יָצַת

Joshua 8:8 תַּצִּ֤יתוּ you will set on fire

And when you have taken the city, set it on fire. Do as the LORD has commanded! See, I have given you orders.”

Here: "You shall kindle / set alight." This is a causative form: the soldiers start the fire. The future form works as an order. In the story the fire is also the signal (vv. 19–21): the smoke tells Joshua and the main army that the ambush has the city.

Joshua 8:19 וַיַּצִּ֥יתוּ and they set on fire

and as soon as he did so, the men in ambush rose quickly from their position. They rushed forward, entered the city, captured it, and immediately set it on fire.

Here: The causative form, 'they made it catch fire'. Verse 20 shows the purpose: the smoke was a visible signal to both armies.

Judges 9:49 וַיַּצִּ֧יתוּ and they set on fire

So each man also cut his own branch and followed Abimelech. Then they piled the branches against the inner chamber and set it on fire above them, killing everyone in the tower of Shechem, about a thousand men and women.

Here: 'They set ablaze.' The form is causative, meaning they made the structure burn.

2 Samuel 14:30 וְהַצִּית֣וּהָ וַיַּצִּ֜תוּ and set on fire it, and they set on fire

Then Absalom said to his servants, “Look, Joab’s field is next to mine, and he has barley there. Go and set it on fire!” And Absalom’s servants set the field on fire.

2 Samuel 14:31 הִצִּ֧יתוּ have they set on fire

Then Joab came to Absalom’s house and demanded, “Why did your servants set my field on fire?”

2 Kings 22:13 נִצְּתָ֣ה it has been kindled

“Go and inquire of the LORD for me, for the people, and for all Judah concerning the words in this book that has been found. For great is the wrath of the LORD that burns against us because our fathers have not obeyed the words of this book by doing all that is written about us.”

Here: A passive perfect: the fire 'has been lit'. Josiah speaks as if the blaze is already burning against them, not just threatened.

2 Kings 22:17 וְנִצְּתָ֧ה and it will be kindled

because they have forsaken Me and burned incense to other gods, that they might provoke Me to anger with all the works of their hands. My wrath will be kindled against this place and will not be quenched.’

Here: 'And it will be set alight.' This Hebrew form, a perfect joined to 'and', points to the future here. The verb is used of literally setting cities on fire, so the image is a real blaze.

Nehemiah 1:3 נִצְּת֥וּ they have been burned

And they told me, “The remnant who survived the exile are there in the province, in great trouble and disgrace. The wall of Jerusalem is broken down, and its gates have been burned with fire.”

Here: A passive verb of completed action: 'were set alight'. It does not say who did it or when, which is why scholars debate whether this was old or recent damage.

Nehemiah 2:17 נִצְּת֣וּ they have been burned

Then I said to them, “You see the trouble we are in. Jerusalem lies in ruins, and its gates have been burned down. Come, let us rebuild the wall of Jerusalem, so that we will no longer be a disgrace.”

Here: A passive verb in the completed form: someone set them alight and they still stand burned. The verse does not name who burned them (see debates).

Isaiah 9:18 וַתִּצַּת֙ and it has kindled

For wickedness burns like a fire that consumes the thorns and briers and kindles the forest thickets, which roll upward in billows of smoke.

Here: 'And it set alight.' The fire jumps from low scrub into the woods. The verb describes the spread like a report of events, one thing after another.

Isaiah 33:12 יִצַּֽתּוּ׃ ס they will be kindled

The peoples will be burned to ashes, like thorns cut down and set ablaze.

Jeremiah 2:15 נִצְּת֖וּ they are burnt

The young lions have roared at him; they have sounded their voices. They have laid waste his land; his cities lie in ruins, without inhabitant.

Here: 'Are burned' if read from יצת, 'to kindle', which is the traditional reading aloud. The written consonants can also be read from נצה as 'are laid in ruins'. Both describe cities that have been destroyed.

Jeremiah 9:10 נִצְּתוּ֙ they are left desolate

I will take up a weeping and wailing for the mountains, a dirge over the wilderness pasture, for they have been scorched so no one passes through, and the lowing of cattle is not heard. Both the birds of the air and the beasts have fled; they have gone away.

Here: 'They have been burned', or 'they have been made desolate'. Either way the pastures are ruined. Burning fits war, since invading armies set fields on fire, and it also fits a land scorched by drought.

Jeremiah 9:12 נִצְּתָ֥ה has it become desolate?

Who is the man wise enough to understand this? To whom has the mouth of the LORD spoken, that he may explain it? Why is the land destroyed and scorched like a desert, so no one can pass through it?

Here: 'Has been burned' or 'laid waste.' Lexicons disagree about the root (see textual notes). Either way it describes a land scorched or wrecked by invasion.

Jeremiah 11:16 הִצִּ֥ית he has kindled

The LORD once called you a flourishing olive tree, beautiful with well-formed fruit. But with a mighty roar He will set it on fire, and its branches will be consumed.

Here: 'He has set alight', past tense in form. Prophets often spoke of a coming disaster as if it had already happened, so certain was it. The word is used for setting fields and cities on fire (2 Sam 14:30; Jer 32:29).

