Hebrew word · H3543

כָּהָה

kehah

to grow dim

To grow dim, faint or weak; to lose strength or brightness. Used of eyes failing with age, of a flame burning low, and of a spirit growing faint.

Appears 10 times in 9 verses of the Hebrew Old Testament. · Updated October 24, 2026

What it means

1) to grow weak, grow dim, grow faint, falter, be weak, be dim, be darkened, be restrained, be faint, fail

1a) (Qal) to grow dim

1b) (Piel) to faint, grow weak, grow faint

Abridged from Brown, Driver and Briggs, A Hebrew and English Lexicon of the Old Testament (1906), via STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0).

Range of meaning: To grow dim, faint or weak; to lose strength or brightness. Used of eyes failing with age, of a flame burning low, and of a spirit growing faint.
Against the English: KJV/WEB 'fail', BSB 'grow weak', NIV 'falter', ESV 'grow faint' all get the general sense of weakening. Only a rendering like 'grow dim' keeps the link to the 'dimly burning wick' one verse earlier.
How it drifted: Translators usually choose a general word for weakness, so the deliberate echo of v.3 disappears in English.
Used elsewhere in the period: Genesis 27:1 (Isaac's eyes 'were dim'); Deuteronomy 34:7 (Moses' eye 'was not dim'); Isaiah 61:3 (a 'faint' spirit). In Isaiah 42:3 the adjective kēhāh describes the smouldering wick.

Range of meaning: In its basic form: grow dim (of eyes, 3:2; Deuteronomy 34:7), grow faint or weak (of spirit, Isaiah 42:4; 61:3). The intensive form here means make faint, damp down, check, restrain. This sense of 'rebuke' or 'restrain' appears only here.
Against the English: Most English versions say 'restrain' (KJV, BSB, ESV, WEB). NASB has 'rebuke'. NLT has 'discipline'. 'Rebuke' is too weak: Eli did speak to his sons (2:23–25). What he failed to do was stop them.
Used elsewhere in the period: In 1 Samuel 3:2 Eli's eyes 'began to grow dim (kehot)', the same root. Deuteronomy 34:7: Moses' eye 'was not dim (lo khahatah)'.

Range of meaning: To grow faint or dim, to lose brightness or strength. It is used of eyes dimming with age or sorrow (1 Samuel 3:2, Eli; Job 17:7; Zechariah 11:17), of a smoldering wick about to go out (Isaiah 42:3, 4, the related adjective and verb), and of courage failing (Ezekiel 21:12 [Eng. 21:7]).
Against the English: 'Dim' (KJV, WEB) is accurate. BSB's 'weak' is acceptable but loses the image of a lamp going out, which the wick passages carry.
Used elsewhere in the period: Its closest biblical parallel is Eli, whose eyes 'had begun to grow dim' (kēhôt, 1 Samuel 3:2). In the same cluster are the patriarchs whose sight failed in old age: Isaac (Genesis 27:1, a different verb) and Jacob (Genesis 48:10, eyes 'heavy').

Genesis · 1

Genesis 27:1 וַתִּכְהֶ֥יןָ and they were [too] dim

When Isaac was old and his eyes were so weak that he could no longer see, he called his older son Esau and said to him, “My son.” “Here I am,” Esau replied.

Leviticus · 2

Leviticus 13:6 כֵּהָ֣ה it has become dull

The priest will examine him again on the seventh day, and if the sore has faded and has not spread on the skin, the priest shall pronounce him clean; it is a rash. The person must wash his clothes and be clean.
Leviticus 13:56 כֵּהָ֣ה it has become dull

If the priest examines it and the mildew has faded after it has been washed, he must cut the contaminated section out of the fabric, leather, weave, or knit.

Deuteronomy · 1

Deuteronomy 34:7 כָהֲתָ֥ה it had grown dim

Moses was a hundred and twenty years old when he died, yet his eyes were not weak, and his vitality had not diminished.

Here: 'Had grown dim.' This is the verb for a fading wick (Isaiah 42:3) and for eyes going dull with age or grief (1 Samuel 3:2; Job 17:7). It is feminine because 'eye' is a feminine noun in Hebrew.

1 Samuel · 1

1 Samuel 3:13 כִהָ֖ה he rebuked

I told him that I would judge his house forever for the iniquity of which he knows, because his sons blasphemed God and he did not restrain them.

Here: This root normally means 'grow dim, grow faint'. In this intensive form it means to damp someone down, to check or restrain them. It is a pointed wordplay: Eli's eyes had 'grown dim' (3:2, same root), yet he never 'dimmed' his sons.

Job · 1

Job 17:7 וַתֵּ֣כַהּ and it has grown dim

My eyes have grown dim with grief, and my whole body is but a shadow.

Isaiah · 1

Isaiah 42:4 יִכְהֶה֙ he will grow dim

He will not grow weak or discouraged before He has established justice on the earth. In His law the islands will put their hope.”

Here: 'He will not grow dim.' It is the same root as the 'dimly burning' wick (kēhāh) of v.3. The servant will not quench the flickering wick, and his own flame will not burn low either.

Ezekiel · 1

Ezekiel 21:7 וְכִהֲתָ֣ה and it will grow faint

And when they ask, ‘Why are you groaning?’ you are to say, ‘Because of the news that is coming. Every heart will melt, and every hand will go limp. Every spirit will faint, and every knee will turn to water.’ Yes, it is coming and it will surely happen, declares the Lord GOD.”

Here: The same verb is used for eyes growing dim and a lamp-wick burning low. The spirit will fade like a guttering flame.

Zechariah · 2

Zechariah 11:17 כָּהֹ֥ה תִכְהֶֽה׃ ס certainly <to dim>, it will grow dim

Woe to the worthless shepherd, who deserts the flock! May a sword strike his arm and his right eye! May his arm be completely withered and his right eye utterly blinded!”

Here: The same emphatic doubling as with 'wither'. This is the ordinary word for eyes failing with age or weakness, used of Isaac and of Eli.

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