Hebrew word · H3593

כִּידוֹר

lakidor

battle

Found only here, so the meaning is uncertain.

Appears once in the Hebrew Old Testament. ·

What it means

attack, onslaught, onset

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 Job 15:24

Range of meaning

Found only here, so the meaning is uncertain. Proposals include: (1) 'attack, onslaught, tumult of battle', the majority modern view, based on context and suggested Semitic links to words for agitation or disturbance; (2) 'encircling siege' or 'troop', from Hebrew kaddur, 'ball, circle' (Isa 22:18), a view taken by medieval Jewish commentators; (3) a link with kidon, 'javelin, dart' (Job 39:23; 41:29), but that is a separate word.

Against the English

KJV and WEB: 'battle'. NASB: 'attack'. BSB and NIV: 'poised to attack'. YLT's 'a boaster' is an unusual guess that few have followed. All the main versions convey military readiness, which context guarantees, but none can be certain of the exact nuance.

Used elsewhere in the period

No other biblical use. The Septuagint ('like a general in the front rank, falling') and the Vulgate ('like a king prepared for battle') show that ancient translators also had to work it out from context.

Where it appears

Job · 1

  1. Job 15:24 לַכִּידֽוֹר׃ for <the> battle

    Distress and anguish terrify him, overwhelming him like a king poised to attack.

    Here: 'For the kidor.' This word appears only here in the whole Bible. Its exact meaning is uncertain. Most translators take it as the assault or charge of battle. Medieval Jewish interpreters linked it to kaddur, 'ball, circle', and read it as an encircling siege. Either way the image is of military pressure about to break.

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