כָּחַשׁ

Genesis 18:15 וַתְּכַחֵ֨שׁ and she denied

But Sarah was afraid, so she denied it and said, “I did not laugh.” “No,” replied the LORD, “but you did laugh.”

Here: "And she denied (it falsely)." The verb is used for lying, disowning or dealing deceptively, so the narrator is not just reporting a denial but marking it as untrue. It opens the verse: the first thing we learn is that Sarah said something false.

Leviticus 6:2 וְכִחֵ֨שׁ and he will deny

“If someone sins and acts unfaithfully against the LORD by deceiving his neighbor in regard to a deposit or security entrusted to him or stolen, or if he extorts his neighbor

Here: 'And he lies / denies.' The picture is someone saying 'I never received it' or 'it isn't yours'. The grammar switches here from feminine to masculine: the text moves from 'a person' to 'he', the actual man doing it.

Leviticus 6:3 וְכִ֥חֶשׁ and he will deny

or finds lost property and lies about it and swears falsely, or if he commits any such sin that a man might commit—

Leviticus 19:11 תְכַחֲשׁ֥וּ you will deceive

You must not steal. You must not lie or deceive one another.

Here: To deny what is true: above all, to deny you hold something that belongs to another (a deposit, a pledge, a found item), as in the parallel law Lev 5:21–22 (6:2–3 in English Bibles). It is deception by denial, saying 'I don't have it' or 'that never happened.'

Deuteronomy 33:29 וְיִכָּֽחֲשׁ֤וּ so they may cringe

Blessed are you, O Israel! Who is like you, a people saved by the LORD? He is the shield that protects you, the sword in which you boast. Your enemies will cower before you, and you shall trample their high places.”

Here: The enemies come grovelling with grudging, put-on submission, as defeated foes flatter a conqueror they cannot resist (compare Ps 18:44; 66:3; 81:15). That is why the KJV has 'found liars'.

Joshua 7:11 כִּֽחֲשׁ֔וּ they have deceived

Israel has sinned; they have transgressed My covenant that I commanded them, and they have taken some of what was devoted to destruction. Indeed, they have stolen and lied, and they have put these things with their own possessions.

Here: 'They have dealt falsely': they acted as if nothing had happened and kept up a false front of innocence. The word covers denial and concealment, not only saying something untrue.

Joshua 24:27 תְּכַחֲשׁ֖וּן you should deny !

And Joshua said to all the people, “You see this stone. It will be a witness against us, for it has heard all the words the LORD has spoken to us, and it will be a witness against you if you ever deny your God.”

Here: To act falsely toward someone you owe loyalty to: to lie to them, go back on your word, disown them. Here that means abandoning the LORD for other gods (vv. 14–23). The longer -ûn ending is an older, fuller verb form that adds weight.

2 Samuel 22:45 יִתְכַּֽחֲשׁוּ־ they cringed

Foreigners cower before me; when they hear me, they obey me.

1 Kings 13:18 כִּחֵ֖שׁ he lied

Then the prophet replied, “I too am a prophet like you, and an angel spoke to me by the word of the LORD, saying, ‘Bring him back with you to your house, so that he may eat bread and drink water.’” The old prophet was lying to him,

Here: The narrator's verdict. There is no “and” or “but”; it simply stands alone: “he was lying.” The root means to deny, deceive, act falsely, even to fail (as a crop fails).

Job 8:18 וְכִ֥חֶשׁ and it will deny

If he is uprooted from his place, it will disown him, saying, ‘I never saw you.’

Job 31:28 כִחַ֖שְׁתִּי I denied

this would also be an iniquity to be judged, for I would have denied God on high.

Psalm 18:44 יְכַחֲשׁוּ־ they cringe

When they hear me, they obey me; foreigners cower before me.

Here: This verb normally means to lie, deceive or deny. With "to me" it describes the fawning, insincere homage of the defeated: they "lie to me" or "feign submission", cringing and flattering out of fear rather than loyalty.

Psalm 66:3 יְֽכַחֲשׁ֖וּ they cringe

Say to God, “How awesome are Your deeds! So great is Your power that Your enemies cower before You.

Here: The root means to lie or deny. Followed by "to you", it describes defeated enemies who fawn and act loyal while their hearts have not changed. The submission is real in practice but put on, forced by fear. The verb form can mean "they come cringing", "they will cringe", or "they keep cringing".

Psalm 81:15 יְכַֽחֲשׁוּ־ they will cringe

Those who hate the LORD would feign obedience, and their doom would last forever.

Here: The basic meaning is 'to lie' or 'to be false.' Followed by 'to him,' it is a set phrase for beaten enemies who come before a conqueror with forced or insincere submission. They bow and flatter, but not from the heart. The verb form is future or hypothetical: they 'would' do this if Israel listened (v. 13).

Psalm 109:24 כָּחַ֥שׁ it has become lean

My knees are weak from fasting, and my body grows lean and gaunt.

Proverbs 30:9 וְכִחַשְׁתִּי֮ and I will deny

Otherwise, I may have too much and deny You, saying, ‘Who is the LORD?’ Or I may become poor and steal, profaning the name of my God.

Here: 'And then I would play false / disown [you]'. This is acting disloyally toward someone you owe faithfulness to, not just holding an opinion. No object is written; 'you' (God) is understood from the prayer.

Isaiah 59:13 וְכַחֵשׁ֙ and we have denied

rebelling and denying the LORD, turning away from our God, speaking oppression and revolt, conceiving and uttering lies from the heart.

Here: "And playing false." It means acting deceitfully toward someone you owe loyalty to, disowning them in word and deed. It is not about holding a theory that God does not exist.

Jeremiah 5:12 כִּֽחֲשׁוּ֙ they have denied

They have lied about the LORD and said: “He will not do anything; harm will not come to us; we will not see sword or famine.

Here: Intensive (Piel) perfect: 'they have played false.' It covers both lying about someone and disowning them, refusing to acknowledge them in practice. Here it is the opening charge, and the quoted speech that follows is the evidence for it.

Hosea 4:2 וְכַחֵ֔שׁ and deceiving

Cursing and lying, murder and stealing, and adultery are rampant; one act of bloodshed follows another.

Here: 'And lying.' The word is often used for denying what you owe someone or cheating in a deal, as in Lev 6:2–3 where a man falsely denies holding a neighbour's deposit. Paired with the oath word before it, it suggests perjury and fraud in public and business life.

Hosea 9:2 יְכַ֥חֶשׁ it will fail

The threshing floor and winepress will not feed them, and the new wine will fail them.

Habakkuk 3:17 כִּחֵשׁ֙ it fails

Though the fig tree does not bud and no fruit is on the vines, though the olive crop fails and the fields produce no food, though the sheep are cut off from the fold and no cattle are in the stalls,

Here: Literally 'has lied'. The olive harvest is pictured as a liar: it seemed to promise oil and then went back on it. English 'fails' keeps the result but loses the betrayal.

Zechariah 13:4 כַּחֵֽשׁ׃ to deceive

And on that day every prophet who prophesies will be ashamed of his vision, and he will not put on a hairy cloak in order to deceive.