Hebrew word · H3512

כָּאָה

hakh'ot

be disheartened

Kaʾah (H3512) means to be cowed, crushed, disheartened; the causative form here means to break someone's spirit. Its few other uses: 'the broken in heart' (Ps 109:16) and the king of the north 'losing heart' (Dan 11:30).

Appears 3 times in 3 verses of the Hebrew Old Testament. ·

What it means

1) to be sad, be disheartened

1a) (Niphal) to be disheartened, be cowed

1b) (Hiphil) to make sad

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 Ezekiel 13:22

Range of meaning

Kaʾah (H3512) means to be cowed, crushed, disheartened; the causative form here means to break someone's spirit. Its few other uses: 'the broken in heart' (Ps 109:16) and the king of the north 'losing heart' (Dan 11:30). Kaʾav (H3510) means to be in pain; the causative means to cause pain, physical or emotional (Job 5:18, 'he wounds, but he binds up'; Ezek 28:24, 'a painful thorn').

Against the English

KJV/WEB 'made sad' / 'grieved' make it an emotion. 'Disheartened' (BSB and others) is closer: the point is broken resolve and confidence, not only sorrow.

How it drifted

'Sad' in modern English is a passing feeling. The Hebrew picture is a spirit crushed and made to lose its nerve.

Used elsewhere in the period

BDB and HALOT treat kaʾah as 'be disheartened, cowed.' Several commentators (e.g. Zimmerli, Greenberg) discuss whether the written hakhʾot is a by-form or a slip for hakhʾiv (from kaʾav). Either way, the two verbs sound alike and seem deliberately paired.

From the study of Daniel 11:30

Range of meaning

To be disheartened, cowed, dejected. The causative form means to make someone lose heart. It is a rare word.

Against the English

KJV and WEB have 'grieved'. BSB has 'lose heart', NASB 'disheartened', ESV 'afraid'. 'Lose heart' or 'be cowed' fits best: a humiliated, deflated spirit.

How it drifted

In 1611 'grieved' could mean distressed, vexed or oppressed. Today it mostly means mourning a loss.

Used elsewhere in the period

Psalm 109:16 speaks of 'the one crushed in heart' (nikh'eh levav). Ezekiel 13:22 accuses false prophets of having 'disheartened' the righteous. In the Greek historian Polybius (29.27), Antiochus gives way to the Roman envoy 'weighed down and groaning, yet yielding to the times'.

From the study of Psalm 109:16

Range of meaning

Kaah (Niphal): to be cowed, disheartened, beaten down. Related words from the root nk’ mean 'stricken' or 'crushed' (nekhe’ ruach, 'a crushed spirit', Prov 15:13; 17:22; 18:14). Levav: the inner self, the seat of thought, will and courage.

Against the English

'Brokenhearted' (BSB, NIV, ESV, NLT) and KJV/WEB 'broken in heart' are reasonable, but modern ears hear romantic loss or grief. NASB's 'despondent in heart' gets closer to the sense of crushed, cowed spirit.

How it drifted

In modern English 'broken heart' became mainly the language of love and bereavement. In Hebrew the heart is mainly the mind and the will.

Used elsewhere in the period

Dan 11:30 ('he will be disheartened', the same root and form). Ezek 13:22 (false prophets 'disheartened the righteous'). LXX κατανενυγμένον τῇ καρδίᾳ, 'stung or pierced in heart', the verb Luke uses in Acts 2:37 ('cut to the heart').

Where it appears

Psalms · 1

  1. Psalm 109:16 וְנִכְאֵ֨ה and disheartened of

    For he never thought to show kindness, but pursued the poor and needy and brokenhearted, even to their death.

    Here: 'And the crushed-of…': a passive participle describing someone beaten down, cowed and dispirited by affliction. The word is rare (compare Dan 11:30 and Ezek 13:22, 'dishearten').

Ezekiel · 1

  1. Ezekiel 13:22 הַכְא֤וֹת disheartened

    Because you have disheartened the righteous with your lies, even though I have caused them no grief, and because you have encouraged the wicked not to turn from their evil ways to save their lives,

    Here: A causative infinitive: 'making [someone] cowed, crushed in spirit.' The related form describes the 'broken in heart' (Ps 109:16) and someone 'losing heart' (Dan 11:30). It is about breaking someone's spirit and nerve, more than making them feel sad.

Daniel · 1

  1. Daniel 11:30 וְנִכְאָ֔ה and he will be disheartened

    Ships of Kittim will come against him, and he will lose heart. Then he will turn back and rage against the holy covenant and do damage. So he will return and show favor to those who forsake the holy covenant.

    Here: A rare verb: to be cowed, crushed in spirit, to lose your nerve. It describes a proud king humiliated and deflated, not a man in mourning.

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