Hebrew word · H2864

חָתַר

chator-

to dig

To dig, to dig through or break through something solid.

Appears 8 times in 7 verses of the Hebrew Old Testament. ·

What it means

1) to dig, row

1a) (Qal)

1a1) to dig (into houses-of burglary)

1a2) to row (in water)

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 Amos 9:2

Range of meaning

To dig, to dig through or break through something solid. It is used of a burglar breaking through a mud-brick house wall (Exodus 22:2 [Heb 22:1]; Jeremiah 2:34; Job 24:16), of Ezekiel digging through a wall (Ezekiel 8:8; 12:5, 7, 12), and of sailors 'digging' their oars into the sea, that is, rowing hard against it (Jonah 1:13).

Against the English

English 'dig' or 'dig down' is accurate but flat. The Hebrew carries effort and breaking through: these are people trying to tunnel out of reach, like a thief going through a wall at night.

Used elsewhere in the period

In the Hebrew Bible its regular setting is breaking into or through an enclosure. BDB and HALOT both give 'dig, break through' as the core sense. Rabbinic Hebrew keeps the word for digging or burrowing.

From the study of Ezekiel 8:8

Range of meaning

To break or force a way through something solid. Mostly used of breaking through a house wall, which in Israel was usually mud-brick or rubble that could be dug through. It is also used of pushing hard against resistance: the sailors 'dug' with their oars, meaning they rowed hard, in Jonah 1:13. And it is used of 'digging into Sheol' to hide from God (Amos 9:2). The related noun maḥteret means 'a break-in' or 'burglary' (Exod 22:2[1]; Jer 2:34).

Against the English

'Dig' makes an English reader think of shovelling earth, and 'dig in the wall' (KJV, WEB) sounds strange. 'Dig through' (BSB, YLT, NASB) is closer. The real picture is breaking into a building.

How it drifted

The English is not so much drifting here as too narrow. 'Dig' has lost the sense of a burglar's break-in that the Hebrew word carries.

Used elsewhere in the period

Exod 22:2 (the thief caught 'breaking in'); Job 24:16 ('in the dark they dig through houses' – people who hate the light); Amos 9:2; Jonah 1:13. Ezekiel uses the same verb again in his sign-act of 12:5, 7, 12, where he digs through the wall of his house in front of the exiles to act out Zedekiah's escape and the exile (HALOT s.v. חתר; BDB 369).

Where it appears

Job · 1

  1. Job 24:16 חָתַ֥ר he digs into

    In the dark they dig through houses; by day they shut themselves in, never to experience the light.

Ezekiel · 5

  1. Ezekiel 8:8 חֲתָר־ וָאֶחְתֹּ֣ר dig, and I dug

    “Son of man,” He told me, “dig through the wall.” So I dug through the wall and discovered a doorway.

    Here: A command: 'break through!' This is the verb for forcing a way through a wall, the way a burglar does (Exod 22:2; Job 24:16), not for digging in soil. The prophet is told to break into a hidden place.

  2. Ezekiel 12:5 חֲתָר־ dig

    As they watch, dig through the wall and carry your belongings out through it.

  3. Ezekiel 12:7 חָתַֽרְתִּי־ I dug

    So I did as I was commanded. I brought out my bags for exile by day, and in the evening I dug through the wall by hand. I took my belongings out at dusk, carrying them on my shoulder as they watched.

  4. Ezekiel 12:12 יַחְתְּר֖וּ they will dig

    And at dusk the prince among them will lift his bags to his shoulder and go out. They will dig through the wall to bring him out. He will cover his face so he cannot see the land.

Amos · 1

  1. Amos 9:2 יַחְתְּר֣וּ they will dig

    Though they dig down to Sheol, from there My hand will take them; and though they climb up to heaven, from there I will pull them down.

    Here: To dig or break through something solid. The word is used for burglars tunnelling through a house wall. Here the fugitives try to burrow down through the earth itself into the underworld.

Jonah · 1

  1. Jonah 1:13 וַיַּחְתְּר֣וּ and they rowed

    Nevertheless, the men rowed hard to get back to dry land, but they could not, for the sea was raging against them more and more.

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