Hebrew word · H2862

חָתַף

yachtof

to seize

Seize suddenly, snatch, carry off as prey. As a verb it appears only here in the Hebrew Bible. Its meaning comes from the related noun ḥetep̄, 'robber' or 'one who lies in wait like a robber' (Prov 23:28), and from the closely related verb ḥṭp, 'snatch, grab', in Aramaic and later Hebrew.

Appears once in the Hebrew Old Testament. ·

What it means

(Qal) to seize, take away, snatch away

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 Job 9:12

Range of meaning

Seize suddenly, snatch, carry off as prey. As a verb it appears only here in the Hebrew Bible. Its meaning comes from the related noun ḥetep̄, 'robber' or 'one who lies in wait like a robber' (Prov 23:28), and from the closely related verb ḥṭp, 'snatch, grab', in Aramaic and later Hebrew. Rabbinic Hebrew, for example, uses it of snatching prey or grabbing food.

Against the English

KJV's 'taketh away' and BSB's 'takes away' are soft. They can call up the calm 'the LORD has taken away' of Job 1:21, but that verse uses the ordinary verb lāqaḥ, 'take'. WEB, YLT, ESV and NIV say 'snatches (away)', which keeps the violence and the suddenness.

How it drifted

Older English 'take away' was a general verb. Read next to Job 1:21 it makes God's action sound measured and orderly, when Job is picturing a grab.

Used elsewhere in the period

The noun in Prov 23:28 describes the adulteress who 'lies in wait like a robber'. The related root ḥṭp is common in Aramaic and Mishnaic Hebrew for snatching (HALOT; BDB s.v. חתף). The Greek Septuagint uses a different verb, apallassō ('remove, take off'). The Latin Vulgate seems to read the line quite differently (see textual notes).

Where it appears

Job · 1

  1. Job 9:12 יַ֭חְתֹּף he will snatch away

    If He takes away, who can stop Him? Who dares to ask Him, ‘What are You doing?’

    Here: This verb appears only here in the Hebrew Bible. It means a sudden, violent grab, the act of a robber or a bird of prey. It names no object: God snatches, and what he takes is left open.

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