:5 יַחְתְּךָ֣ he will snatch up you

    Surely God will bring you down to everlasting ruin; He will snatch you up and tear you away from your tent; He will uproot you from the land of the living. Selah

    Here: A rare verb. Elsewhere it is used for scooping live coals off a hearth (Prov 6:27; 25:22; Isa 30:14), and the fire-pan (maḥtâ) probably takes its name from this root. The picture is a quick, firm grab that lifts something out of its place.

Proverbs · 2

  1. Proverbs 6:27 הֲיַחְתֶּ֤ה ¿ will he snatch up

    Can a man embrace fire and his clothes not be burned?

    Here: The prefix ha- turns the line into a question that expects the answer 'No, of course not.' The verb is a rare one used for scooping up live coals from a hearth, so the picture is a man shovelling burning embers into the fold of his robe.

  2. Proverbs 25:22 חֹתֶ֣ה [will] snatch up

    For in so doing, you will heap burning coals on his head, and the LORD will reward you.

    Here: A participle, so 'you are scooping up', describing the act as already under way when you feed him. The verb is used for taking up live fire or coals, as with a shovel or fire-pan. It does not mean piling up more and more, as English 'heap' suggests.

Isaiah · 1

  1. Isaiah 30:14 לַחְתּ֥וֹת to snatch up

    It will break in pieces like a potter’s jar, shattered so that no fragment can be found. Not a shard will be found in the dust large enough to scoop the coals from a hearth or to skim the water from a cistern.”

    Here: The verb used for taking up or heaping glowing coals (Prov 6:27; 25:22). It describes carrying live embers from one fire to start another.

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