Jeremiah 17:27 וְהִצַּ֧תִּי and I will kindle

But if you do not listen to Me to keep the Sabbath day holy by not carrying a load while entering the gates of Jerusalem on the Sabbath day, then I will kindle an unquenchable fire in its gates to consume the citadels of Jerusalem.’”

Here: In this construction ('and' + completed-action form after an 'if') the verb points to the future: 'then I will set fire'. God names himself as the one who lights it, though the Babylonians will carry it out (cf. 32:29). The same wording appears in Amos 1:14 and Jeremiah 49:27.

Jeremiah 21:14 וְהִצַּ֤תִּי and I will kindle

I will punish you as your deeds deserve, declares the LORD. I will kindle a fire in your forest that will consume everything around you.’”

Here: 'I will set alight.' God names himself as the one who lights the fire, even though Babylonian soldiers will carry the torches. Jeremiah uses this stock phrase for the burning of cities (17:27; 49:27; 50:32).

Jeremiah 32:29 וְהִצִּ֜יתוּ and they will set on fire

And the Chaldeans who are fighting against this city will come in, set it on fire, and burn it, along with the houses of those who provoked Me to anger by burning incense to Baal on their rooftops and by pouring out drink offerings to other gods.

Here: "And they will set alight." The causative form of a verb meaning "to catch fire": they will make the city catch fire. The first of two fire verbs.

Jeremiah 43:12 וְהִצַּ֣תִּי and I will kindle

I will kindle a fire in the temples of the gods of Egypt, and Nebuchadnezzar will burn those temples and take their gods as captives. So he will wrap himself with the land of Egypt as a shepherd wraps himself in his garment, and he will depart from there unscathed.

Here: A causative form, 'I will set alight'. God is the speaker: he lights the fire, and Nebuchadnezzar carries out the burning. The Greek reads 'he will kindle' (see textual notes).

Jeremiah 46:19 וְנִצְּתָ֖ה and it will be made desolate

Pack your bags for exile, O daughter dwelling in Egypt! For Memphis will be laid waste, destroyed and uninhabited.

Jeremiah 49:2 תִּצַּ֑תְנָה they will be kindled

Therefore, behold, the days are coming, declares the LORD, when I will sound the battle cry against Rabbah of the Ammonites. It will become a heap of ruins, and its villages will be burned. Then Israel will drive out their dispossessors, says the LORD.

Here: "Kindle, set burning": the surrounding towns go up in flames. The same verb appears in Amos's oracle against Rabbah (Amos 1:14).

Jeremiah 49:27 וְהִצַּ֥תִּי and I will kindle

“I will set fire to the walls of Damascus; it will consume the fortresses of Ben-hadad.”

Jeremiah 50:32 וְהִצַּ֤תִּי and I will kindle

The arrogant one will stumble and fall with no one to pick him up. And I will kindle a fire in his cities to consume all those around him.”

Jeremiah 51:30 הִצִּ֥יתוּ they will be set on fire

The warriors of Babylon have stopped fighting; they sit in their strongholds. Their strength is exhausted; they have become like women. Babylon’s homes have been set ablaze, the bars of her gates are broken.

Here: 'They have set on fire.' An active verb whose subject ('they', the attackers) is not named, so English translations rightly render it 'have been set ablaze'. The enemy is left anonymous; the result is what matters.

Jeremiah 51:58 יִצַּ֑תּוּ they will be kindled

This is what the LORD of Hosts says: “Babylon’s thick walls will be leveled, and her high gates consumed by fire. So the labor of the people will be for nothing; the nations will exhaust themselves to fuel the flames.”

Here: 'They will be set ablaze.' The same picture of torched gates appears in 51:30 ('her bars are broken').

Lamentations 4:11 וַיַּצֶּת־ and he has kindled

The LORD has exhausted His wrath; He has poured out His fierce anger; He has kindled a fire in Zion, and it has consumed her foundations.

Here: 'And he set alight.' This is a deliberate act of setting fire to something. God himself is the one who sets the fire.

Ezekiel 20:47 מַֽצִּית־ [am] about to kindle

Say to the forest of the Negev: Hear the word of the LORD! This is what the Lord GOD says: I am about to ignite in you a fire, and it will devour all your trees, both green and dry. The blazing flame will not be quenched, and by it every face from south to north will be scorched.

Here: A causative participle, 'setting fire to', with the sense of 'on the point of'. The same verb is used for setting cities on fire in war (e.g. Jer 21:14; 49:27).

Amos 1:14 וְהִצַּ֤תִּי and I will kindle

So I will kindle a fire in the walls of Rabbah to consume its citadels amid war cries on the day of battle and a violent wind on the day of tempest.

Here: God speaks in the first person: 'I will set fire.' Every other oracle in Amos 1–2 says 'I will send fire.' This one says 'I will kindle,' the ordinary verb for setting a city or field alight (Josh 8:19), so the picture is fire lit at the city itself. The 'and' links it as the consequence of the crime named in v.13.